Italy’s famed but troubled design house Bertone made a comeback at this year’s edition of the Geneva Salon with a new sports car concept designed to celebrate Alfa Romeo’s 100th anniversary.
Named after a species of raptors, more commonly referred to as the sea hawk, Bertone’s Pandion concept is loosely based on the Alfa Romeo 8c Competizone using the same high-revving 450HP 4.7-liter V8 engine.
The Pandion, which is the first car to be produced by Mike Robinson in his new role as Design and Brand Director at Bertone, measures 4,620 mm in length, 1,971 mm in width, 1,230 mm in height and rides on a 2,850 mm long wheelbase.
By far the most impressive feature of the Pandion are its unconventional doors that follow in the tradition of Bertone’s earlier works such as the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo, the 1970 Lancia Stratos 0, the 1972 Lamborghini Countach and the 2007 Fiat Barchetta, all of which had doors that opened in an unusual manner.
In the Pandion, the doors are virtually hinged around the axis of the rear wheel and open by rotating backwards, ending up a perfect 90 degrees above the centre of the rear wheel.
When fully open, they measure more than 3.6 meters or 11.8 feet high – forget about parking in most closed areas…
According to Bertone, in the event of an accident that results in a ‘roll-over’, the doors automatically detach from the body so that the passengers can safely exit the car.
