As a precursor to the legendary Statos HF rally car, Bertone built this one-of prototype for the 1970 Turin Motor Show. Its dramatic wedge shape had a profound effect on later automotive design including many of Bertone’s later cars for Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo. It rivaled the Ferrari Modulo which was also revealed at the Turin show by Pininfarina.

This remarkable car was the work of Marcello Gandini at Bertone. With its space-inspired lines, Nuccio Bertone was initially going to call the car the Stratolimite before the final name was chosen. The wedge shape preceded the Stratos by two years when Bertone launched the Alfa Romeo Carabo in 1968.

Eugenio Pagliano said the Stratos was designed to be as low as possible, and it achieved that goal by being only 33 inches from the ground, nearly 3 inches lower than the rivaling Ferrari Modulo. To achieve this, the Stratos used a custom-built chassis with the Fulvia HF suspension at the rear.

The Stratos repositioned a Fulvia 1.6 HF engine behind the driver which made room for the dramatic wedge shape. The car was only 33 inches in height and used a new suspension system. Like many of Bertone’s cars of the period, the Statos 0 or Zero was fully functional, and Nuccio Bertone has reportedly driven the car to Lancia board meetings.