After going into bankruptcy protection, Bertone may very well be in the worst shape it's ever been in its 96-year history. But that doesn't mean there aren't enough companies out there interested in acquiring the famous carrozzeria's assets, including its venerated name.
Although the process undertaken by the court-appointed commissioners remains secretive, reports suggest that several companies have contacted the administrators putting forth bids on Bertone. Among them are Chinese automaker FAW, Indian carmaker Mahindra, Italian contract manufacturer DR Motor, German engineering firm PCL Group and, perhaps most intriguingly, Giorgetto Giugiaro's rival atelier Italdesign. The reported list of the bidders may very well change as the courts seek a suitable buyer for Bertone, but the prospects are looking good for the famous design studio and its anxious 1,300-strong workforce.
Beauty may be in the eye of the proverbial beholder and all that, but the Italdesign Quaranta wasn't quite the beauty of the Geneva ball. And while Giorgetto Giugiaro, the celebrated designer at the studio's helm, has more iconic designs to his name than we could possibly list here, his latest was not his best, easily outclassed by the Giugiaro Mustang concept with which we fell so deeply in love and the Ferrari GG50 he built for himself.
The Quaranta concept was built to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Italdesign Giugiaro, and features the Lexus RX400h's mid-mounted hybrid 3.3-liter V6 powerplant driving all four wheels through a CVT and supported by a solar panel on the unfortunately styled nose. Think of archrival Pininfarina's Maserati Birdcage concept crossed with Robocop 3 and you're beginning to get the picture. While we're reassured by the knowledge that this is purely a design study and has no chance of seeing production, we wonder what the future holds if this is what's supposedly pointing towards it.
Italdesign Giugiaro has been releasing teaser images of its Quaranta concept at an agonizingly slow pace for weeks now, but has finally dropped all its got on the car just days before it will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. The Quaranta is actually inspired by the 1968 Bizzarrini Manta concept, and the two take the wedge shape to an extreme. The Quaranta's claim to fame is that it houses a mid-mounted hybrid powertrain supplied by a Toyota. The 3.3L V6 combined with Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive produces a combined 268 horsepower and 212 pound feet of torque, which Italdesign claims is good for a 4.05 second run to 62 mph in the lightweight and perfectly balanced Quaranta. At the same time, its pair of fuel tanks integrated into the frame can hold nearly 16 gallons of fuel, good for a 621-mile range. The entire opaque roof is also comprised of solar panels, which run the interior electronics and charge the batteries. The concept can employ two- or all-wheel-drive depending on the conditions, and can also raise its ride height up to a maximum of 9.17 inches. The cockpit of the Quaranta is also a study in far out design, with a 1+3 seating arrangement that places the driver front and center, with two more seats on either side and further back, and a small child seat directly behind the driver.
The Quaranta is a well thought out concept with every aspect of its design backed by a reason and a function. From its shape to its powertrain to its interior ambiance, it will debut in Geneva as a rolling resume for Italdesign's services. And after reading through the lengthy press release that describes every complex system contained in the Quaranta's wedgy shape, we'd be happy to be listed as a reference.
The seemingly endless stream of teasing on part of the Italian design houses continues as Giugiaro's Italdesign releases two more preview shots of its concept, now revealed to be called the Quaranta in commemoration of the studio's 40th anniversary, which will be presented at next week's Geneva Motor Show.
The pair of additional images, which accompany the three shots trickled out until now, all but completely reveal the concept's design, all angular and sharp creases, in stark contrast to the swooping curves of arch-rival Pininfarina's Sintesi show car. Of course, we'll be on hand at the show to bring you the best shots in true Autoblog style, but feel free to check out the growing gallery below to see what's been revealed so far.
Why do the Italians insist on teasing us so with their curves and sensuality? It seems like the design houses got together and decided to torture us for a few weeks leading up to this year's Geneva Motor Show. Pininfarina's been killing us slowly with the agonizing inch-by-inch unveiling of its Sintesi show car, the Bertones are playing cat and mouse about showing up with their BAT 11 concept altogether, even Giugiaro has joined in the fun.
A third image of Italdesign's forthcoming concept car has now surfaced ahead of schedule, giving us another hint at the design house's latest. Sources suggest it could be called the Quaranta ("forty" in Italiano) to commemorate the firm's fortieth anniversary, while the slogan "nature has never been so powerful" adorning the Italdesign-Giugiaro website suggests the concept will feature some sort of conceptual environmentally-friendly powertrain. With one week to go, we'll just have to sit tight and wait for the car's official debut, which is sure to be flanked by more curvaceous Italian models rivaling even their employer's penchant for teasing.
If you couldn't tell by all the previews for Geneva we've been posting, the upcoming Swiss-based motor show is a big one, one of the biggest of the year in the world. Italdesign Giugiaro has been building concept cars for shows like this one going on 40 years now. It made a huge splash at the 2006 LA Auto Show when the wraps were pulled off of the Giugiaro Mustang, so now any car under cover of Giugiaro has our curiosity piqued. The Italian design firm has begun releasing teaser images of its latest concept that will debut in Geneva, and from the veiled glimpses we get, it's looking pretty sharp. The unnamed concept (it apparantly ends in "ANTA") is appearing in conjunction with Giugiaro's 40th anniversary, so we expect a stunner. The Giugiaro Mustang, however, is a tough act to follow.
