km : Automotive News

Last week we showed you that the designers at Pininfarina are working on a very special roadster to celebrate its own 75th birthday and Alfa Romeo's 100th. This week we can confirm that Bertone, too, will commission an Alfa sports car concept for the Geneva show in March.

It's hard to judge much by the single sketch Bertone has released, other than the fact that the car will have a face that's hard to trust but is without a doubt quite menacing. We're told the concept is a 2+2 coupe based on the 8C Competizione and uses that car's 444-hp V8 engine. Like Alfa and Pininfarina, Bertone is preparing for a birthday party itself, as the firm will turn 100 in the year 2012.

The Pininfarina and Bertone concepts, along with one we haven't seen from Giugiaro, are part of a three-way comptition for the design of Alfa's next 159. They will show three directions the vehicle could go, and in three bodystyles of coupe, convertible, and sedan. The production car is set to go on sale in 2011.

see what others are saying about this story...