Bertone Pandion Concept Wings Into Geneva

As an art car I still have trouble appreciating much. What I am a bit stunned at is why Bertone would whiff this opportunity away by choosing to do an art car. The company is reconstituting itself after bankruptcy and years of drama. Getting clients and finding talented designers who want to work for an uncertain paycheck must both be difficult. The last two cars from Bertone, that nearly anyone can remember, are both basically art cars. The Mantide and BAT1174th, or whatever the number the series is at, are much more art than practical production or consumer products. These represent about the last ten years of my Bertone memory. Wouldn't something as high profile as a commission from Alfa, conducted jointly with ones to Pininfarina and Italdesign warrant a more serious attempt? Wouldn't it be a bunch more smart to try to actually sell something or even put the world on notice that the design house could, uh, produce a design that a client would actually buy?

They could easily be drawing attention for things to come. But either way; they live to do this. And have been doing so for decades. They produce concepts not sales. Nothing new there. I myself would like to see a more concrete production of these beauties. So perhaps something of that nature will come forth for once. But it seems, as has been the case for decades, that such automakes quite simply get-off on producing nothing but concepts. Apparently "keeping the dream alive" but not making it a reality is enough for them. *Screw consumation* in a nutshell. Again, an art car..just meant to inspire it seems. In a way I greatly respect the likes of Pininfarina, Bertone and Italdesign for doing what they do because they manage to escape (even if bankruptcy lurks) the defining bottom-line that you allude to. But in the same breath and to reiterate, I would very much like it if more of these concepts made it to the streets if for nothing more than very limited productions. *Perfect examples* - The BMW Concept CS and the Pinin Maserati Birdcage - which this Alfa greatly reminds me of. These cars could have been gold delivered by God himself. By the way, I believe you're able to purchase a Mantide if you want one. Last I heard, they didn't want to produce more than 10. Don't know how many they sold if any, never checked either.

Agreed