The Autobianchi A112 Runabout is a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

developed by

Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include: * Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon * Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon r ...

and first shown in 1969. The small two-seat, mid-engined car was the inspiration for the

Fiat X1/9 The Fiat X1/9 is a two-seater mid-engined sports car designed by Bertone and manufactured by Fiat from 1972–1982 and subsequently by Gruppo Bertone from 1982–1989. With a transverse engine and gearbox in a mid-mounted, rear-wheel drive conf ...

that appeared in 1972.

History

In 1967 designer Pio Manzù showed his mid-engined ''Prototipo 111'' based on the transverse powertrain from the

Autobianchi A111 The Autobianchi A111 is a 4-door saloon family car produced from 1969 to 1972 by Italian car manufacturer Autobianchi, a subsidiary of the Fiat group. Despite rather modest dimensions, at roughly 4 metres long, it was the largest Autobianchi ever ...

sedan, and one year later displayed his ''Autobianchi Coupé'' at the

Turin Auto Show The Turin Motor Show ( it, Salone dell'Automobile di Torino) was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from ...

. A similar design that used the powertrain from the

Autobianchi Primula The Autobianchi Primula is a supermini economy car manufactured between 1964 and 1970 by the Italian automaker Autobianchi, partly owned by and later a subsidiary of the Fiat Group. The Primula was a prototype for Fiat's rack and pinion steering ...

was done by

Dante Giacosa Dante Giacosa (3 January 1905 - 31 March 1996) was an Italian automobile designer and engineer responsible for a range of Italian automobile designs — and for refining the front-wheel drive layout to an industry-standard configuration. Front ...

at Società industriale ricerche automobilistiche (SIRA - Automotive Industry Research Company), with initial fabrication done by OSI, and a full prototype called the ''G31'' built later by Centro Stylo Fiat in 1969. The Autobianchi A112 Runabout was designed by

Marcello Gandini Marcello Gandini (born 26 August 1938) is an Italian car designer, known for his work with the automotive design house Gruppo Bertone, including his designs of the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, and the Lamborghini Diablo. In a 2009 interview wit ...

at Bertone. This small

barchetta Barchetta () is an Italian word commonly translated into English as "little boat". The term originally referred to a small skiff used for recreational purposes. It is also applied to some items of clothing, as well as being used in automobile styli ...

used the same

transverse Transverse may refer to: *Transverse engine, an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the wheels of the vehicle *Transverse flute, a flute that is held horizontally * Transverse force (or ''Euler force''), the tangen ...

mid-engine layout as the much larger and more exotic

Lamborghini Miura The Lamborghini Miura is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1973. The car was the first supercar with a rear mid-engined two-seat layout, although the concept was first seen in a production road car with Ren ...

of 1966, which had also been designed by Gandini. The Runabout also exhibited the pronounced wedge shaped profile that would distinguish many of Gandini's designs from this time, including the 1968

Alfa Romeo Carabo The Alfa Romeo Carabo is a concept car first shown at the 1968 Paris Motor Show. It was designed by Marcello Gandini, working for the Bertone design studio. The ''Carabo'' name is derived from the ''Carabidae'' beetles, as evoked by the car's i ...

. With Fiat planning the end of the

Fiat 850 The Fiat 850 (''Tipo 100G'') is a small rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive car manufactured and marketed by Italian car manufacturer Fiat from 1964 to 1973. History Overview Its technical design was an evolution of the successful Fiat 600. The interna ...

product line, Bertone needed a car to replace the 850 Spider that it was building for Fiat at their

Grugliasco Grugliasco (; pms, Grujasch ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about west of Turin. Grugliasco borders the municipalities of Turin, Collegno, and Rivoli. In 1945 here a ...

factory. Around this time there was also growing concern that the United States would shortly implement rollover safety requirements that would effectively ban traditional convertibles. The Runabout, with chassis number 41258, debuted at the 1969 Turin Auto Show, which ran from 29 October 1969 to 9 November 1969.

