Franco Scaglione, “My Father” His Life in the Words of His Daughter Giovanna
As told to Robert Little, Renzo Carbonaro, Vladimir Pajevic and Ulrich Zensen
Copyright: 8 November 2017 All World Rights Reserved
Republished with permissions with changes to suit the format of VeloceToday.com
Part V: Franco Scaglione and the B.A.T.
Courtesy Centro Documentazione Storica Alfa Romeo
Instead of presenting a narrative based upon the writing of others who probably had no first or second hand knowledge of the true facts surrounding the creation of the Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica series, we have chosen to simply reproduce the facsimile below which should serve to illuminate the B.A.T. process from the standpoint of Bertone.
It was written as a response to Strother MacMinn, well-known to VeloceToday.com readers and sheds a new light on the reasons and the methods that produced the series of B.A.T. Alfas and the translated document is as follows:
Telefax
From: Bertone
Sender: G.B. Panicco
Receiver: Mr. Strother MacMinn
Date: November 24, 1989
Subject: B.A.T. cars
Dear Mr. MacMinn,
Thanks for your fax of November 14. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance has been a very important event for us and we thank you again for the unique chance given us.
Coming to the specific questions you are asking about the B.A.T.s, I must unfortunately say that no historical documents are available with Bertone. The answers you will find here below come out from memories, talks and so on had with Nuccio Bertone himself.
1. The idea for the B.A.T. production was entirely conceived by Bertone and there was no cooperation by Alfa Romeo with the project. The main philosophy of B.A.T. cars in Bertone mind was to explore the ultimate possibility of advanced design. The choice of Alfa Romeo engine and chassis was the consequence of an important work given in those days by Alfa Romeo to Bertone.
2. As previously told, there was no financial cooperation by Alfa Romeo. Bertone bought the necessary chassis and just informed Alfa Romeo about the idea of using those chassis as the basic mechanical lay-out of a future show car with no plan of possible production. No tests were executed by Alfa Romeo because their experimental department was too busy and too much engaged in other projects at that time.
3. The design of the B.A.T. cars came out straight away. The design project was the very immediate expression of the first idea. The design theme was developed with the cooperation of Franco Scaglione and with the great and unique craftsmanship of Ezio Cingolani who was responsible of the project development and manufacturing.
4/5. The B.A.T. 5 model was made directly in full size with very few sketches and most of the work directly done at the modelling stage by Franco Scaglione and continuously reviewed by Nuccio Bertone himself. The same happened for B.A.T. 7 and B.A.T. 9. The previous experience of B.A.T. 5 made the manufacturing of B.A.T. 7 and B.A.T. 9 easier and faster. You have to keep in mind that the three cars were 100% handmade. At that time, no wind tunnel tests were executed. In order to get some aerodynamic information we used the system of fitting on the outside body some wool threads. The cars were then driven on the road at different speeds and the pictures showed the aerodynamic movements of the wool threads.
6. In our file, we discovered that only B.A.T. 5 was sold to Mr. Arnolt. The car was delivered on October 1st, 1953 at the price of USD 7,650. B.A.T. 7 was sold on January 13, 1955 to Alfa Romeo for IT lira 3,850,000. We have no records about the sale of B.A.T. 9D. Even better, in our file the car is still registered as Bertone property!
7. The sales price of B.A.T. cars were not aimed to recover the cost of the cars but mainly to “get rid” of them. In fact, for years the strategy of many Italian design companies, including Bertone, was to show the car and immediately sell them due to lack of storing place.
Sorry for not having more information about B.A.T. cars. I hope this information will reach you in due time.
Kindest Regards,
/s/
G.B. Panicco
Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica series by Scaglione, original rendering courtesy of the artist Dott. Massimo Grandi, “il Paradigna Scaglione”.
Giovanna adds that she was a very young child when the Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica cars were designed by her father. However, she does recall the following story her Babbo told her as a little girl:
“These were machines designed and built, not to enter production, but for aerodynamic studies. As everyone knows, they were, however, perfectly
designed and capable with certain production modifications of being produced in the future. The European market was not ready for such a futuristic car.
“I think I have told Robert that B.A.T. 7 has been taken to the Geneva Motor Show via the road by being driven instead of trucked. The Bertone staff were extremely late in completing the vehicle for the Geneva show and there was no time to take it with the truck; too slow, so Nuccio decides to take the car on the highways. Nuccio and Babbo leave with the car and with a spare car and a pair of mechanics, spare wheels and some parts that could serve in case of failure. Of course a car like this (testing license plates) attracted the attention of other motorists. When the B.A.T. for stopped gasoline a lot of people surrounded the cars’ fenders, admiring it and in doing so asked many questions.
“Time was short and they had to leave immediately. A few words of thanks and away. The two and the B.A.T. arrived at Geneva healthy and fresh: after a car wash and polish then they brought the B.A.T. 7 to the Salon. We know how much attention they raised!”
Photo Gallery by Hugues Vanhoolandt
B.A.T. 5 Alfa Romeo 1900 chassis number 01396
B.A.T. 7 Alfa Romeo 1900 chassis number 01485
B.A.T. 9 Alfa Romeo 1900 chassis number 01600
I was fortunate to see all the B.A.T cars at a show in Seaport Village in San Diego. I don’t recall the exact year but it was sometime in the early 90s. I remember reading that shortly after that the cars were sold off and left the United States, the supposition was that they would never be shown together again. This of course was not true as they have appeared together at least in Pebble beach if not other places.
Franco Scaglione was fortunate or intuitive to work for a carrozzeria such as Bertone were the designs were given credit to the designer. Not like PF.