Fiat Ritmo Bertone Supercabrio 100S Palinuro 1986 Two-Tone Blue Metallic Mitica 1:18

The Fiat Ritmo Supercabrio occupies a particular corner of Italian automotive history: a production convertible engineered entirely by Bertone rather than Fiat, sold during the second-generation Ritmo's run from 1982 to 1988. The 1986 Palinuro edition added a geographically named special-series identity — after the cape on the Campania coast — along with a two-tone blue metallic exterior finish that placed it firmly in the visual language of mid-decade Italian motoring. MITICA now renders it as a 1:18 scale resin model, covering a subject that mainstream die-cast manufacturers have consistently overlooked.

A Bertone Convertible, Not a Factory Cabriolet

Where most cabriolet conversions of the era involved a partial soft-top, Bertone's Supercabrio for the Ritmo went further: a fully retractable hood that distinguished it from the simpler 'Cabrio' arrangement also offered in the range. The second-generation Ritmo body, introduced in 1982 with revised front and rear styling, gave Bertone a cleaner canvas than its predecessor. The coachbuilder's involvement was not cosmetic — it manufactured the open-top body itself, making every Supercabrio as much a Bertone product as a Fiat one.

The Palinuro Series and the Two-Tone Blue Finish

Fiat issued geographically named special editions of the Ritmo for the Italian domestic market through the mid-1980s, using distinct colour packs and trim levels to differentiate limited runs from the standard catalogue. The Palinuro, named after the headland on the Campania coast, appeared in 1986 on the 100S trim — the top petrol variant, powered by a 1,585 cc SOHC inline-four producing 100 PS. The two-tone blue metallic scheme applied to this series is specific to the Palinuro and reflects precisely the colour sensibility that Italian buyers expected from a limited-run open-top at that moment.

MITICA Resin at 1:18: Detail Where Die-Cast Rarely Goes

MITICA is an Italian specialist that produces low-volume resin models at 1:18, with a focus on Italian road and coachbuilt cars that mainstream die-cast catalogues routinely skip. Resin construction allows surface geometry to be captured at a resolution that suits a subject like the Supercabrio, where the Bertone-specific body panels, the fully retractable soft-top hood and the period interior trim all carry the interest. At 3,965 mm in real length, the car scales to approximately 22.0 cm in the model — enough room for MITICA's characteristic surface accuracy to register at display distance.

In the Display Cabinet

At 22.0 cm in length, the model requires a shelf depth of at least 12 cm to sit comfortably. It pairs naturally with other Bertone-bodied Fiat products of the same decade — the X1/9 1500 is an obvious companion — and fits within any collection tracing Italian coachbuilding or 1980s open-top road cars. For a collector focused on Italian limited-edition road cars of the period, it stands alongside Lancia Delta special-series pieces from the same years, offering a different point in the Italian market's enthusiasm for geographically named editions.