Autobianchi Runabout Tribute?

H

HumptyDumpty

Daily Driver
I've got a non-op '79 X collecting dust in my garage and I thought it would be cool to turn it into a replica of the Autobianchi Runabout, the concept car that the X1/9 was based on. Any thoughts as to how possible that would be? And does anyone know of someone who has done such a conversion?
 
I believe one was done by one of the European clubs I believe the German X1/9 club. It looked good, not perfect but good. Perhaps Ulix could track it down?

Here are some pictures of it:

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371_AutoMotoEpoca2010Padova_FiatBertoneRunabout_1969_520.jpg

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It is something I have always thought it would be fun to build and own (assuming I had more time and energy. Oh yeah money, I need more money...)

Karl
 
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An excellent tribute attempt!

Just a bit on the boxy side but the quality is there.

Never would be a legal street car but fun for a short drive on a sunny Sunday!
 
Not perfect ???

Karl, if this is less then perfect I don't know what perfect is.
I don't know the Autobianchi runabout that well to see the difference but this one looks extremely pretty.
That goes for you too, Tony. A bit boxy but what a job. And why wouldn't it be street worthy?

Enjoy -
 
I remember seeing these pics

But unfortunately, I don't remember which club showed it and where.

Two german clubs managed to get Bertone to lend them the real thing for car shows, so I hve seen the real thing, but not his one.
 
The real thing looks fabulous. Darker red it seems. Is is that lateral line black even?. Better proportions and wheel fit and all that adds up. BUILD ONE!
 
Can you imagine driving the Runabout at night?

The light from the headlight pod behind your head would be SO distracting....

....and if you had to fit rear view mirrors, you wouldn't be able to see past the pods and the light would reflect straight into your eyes anyway!!!

But I've always loved the look of it.
 
Yah, those headlight pods are a great example of a concept car where form trumps function, but that's what concepts are all about right?
Maybe make some pop "down" headlights under the nose that can retract and disappear. Of course a car like this wouldn't see much street use anyway, if any at all.
 
Here are some shots of the original...













And BTW... I didn't say that it wouldn't be "street worthy"... I said they wouldn't be (and definitely are NOT) "street legal"... which especially in this case... is about the same thing!
 
Yep...

I thought I recalled that the headlights were tucked under the nose like Speed Racer's Mach V. Those pics support that. The roll bar lights are for off-roading. The Runabout concept was based on popular dune-buggy design and incorporated speedboat styling of the time.
 
There ya go. Embedded headlights down low. So the pillar mounted ones were a nod to offloading? Crazy, I don't see much else about the runabout as lending itself to that! Build it. Make the pillar lights functional of course but on a separate circuit. Make it as streetable as you can as I would want to drive it to shows and on nice days. I will sit back and cheer.
 
Tucked-under headlights on the Mach V

On the Mach V:
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The off-roading thought is my own, just seems to be designed similar to so many dune-buggies of the same era. I could be wrong but that's what the styling says to me.
 
Bertone Shake

Gregory has something here.
According to Phil Ward's book, the Bertone Shake beach buggy was the factory development vehicle for the X1/9 project.
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So this is the off-roading link to the Runabout.

Some details here:
http://www.carstyling.ru/en/car/1970_bertone_shake/

"The Bertone Shake was built on a SIMCA 1200 S chassis, the same one used for the coupé created by the Turin designer for the French manufacturer. Bertone's attention had been captured by the "dune buggy" idea, and he decided to try his hand at this type of vehicle, albeit on a different level from the typical "home-made" car. A prototype like this was conditioned by the need to guarantee safety in all driving conditions, due to the fact that the car would often be used off-road, and the SIMCA 1200 S chassis was therefore adapted to include some stylistic elements used in a previous design (the 1969 Runabout). The Turin designer also devoted the same level attention that had gone into the preparation and adaptation of the structure of the car to cope with difficult conditions, to the finishing touches. The Bertone Shake was presented at the 1970 Paris Motor Show to widespread acclaim, above all among the younger visitors."
 
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