The Kayak, presented for the first time at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show, was a Bertone interpretation of a modern Lancia coupé in line with the traditions of the manufacturer. The car is a modern reworking of the style canons of the Italian coupé, of the great cars of the 1950's and 1960's. In keeping with Nuccio Bertone's characteristic desire to challenge the design ideas of the times, the Lancia Kayak was a modern reinterpretation of the past. At the Geneva show, the Kayak came to be seen as the frontier between what had made the Italian automobile great in the past, and the contemporary resurgence of the cabriolet and coupé. At the Turin Motor Show in 1996, Bertone presented a working prototype on a Lancia K base, intentionally characterised by proportions which recall the classic design tenets of the Neapolitan school of styling. This marked a change in the basic design of front wheel drive cars: a return to the long bonnet, evoking a powerful engine and high speeds, to the light, compact cockpit with four bucket seats, and to the short, sloping tail well blended with the wings. In short, this was a real Italian-style coupé, with tight, harmonious styling, the kind of car that Lancia had excelled at in the past. An Aurelia B20 for the year 2000.

source: Bertone