Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera

The foundation of Carrozzeria Touring can be traced back to 1926. Milan-based founder of Corrozzeria Falco, Vittorio Ascari, sold a controlling interest in his company to two Milanese lawyers; Felice Bianchi Anderloni and Gaetano Ponzoni. Ascari’s younger brother was racing driver Antonio Ascari. Shortley after this transition the company was renamed Carrozzeria Touring. What was to become Touring’s famous ‘Superleggera’ (light weight) form of body construction can find its origins in 1920s France and the aviation industry and specifically Charles Weymann. Weymann had patented a type of build which saw a tightly stretched fabric attached to a wooden framework. Touring licensed this initiative from Weymann and subsequently refined and developed it. Touring patented the ‘Superleggera’ contruction method of lightweight tubular aluminium frames to which light alloy panels were attached thus strengthening the structure. Flexibility and light weight were the key components. The first car built using this technology was the 1937 Alfa Romeo 6C 2300B. Touring’s beauties include the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900, BMW 328, Pegaso Z-102, Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint, Alfa Romeo Disco Volante, Aston Martin DB4, Lancia Flaminia GT, Lamborghini 350 and 400GT and the Maserati 3500GT. The original company was forced to close its doors in 1966 due largely to the adoption of monocoque construction by the auto industry. However, a new company – Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera was established in Milan in 2006 as a design, engineering and coach building concern. In 2013, the (new) Alfa Romeo Disco Volante by Touring won the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Design Award.