The first twenty-five years of the 21st century have seen a plethora of captivating coachbuilt automobiles commissioned by a variety of clients through a handful of noted Italian coachbuilders. Pininfarina, Touring, and Zagato have led the way in terms of collaborating with major manufacturers, but also branching out on their own to create concept cars and one-offs for wealthy customers.

Built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bertone, the Nuccio was named for Nuccio Bertone, the son of Giovanni Bertone who founded the company. Bertone’s design director at the time, Michael Robinson, found his inspiration for this project through one of Bertone’s most iconic one-offs, the Lancia Stratos Zero, and reimagined its design for the 21st century. From initial concepts to completed car, the entire process took Bertone three and a half months, with all work done entirely in house.

At its heart was a 4.3-litre V-8 engine which was mated to a six-speed Graziano automated manual gearbox, controlled through F1-style shift paddles mounted to the steering column. Much thought was given to the ergonomics of the interior during the design process, to make the car comfortable to spend time in despite its groundbreaking design. Interestingly, one patented feature introduced on the Nuccio by Bertone was a forward-facing brake light, which would see a section of the headlights glow blue upon braking to let pedestrians in front of the Nuccio know it was reducing speed.

The Nuccio was first shown to the public as a static display piece at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, where the design was undoubtedly one of the most radical and forward-thinking on display that year. Meanwhile, Bertone completed a separate running and driving Nuccio back at its Turin headquarters, which itself was first shown at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show. Largely identical in design, conventional headlights were added whilst retaining the distinctive wrap-around headlight at the nose, and the windshield was widened and fitted with a single wiper. Following its display at Turin, the Nuccio made its way to the United States, where the car was shown at Concorso Italiano for its introduction to the American market, prior to returning to Bertone’s facilities in Italy.

Unfortunately for Bertone, the company had fallen upon hard times and filed for bankruptcy in 2015, leaving the Nuccio as the very last car designed by Bertone to bear the company’s name. Despite efforts by Bertone to find a buyer when the car was on the show circuit, the functional Nuccio remained unsold and sat in storage at Bertone’s facilities from 2012 until it was sold at an auction containing many assets from Bertone in 2018. At this point, the Nuccio was purchased by the current owner, the car’s first and only private owner, and it has remained in his collection ever since. Seldom seen since his acquisition, it was most recently on display with RM Sotheby’s at The ICE in St. Moritz in 2025. At the time of cataloging, the car's odometer was showing 29,127 km, the vast majority of which was accrewed by the donor car prior to its conversion by Bertone.

Undoubtedly one of the most memorable coachbuilt cars produced in recent memory, the Nuccio represents a significant moment in Bertone’s history, recalling one of its most famous concepts for the modern age. It will surely be a highlight at concours events in the future and offers its next owner the tantalizing opportunity to showcase it at any number of concours events around the world.