A talented architect and sculptor, Bertoni fled his native Italy following a family fallout over his new wife. In 1932 he was offered a job with Citroën and quickly set to work to create a body for the engineering of André Lefèbvre. Apparently creating the monocoque body using platicine in a single night, the Lefèbvre anbd Bertoni product was the Citroën Traction Avant. Michelin took over Citroën in 1935 after the costs of developing the Traction Avant crippled the company, and engaged Bertoni and Lefèbvre to develop the Tres Petite Voiture which would be launched in 1948 as the Citroën 2CV again styled by Bertoni. The Lefèbvre and Bertoni partnership was not yet over, and even as the 2CV was starting to sell they were asked to work on the Voiture de Grande Diffusion which was launched in 1955 as the Citroën DS its appearance the result of Bertoni's skill. It was 5 years before Bertoni's next design would reach the market place and that was the Ami 6, and the one he liked most. However, the Bertoni pen had also been at work on the abandoned Projet C60 and the Projet F, both precursors of the Ami. Bertoni also designed the 'Belphégor' truck 1965-72.