Italian styling house Bertone has unveiled its radical new sports car, the Bertone Runabout.

Based on one of Marcello Gandini’s most daring concepts – 1969’s Autobianchi A112 Runabout – Bertone’s distinctive wedge-shaped modern interpretation is set to go into limited production with 25 cars, each with a price tag starting from an eye-watering €390,000 (AUD$670,000) before tax and options.

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The Autobianchi A112 was presented at the Turin motor show in 1969, and while never intended for production, did influence the design of several production cars, most notably the Fiat X1/9 and Lancia Stratos. It was fitted with a mid-mounted 1.1-litre Fiat-sourced inline four-cylinder engine sending drive to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual gearbox.

Bertone’s modern take on Gandini’s 1969 original design features a carbon-fibre body draped over a lightweight bonded-aluminium chassis. Power comes from a mid-mounted Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre supercharged V6 – the same engine found in the Lotus Emira – making 350kW and 470Nm. A six-speed manual sends those outputs to the rear wheels and, thanks to its 1057kg kerb weight, the 0-100km/h benchmark sprint is dispatched in just 4.1 seconds.

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Two versions will be available to order – a Targa, that features removable roof panels or the Barchetta, a roofless speedster that remains true to the design of the original concept.

Notable features include pop-up headlights, sculpted into a sharply-raked bonnet and forged aluminium wheels – 18-inch up front and 19s at the rear – that pay more than a passing nod to the wheels found on Gandini’s 1969 concept.

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“Our intention from the beginning was to translate the essence of the 1969 Runabout into a car that feels entirely relevant today,” said Bertone’s design lead for the project, Andrea Mocellin. “The process didn’t start from styling but from spirit: the nautical inspiration, the playfulness, and the purity of purpose that defined the original.”

The interior features plenty of handcrafted leather draped over the dash and carbon-fibre seat shells, while machined aluminium components, including the manual shifter and exposed gear linkages, play to the Runabout’s analog philosophy, as does the two-spoked steering wheel devoid of any switchgear. A dash-mounted marine compass pays homage to the original concept.

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“We approached history not as a set of shapes to copy, but as a set of values to reinterpret,” said Mocellin. “The 1969 Runabout was audacious, experimental, and refreshingly simple – those qualities became our north star.”

The Bertone Runabout will be shown to the public for the first time at this week’s Salon Rétromobile in Paris, France.