The story of Bertone: the Most Controversial Coachbuilder Ever
The beginning of Bertone Bertone was founded in November 1912, when Giovanni Bertone, then aged 28, opened a workshop specialising in the construction and…
The Alfa Romeo Alfetta Tour by Bertone.
The Alfa Romeo Alfetta Tour was a one-off concept coupé designed and built by Carrozzeria Bertone in 1976. Based on the mechanical underpinnings of the Alfetta Type 116, the vehicle was conceived as a design study and was not developed for series production. It served as an exploration of Bertone’s late-1970s design language applied to Alfa Romeo’s contemporary transaxle platform. The chassis employed the standard Alfetta layout, featuring a front-mounted, inline four-cylinder engine paired with a rear-mounted transaxle housing the clutch, gearbox, and differential. This configuration enabled near-equal weight distribution between the front and rear axles. Engines available in production variants of the Alfetta during this period included the 1.6-litre, 1.8-litre, and 2.0-litre twin-cam four-cylinder units, with outputs ranging from 109 to 130 horsepower. The Alfetta Tour’s specific engine fitment is not recorded, but it is assumed to have used one of the standard powerplants. Suspension consisted of independent front wheels with torsion bars and a de Dion rear axle with Watts linkage, trailing arms, and transverse leaf spring. Steering was rack and pinion. The braking system included ventilated front discs and solid rear discs, consistent with production Alfetta specifications. The body was a two-door fastback coupé, characterised by angular lines, frameless windows, integrated bumpers, and a smooth, tapering rear section. The design marked a transition from the more rounded forms of the 1960s to the linear styling that would define the following decade. The interior layout and finish reflected concept-level execution but followed general themes visible in production Alfa Romeo interiors of the time. Only one specimen of the Alfetta Tour was built. It remained a design prototype and did not appear in Alfa Romeo’s commercial catalogues. The vehicle was not homologated for road use and was intended solely for display and evaluation purposes. Chassis and engine numbers have not been made publicly available, and no formal ownership record has been documented. The Alfetta Tour illustrates the role of Italian coachbuilders in shaping design direction through one-off prototypes. It demonstrates the integration of advanced mechanical layouts with evolving aesthetic principles characteristic of the mid-1970s automotive landscape.
The beginning of Bertone Bertone was founded in November 1912, when Giovanni Bertone, then aged 28, opened a workshop specialising in the construction and…
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