The saga of Bertone took another twist today as it was suggested that the firm's BAT11 concept will make an appearance in Geneva tomorrow although not in the halls of the motor show itself.

The convoluted saga of Bertone took yet another twist today as it was suggested that the firm's exciting new BAT11 concept will make an unexpected appearance in Geneva tomorrow although not in the halls of the motor show itself. Instead Bertone Vice Chairman Marie-Jeanne Bertone told Automotive New Europe today that the BAT11 concept would be unveiled "in a nice location in the city of Geneva."

Very little detail is known about the new concept car, dubbed BAT11, except that it seeks to revive Bertone's famous BAT (Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica) line of concept cars and is based on the new Alfa 8C Competizione sportscar. It is rumoured to be a purely eye-catching show car and is thus devoid of any interior.

This unexpected twist today is just the latest episode in a drama that is gripping the historic design and engineering firm. On 14th February Bertone had issued a statement to say they would not be turning up in Geneva for the first time in half a century. "Company management is being thoroughly restructured, and as a result of this we are not in a position to meet the obligations of an event that is so much in the public eye," said Lilli, who is the Chairwoman of the Stile Bertone division, which is responsible for the design and manufacturing of the concept showcars.

However within hours of that statement being sent out ANE reported that it had recieved an SMS message from Marie-Jeanne Bertone saying "we will be at the show". Marie-Jeanne and her mother, Lilli, have only been communiucating with each other through their lawyers ever since 72-year-old Lilli made a surprise announcement that she proposed to sell the company to the turnaround specialist Domenico Reviglio on 2nd January. That agreement subsequently fell through and the Turin-based Bertone firm is now being run by three adminstrators who were apppointed by a bankrupcy tribunal.

Following Marie-Jeanne's claim that the BAT11 would be in Geneva last month, the firm fired back with another press release which denied her claims and reaffirmed that there was no intention to be at the 78th edition of the Swiss motor show. All remained quiet until today and the brief ANE report, and at the same time new sketch of the BAT11 has surfaced as Bertone seek to leverage the image of a series of three stunning Alfa Romeo based and badged concept cars that it built and which wowed the automotive world more than fifty years ago. Sequentially odd numbered, the BAT 5, BAT 7 and BAT9 were the undoubted stars of the biggest motor shows from 1953 to 1955.