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce a ...

saw the Runabout in 1971, and approved developing it into the X1/9. In September 2015 ownership of the Runabout passed to Automotoclub Storico Italiano (ASI - "Italian Historical Automobile Club"), when the club acquired the Bertone Carrozzeria collection. On August 20, 2022, the Runabout participated in the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, entered into the L-2 Postwar Preservation Class, and was named the winner of the Grand Turismo special award by Kazunori Yamauchi.

Features

1969 Autobianchi A112 Roundabout on the beach

The overall shape of the car was inspired by the racing boats of the mid-1960s.The

hood Hood may refer to: Covering Apparel * Hood (headgear), type of head covering ** Article of Academic dress#Hood, academic dress ** Bondage hood, sex toy * Hoodie, hooded sweatshirt Anatomy * Clitoral hood, a hood of skin surrounding the clitori ...

was long and flat with a tapering central indentation and an Autobianchi badge inset just back of the tip. There was also a full-length indented feature at the plimsoll-line. The car's rear aspect was reminiscent of a boat's transom with a shallow well. The front overhang was long, but the rear was short. The wide, low profile tires and wheels were enclosed under nearly flat wheel arches. There were no doors on the passenger or driver sides. The only items above the sill line were a low clear curved

wind deflector A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

and a foil-shaped forward-swept rollbar similar in appearance to the radar arches on some boats. The rollbar gave the car the appearance of a

targa top Targa top, or targa for short, is a semi-convertible car body style with a removable roof section and a full width roll bar behind the seats. The term was first used on the 1966 Porsche 911 Targa, and it remains a registered trademark of Porsch ...

. The

headlamps A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...

were not mounted in the nose of the car. Instead they were in prominent nacelles incorporated into the lower legs of the rollbar/arch, behind the occupants' seats. On the interior, the only instrumentation was a speedometer, in the style of a nautical compass, mounted in the centre of the top of the dashboard. Although named for the

Autobianchi A112 The Autobianchi A112 is a supermini produced by the Italian automaker Autobianchi. It was developed using a shrunken version of the contemporary Fiat 128's platform. The mechanicals of the A112 subsequently underpinned the Fiat 127. It was intro ...

Supermini The B-segment is the second smallest of the European segments for passenger cars between the A-segment and C-segment, and commonly described as "small cars". The B-segment is the largest segment in Europe by volume, accounting for 20 percent of ...

and retaining that car's transverse engine configuration, the Runabout did not use the A112's Tipo 100

overhead valve engine An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

. Instead, it received the new-for-1969

Fiat 128 SOHC engine Designed by Aurelio Lampredi, the Fiat SOHC engine first appeared in the front-wheel drive (FWD) Fiat 128 of 1969. The in-line four-cylinder engine comprised an iron block with an aluminium cylinder-head containing a single overhead camshaft oper ...

that had been developed for the

Fiat 128 The Fiat 128 is a transverse front-engine, front wheel drive small family car manufactured and marketed by Fiat from 1969 to 1985 as a two- or four-door sedan, three- or five-door station wagon as well as two- or three-door coupé. The 128 runni ...

by former Ferrari engine designer

Aurelio Lampredi Aurelio Lampredi (16 June 1917 – 1 June 1989) was an Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer. Born in Livorno, he began his career before World War II at Piaggio, moved to Isotta Fraschini, and then joined Reggiane. This time he design ...

. This engine featured a cast-iron block, aluminum cylinder head and a belt-driven

single overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

. The engine in the Runabout displaced . It was mated to a transverse four speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission ...

Influence

Some point to the G31 as leading to the X1/9. Others suggest that the 1971 De Tomaso 1600 Spider, which was startlingly similar to the later X1/9, was the predecessor. In the De Tomaso's case it has been suggested that this was either imitation as a form of flattery, or an elaborate joke at Fiat's expense. Regardless, the Runabout is generally considered to have been the inspiration for the X1/9, which is how it was described on Bertone's own website. Elements of the Runabout's design have also been noted in the subsequent

Lancia Stratos The Lancia Stratos HF (''Tipo 829''), widely and more simply known as Lancia Stratos, is a rear mid-engined sports car designed for rally racing, made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. The HF stands for ''High Fidelity''. It was a very successf ...

Gallery

References

External links