Bertone to unveil concept inspired by Lancia Stratos Zero
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TURIN -- Stile Bertone will unveil the Nuccio concept for a high performance coupe at next month's Geneva auto show to mark the Italian design house's centenary.
Bertone design director Mike Robinson took inspiration from a legendary 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero concept to create the Nuccio, which has innovations such as a tensile steel roof that offers high structural resistance at a low weight.
The rakish, 42-year-old Stratos Zero is still modern today in terms of design, but it's only 830mm high, making it almost impossible for a tall man like Robinson to drive it. The Nuccio has a height of 1220mm.
"We decided to take one of the most spectacular concept cars in the history of the company - and in the history of the automobile for that matter - and create a futuristic interpretation of it," Robinson said.
The mid-engine concept is called Nuccio after Giuseppe "Nuccio" Bertone who was the son of company founder Giovanni Bertone. During his 60-year leadership, Giuseppe Bertone transformed the little-known family business into an Italian design icon. He died in 1997 aged 83.
In the past 40 years, there have been several attempts to make a modern interpretation of the original Stratos Zero, but these fell short of auto enthusiasts' expectations.
"The problem of reinterpreting masterpieces is simple. If you come too close to the original, you've created zero added value. If you stray too far from the original, it ends up having nothing to do with the masterpiece and therefore can no longer be considered a continuation," Robinson said.
He added: "A modern supercar today must have much more livability inside without losing its wow factor outside, so we took a very modern, two-seat, mid-engine sports car as our donor car and designed the Nuccio around that."
Robinson notes that many contemporary buildings are constructed with flowing, tent-like tensile structures which are held up via cables pulling from the sides rather than traditional beam and pillar constructions.
Bertone has not disclosed the Nuccio's powertrain origin, but said the car will use a 483hp 4.3-liter V-8 engine.
You can reach Luca Ciferri at lciferri@crain.com.
