Remembering the rare look into the archive of legendary design house @bertone_heritage we were afforded and included in Type 7 Volume 3, and their until-now secret design concepts for the 996-generation 911 and 986 Boxster. An excerpted version can be found below; The @lopresto.official collection is world-renowned for its beauty and rarity, but on my latest visit to their hidden Milano office, I stumbled upon something a bit more off the beaten path: The entire archives of the Bertone design company. Recently acquired via auction, every page of the history of this legendary Italian design firm was sitting in their office just a few steps away from Piazza del Duomo. Within these archives, something immediately caught my eye as we were flipping through: a project that I had never heard of in my life. For a bit of context, and with the help of Duccio Lopresto, I was able to shed light on what might have been Bertone’s vision for the 996 as well as the 986. As a preface, we spoke to Mike Robinson, the last design Director of Bertone, who explained the significance of a relatively small Italian firm being commissioned by Stuttgart to imagine a future that perhaps even they could not internally: “Working on projects requested by Porsche is a bit like an athlete qualifying for the Olympics,” he explains. “These are two extremely important projects for the brand: the next 911 (called 989) and the Boxster (called 986). Porsche evidently appreciated the very first 4-seater Porsche called Karisma, designed by Bertone in 1994, and was looking for inspiration for the evolution of these legendary Porsche models. Bertone didn’t win the design competition against the in-house Porsche Design Centre. But, like the Italians at the Tokyo Olympics this year, just being there was in itself a great victory.” Images courtesy @lopresto.official Words by @tedgushue for @type7