A car like a speedboat - the design origins of the new Bertone Runabout

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A car like a speedboat - the design origins of the new Bertone Runabout

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Created on February 11, 2026

Text:

Guy Dirkin

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

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Bruno von Rotz

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Guy Dirkin

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Bertone

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Archiv

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Cannara I (1966) - Exhibited at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles

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Cannara I (1966) - with owner Guy Dirkin at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles

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Evolution from the Cannara to the modern Bertone Runabout

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Cannara I (1966) - A car like a door wedge

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Description of the Cannara at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles

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Autobianchi Runabout (1969) - Bertone concept car already known from the Turin Motor Show - Geneva Motor Show 1970

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Autobianchi Runabout (1969) - Bertone prototype and forerunner of the Fiat X 1/9 - Auto e Moto d'Epoca 2018

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Autobianchi Runabout Bertone (1969) - on the Autobianchi club stand - Auto e Moto d'Epoca Padua 2021

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Autobianchi Runabout (1969) - predecessor of the Fiat X 1/9, in the Bertone prototype special show - Rétromobile Paris 2020

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Bertone Runabout Barchetta (1969) - 29th Vernasca Silver Flag 2025

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Bertone Runabout Barchetta (1969) - 29th Vernasca Silver Flag 2025

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Bertone Runabout then and now - Ultimate Supercar Garage on the occasion of the Rétromobile Paris 2026

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Bertone Runabout then and now - Ultimate Supercar Garage on the occasion of the Rétromobile Paris 2026

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Bertone Runabout (2026) - together with the prototype Autobianchi A112 Runabout from 1969

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Summary

On January 29, the new Bertone Runabout was unveiled at the Rétromobile 2026. Let's take a look at the origins and heritage of Bertone's latest model.

This article contains the following chapters

Back to the future
Cannara (1966) vs. Runabout (1969)
A car like a speedboat

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

On January 29, the new Bertone Runabout was unveiled at the Rétromobile 2026 . Let's take a look at the origins and heritage of Bertone's latest model. The Bertone Runabout 2026 pays homage to the Autobianchi Runabout of 1969, designed by Italian stylist Marcello Gandini during his time at Bertone. In short, the 1969 Autobianchi Runabout served as the design basis for the Lancia Stratos road and rally car as well as the Fiat X1/9. The Bertone Runabout 2026 clearly harks back to the era of wedge cars of the 1960s and 1970s. The 1966 Cannara is considered a design anchor of the wedge car era and won the Dean Bachelor Trophy at the 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The Cannara is currently on display in the wedge car exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Ray Cannara was a student of Strother MacMinn at the Art Center in California. He designed and built his car himself and, remarkably, drove it from Florida to California in 1966 - with his mother in the passenger seat.

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