Now it’s official: Bertone is back. Luciano D’ Ambrosio, head of the brand’s design, made the announcement during an interview with Auto&Design. The well-known Turin coachworks, the signature on some of the most iconic cars in the history of motoring, such as the Lamborghini Miura and Countach or Lancia Stratos, was taken over by Akka Italia Srl, a company specialising in engineering services and part of the French group AKKA Technologies.
“The logic behind the operation is cast iron. On the one hand we wanted to give a new life to a great design brand, on the other we wanted to add a design structure to the excellent engineering activity provided by the company”, said D’Ambrosio. The aim is to upgrade the value of the Bertone brand, in order to provide Akka customers with a specialised, competent service. Bertone returns to do more design than styling, the watchword being feasibility: “As in the past, our idea is to make complete products, true concept cars of advanced research, eventually able to be produced. The research part will adhere precisely to the content of the brand and its history, a question of Bertone design and not just styling”, said the head of Bertone design. Meaning the prospects are good for the company founded in 1912 in Turin, which for the occasion has launched the “Bertone Design Contest”, dedicated to students, independent designers and design studios. The brief is to design a sports car, a tribute to perhaps the most famous model ever penned by the Turin coachbuilder, the 1966 Lamborghini Miura.
