Combining the heart of a Lamborghini with an avant-garde design and gullwing doors, the Genesis was far from being an ordinary minivan. Renault proved that minivans could be exciting with the Espace F1 concept unveiled in 1994, but only a few people will probably remember that wasn’t the first attempt to make an otherwise bland genre of cars more alluring. Famous Italian design house Bertone envisioned the Genesis concept for the 62nd Turin International Motor Show with a V12 engine borrowed from the Lamborghini Countach Quattrovalvole, complete with a mighty 455 horsepower.
The 5,167cc engine fitted with six Weber carburetors drove the rear wheels through a three-speed automatic gearbox rather than the five-speed manual transmission of the Countach 5000 QV. Remember that in 1988, Chrysler owned Lamborghini, hence why the gearbox was of the TorqueFlite type. With the gear ratios being very long, the Genesis wasn’t exactly quick. The fact that it weighed roughly 1,800 kg also didn’t help.
Source: www.bertone.it
Images: Carrozzeria Bertone s.p.a.
