The Bertone GB110 marks both the 110th anniversary of the design house and the rebirth of the brand under new ownership.
Bertone, one of Italy’s great design houses, was founded 110 years ago. Now, the rights to the brand are owned by two Italian industrialist brothers, and it’s just revealed the GB110, the concept for a new supercar that makes some bold claims.
Notably, 1100 hp, 1100 Nm of torque (811 lb-ft), 0-186 mph in 14 seconds, and a 236-mph top speed. Oh, and it runs on fuel made from plastic waste. Bertone says that 33 will be built, and customer deliveries will begin in 2024. The company also says more cars like this are to come.
The press release notes that “[t]he development of the chassis is based on components from a German manufacturer.” We can’t help but spot the door handles and mirrors from the Lamborghini Huracan, itself a supercar that draws much from Bertone’s design heritage. The Huracan and the Audi R8 are based around the same basic chassis, so we suspect that the GB110 will be a heavy rework of one of the two, though it doesn’t look like a simple reskin. The GB110, for example, has scissor doors just like Bertone’s most iconic car, the Lamborghini Countach.
In the video reveal from Bertone, we hear the distinct exhaust note of a V-10, though to get to 1100 hp, the Audi/Lamborghini V-10 will have to be augmented by….something, be that forced induction or a hybrid system. Or maybe both. Bertone doesn’t go into specifics.
The company does, however, talk a lot about design, as one expects. The most prominent influence is the Lancia Stratos Zero concept of 1970, which gives the GB110 its distinctive triangular shape behind the door. Bertone was the driving force behind the wedge-shaped designs of the Sixties and Seventies, yet the GB110 has more rounded edges to pay homage to the company’s earlier road cars. The doors also have glass inserts in reference to the Lamborghini Marzal, a concept that previewed some of the designs seen on Lamborghini’s Espada GT car.
We’d be remiss not to talk about the name. It is obviously a reference to Gruppo Bertone’s 110th anniversary, but it is almost identical to the Bugatti EB110 of the Nineties. That car was named for Ettore Bugatti’s 110th anniversary. One wonders what Bugatti thinks of Bertone using such a similar name.
Pricing for the new car hasn’t yet been announced, and we still have a lot of questions about its exact spec. Hopefully we’ll learn and see more in due course.
Chris Perkins Senior Editor Chris Perkins is the Web Editor for Road & Track magazine.