Original: Italian coachbuilder and design house Stile Bertone has announced today it will be presenting a new concept car at next month’s Geneva Motor Show despite its current financial turmoil. Bertone is on the verge of bankruptcy but it promises that at Geneva it will unveil the new Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 11 concept car.
"We will be at the show," Bertone Vice-Chair Marie-Jeanne Bertone revealed to reporters from Automotive News Europe. However, soon after the initial statement Bertone Chairman Lilli Bertone (Marie-Jeanne’s mother) said the styling division of the Bertone group would skip the show because it’s “currently undergoing a deep industrial restructuring.”
The new Bertone is said to be based on the stunning Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione supercar but is designed as a pure styling exercise and thus has no interior. The initials B.A.T. stands for Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica or aerodynamic technical Berlinetta in English. If it eventually makes an appearance, this will be the first major design work since Bertone’s previous Barchetta Concept (pictured) designed for Fiat last year.