Bertone has created a modern interpretation of Marcello Gandini's 1969 Runabout concept, complete with functioning pop-up headlights and wedge-shaped stylingThe lightweight sports car uses a Lotus-sourced aluminum chassis, weighs just 2,330 pounds, and features a supercharged Toyota 3.5-liter V6 producing 475 horsepowerLimited to 25 units worldwide in both barchetta and targa configurations, priced at €390,000 ($462,000) before taxes Right. In an age where every new sports car looks like it was designed by a committee of accountants and wind tunnel engineers, Bertone has done something rather wonderful. They've built a new car with pop-up headlights. Actual, functioning, gloriously retro pop-up headlights. When was the last time you saw those on anything new? 1995? Earlier? The Runabout, as it's called, is Bertone's love letter to the wedge era—that magical period in the late 1960s and 1970s when Marcello Gandini was drawing cars that looked like they'd been folded from a single sheet of paper. Sharp angles everywhere. No curves. Just pure, aggressive geometry that made everything else on the road look hopelessly fussy. This modern version pays tribute to Gandini's 1969 Autobianchi A112 Runabout concept, though it's also heavily influenced by the Fiat X1/9 that followed. Bertone is offering it in two flavors: a completely roofless barchetta that's the most faithful to the original concept, and a targa version with a removable carbon fiber roof panel and a proper windscreen. Both capture that wedge aesthetic beautifully, standing just 43.9 inches tall and looking like they're doing 100 mph while standing still. Bertone Runabout: Lotus chassis meets Toyota power Here's where things get interesting from an engineering standpoint. Bertone hasn't just rebodied an existing sports car. They've purchased a brand-new extruded and bonded aluminum platform from Lotus, then customized it for their purposes. Wrap that in carbon fiber body panels, and you end up with a sports car weighing 2,330 pounds. That's Mazda Miata territory, which is rather impressive for something packing this much power. Speaking of power, under the bodywork sits Toyota's familiar 3.5-liter V6. But Bertone hasn't just bolted it in and called it a day. They've added a supercharger, boosting output to 475 horsepower and 361 pound-feet of torque. That engine lives behind the seats, sending power exclusively to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox with a proper gated shifter. You know, the kind that makes that wonderful mechanical clicking sound when you change gears. The kind that makes driving feel like an event rather than a chore.The numbers are properly quick: zero to 62 mph in 4.1 seconds, top speed of 168 mph. Not hypercar fast, but certainly fast enough to be thrilling in something weighing about the same as a grand piano. The chassis features double-wishbone suspension with adjustable dampers and anti-roll bars, so you can fine-tune the handling to your liking. The wheels are staggered—18 inches at the front with 225-section rubber, 19 inches at the rear with seriously fat 295-section tires. The proportions are spot-on. At 157 inches long, it's roughly the size of a Miata, though it sits much lower and is 3.5 inches wider at the back than at the front. That wedge shape isn't just for show—it helps with high-speed stability while maintaining that aggressive stance that made 1970s Italian sports cars so visually arresting.
