The Ferrari Rainbow debuted at the Turin Auto Show in November 1976 and quickly became a fixture on international stages, including the 1979 San Francisco Import Car Show and the 1980 Montreal Auto Saloon. By 1978, the car had been refurbished and sent back out on the circuit. In July, it will be seen in the Brock Yates/Hal Needham/ Burt Reynolds “Cannonball” feature film. After that, who knows? The car is still so advanced it could be repainted and again sent on the circuit to wow the crowds.
Design and Proportions
The Rainbow is essentially a larger, more flamboyant version of the earlier Fiat X1/9. It shares the pointed nose, a heavily buttressed C-pillar, and a chopped tail, but its slab-sided body is decorated with only two incised lines. Originally finished in white with black highlights, the car was repainted metallic blue in 1978, which muted the accents. The design draws heavily from Can-Am racing cars, featuring a front chin spoiler, a flat hood, and a sharply raked windshield.
Beneath the aggressive sheet metal, the Rainbow uses a Ferrari 308 GT chassis with the wheelbase stretched by four inches. This is not to imply that the Rainbow is a successful design. There’s something striking and unusual about it, but it’s not what you would call pretty. The proportions are off, and the angular theme has been carried a little far.
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Even the Speedline wheels are angular. Gandini’s Lamborghini Countach has the same type of square wheelwell arches as the Rainbow, and they don’t look any better on the Lamborghini. But the Contach does have matching arches over the rear wheels. The Rainbow has curious-looking forward-tilting rear wheelwells that were obviously an after-thought. And the rear deck has been cut off to expose the taillights.
The Unique Convertible Top
The most significant engineering feature on the Rainbow is its convertible top. Until now, there have been three kinds of convertible tops: a folding softtop with all the attendant susceptibility to leaks and sharp knives; a folding hardtop like the one on the ’57 Skyliner Ford that created a nightmare of hydraulic lines and servos and no trunk space; and the lift-off targa top, as displayed on the Porsche Targa or Fiat X1/9, complete with the hassles of lifting, carrying, and storing. The Rainbow’s top is the best convertible top ever designed, although, granted, it will only work effectively on a 2-seater.
The top is rigid aluminum, painted the color of the body, and the C-pillar is a conventional stationary Targa-style upright. But instead of lifting out for storage elsewhere, the Rainbow aluminum top simply rolls back on a pair of tracks, like a garage door, and stores vertically behind the seats. It operates manually, so there’s nothing to break or go wrong. It’s light enough for one person sitting in either seat to easily hoist up and down. And it latches with a lever conveniently located in the center of the windshield header.
When the top is down, it impedes rear visibility. So Gandini provided a moonroof the same size as the rear window, which becomes a second rear window. Unlike a conventional sliding sunroof, Gandini’s top doesn’t affect head room, and it’s convenient and more foolproof than any we’ve used. This first truly original solution to the convertible top problem is a patented design that Bertone hopes will attract a manufacturer.
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Performance and Handling
Actually, the Rainbow exists primarily as a vehicle to showcase this unique top, as well as to explore the possibilities of the mid-engine design. This is probably why the Rainbow has remained so fresh for so many years. The mid-engine revolution of the early Seventies postponed a decade. In fact, the only mid-engine design that’s a real car and not a status toy is the Fiat X1/9, which has been around for nearly 10 years. Lotus, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati are merely dreams or names to most people And, ironically, the mid-engine vehicles sold by these companies have bodies designed either by Giugiaro, who used to be with Bertone, or by Gandini, who is still with Bertone.
The mid-engine revolution is coming. Every front-drive engine/transaxle/suspension could be used as the basis for a mid-engine 2-seater, just like the much-rumored mid-engine 1982½ Chevy/Pontiac 2-seater built off the X-body chassis. The designers responsible for these cars have been looking for ideas to complement their own. We would hope they’ve discovered the Bertone Rainbow with the most clever convertible top imaginable. If they have, the Rainbow will have served its function as a show car, pointing the way for others.
How do you drive a $200,000 Ferrari? Like you would a fine piece of art with wheels.
