The Aston Martin Rapide Jet 2+2 could have given Bertone a new lease of life. Instead, it was the last car the great Italian design house ever created. Ten years on, we drive it.
The title of Autocar magazine’s article in October 1967 said it all: ‘Bertone-Jaguar: no dream car – but not for you and me’. This one-off gran turismo wasn’t the first Bertone-bodied Jaguar, witness the Franco Scaglione-styled XK150 and Marcello Gandini-designed ‘FT’ that was based variously on S-type and 420 saloon foundations for Italy’s marque concessionaire, Ferruchio Tarchini. However, in this particular instance, there was no intention of making the Pirana in even the most limited of numbers. It was a concept queen, and a compelling one.
It was just what the world had been crying out for: an MPV with a chain-driven, quad-cam V12 up front. Not that Bertone was down with the whole labels thing, you understand. The Genesis was merely a teaser; one that defied easy categorisation
For 1953, Ferrari released a second series of its 166 Mille Miglia (MM) for sports racing in the popular sub-2.0-litre sport class. These used the 1995cc V12 engine with new Weber 32IF4C carburettors, producing a healthy 160hp at 7200rpm. The so-called 166 MM/53 was sold alongside the 250 Mille Miglia (3.0 litres) and 340 Mille Miglia (4.1 litres).
The collection of Milan-based Architect Corrado Lopresto ranks among the best in the world. The Key — an annual which ranks individuals based on the value and provenance of their collections — placed Lopresto at 22nd: more significant than Andreas Mohringer, but not quite so important as Ralph Lauren. Though, if you are like me and think a list is just another divisive tactic to get people arguing over something they might normally bond over, you can appreciate the life’s work of Corrado Lopresto for what it is: an immense and valuable tribute to Italian automotive design.
Scroll back to 1978 and Pininfarina caused a furore with its Jaguar XJ Spider. No gush was too purple as the world’s motoring media begged British Leyland to adopt it as a production model. It didn’t, of course, but this one-off roadster remains a classic of its kind
Marriages of Italian styling and German machinery are a rarity, but the clever way Bertone clothed a 964-generation 911 showed how creativity and ingenuity from Turin worked well on a chassis from Zuffenhausen
