Touring Shows Design Skills at Zoute Concours
The Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera coach building company has a history and tradition that stretches back more than 90 years as the first custom built bodies created by Touring - an Alfa Romeo and an Isotta Fraschini - were made in 1928. Over the years the Touring brand has always been synonymous with elegance, quality and technical innovation: the “Superleggera’ (Super lightweight) construction system was patented in 1936 and consists of a structure - made up of thin steel tubes - that forms the body’s shape, with hand-hammered alloy panels covering the framework, adding extra strength.
The Superleggera patent allowed Touring to build both unique masterpieces and limited series models with the same exquisite craftsmanship, as well as series-produced cars. Perhaps the most important part of Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera’s history is the construction of some of the most important series-produced early Ferraris such as the 166 and 212 in Coupé, Spyder and Barchetta (competition roadster) form.
Today Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera offers the same traditional values and know-how, together with top-level expertise and state-of-the-art technology. The Touring Berlinetta Lusso is a street legal two-seater coupe, first of a series of five units hand-built on demand. The tailor-made, lavish Grand Tourer in the purest spirit of Italian carrozzeria features a three-box architecture with apparent separation of volumes. It is based on the hailed F12 rolling chassis with its overpowering naturally aspirated V-12. The Berlinetta Lusso celebrates the heritage born with the first series-produced car from Maranello: the iconic Ferrari 166 MM Touring. It delivers all the thrill of driving a unique, perfect automobile. Still, as for every master work, stunning beauty, rarity, quality of execution and the association of two prestigious brands ensure the discerning owner a constant increase in the worth of his investment over time.
The overall design starts from the conception of glorious volumes and proportions, echoing the Italian fuoriserie of the golden era. There is a luxury statement in the apparent separation of volumes: a long bonnet evoking the powerful V-12 engine, a cockpit resolutely designed for two, and a discrete trunk for your precious luggage. The unmistakable Touring hallmark is the sculptural waistline edge springing from the front wheel arch, embracing the body till its muscular rear. This shape cannot be reproduced with mass-production systems. Only experienced craftsmen, assisted by state-of-the-art manufacturing technology, can shape it from hand-beaten aluminum panels. Timeless, sleek, essential, but nonetheless, sumptuous. Light, stiff and innovative, the Ferrari F12 chassis is the perfect basis for the Berlinetta Lusso coachwork. Touring Superleggera leaves all mechanical, electrical and electronic equipment and powertrain untouched, preserving the stellar performance and efficiency of what is considered one of the best supercars ever.
At Touring there is no such thing as an option list. Our customer’s individual taste shall guide our path. The creation process starts with the direct involvement of the owner, who is solicited on an array of mood boards and concepts by our design team. Every single detail of the Berlinetta Lusso is customized, respecting our credo of personal commissioning. Redesigning instruments, lighting, controls and inner panels, adapting the seat to body pattern, mastering the noblest materials: our designers develop for each Berlinetta Lusso a distinct atmosphere making it unique. The whole manufacturing cycle is documented and fully logged for future reference. Touring’s engineers and artisans devote to each manufactured unit 5000+ hours of highly skilled work. The human touch and painstaking care of each detail will always mark the difference from series production. The Berlinetta Lusso is entirely manufactured at the Touring Superleggera atelier nearby Milan.
If you would like to discuss your purchasing interest in the Touring Superleggera products please contact the following number: +39 02 939 092 85 or e-mail at: ceo@touringsuperleggera.eu.
Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera s.r.l. via per Arese, 30 20017 Terrazzano di Rho (MI) Tel. +39 02 93909285 Fax: +39 02 93908420
The images are from Vincent Yernaux, s/n 224993.
