Automotive

Touring Superleggera fires the shark-like Aero 3 onto road and track

Touring Superleggera fires the shark-like Aero 3 onto road and track
Touring Superleggera Aero 3
Touring Superleggera Aero 3
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The 1952 Alfa Romeo C52 Disco Volante served as one inspiration behind the new Touring Superleggera Aero 3
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The 1952 Alfa Romeo C52 Disco Volante served as one inspiration behind the new Touring Superleggera Aero 3
Another inspiration: 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM
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Another inspiration: 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM Coupé Berlinetta Aerodinamica
The modern Disco Volante introduced in 2012 was yet another Aero 3 influence
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The modern Disco Volante introduced in 2012 was yet another Aero 3 influence
The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 and the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM Coupé Berlinetta Aerodinamica #19
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The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 and the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM Coupé Berlinetta Aerodinamica #19
The Touring Superleggera Aero 3's fin doesn't serve an aero function, according to Touring, but it certainly creates a memorable design
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The Touring Superleggera Aero 3's fin doesn't serve an aero function, according to Touring, but it certainly creates a memorable design
The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 has quite a profile
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The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 has quite a profile
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 model
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 model
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 adjustable spoiler
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 adjustable spoiler
A peek at the Touring Superleggera Aero 3's devilish interior
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A peek at the Touring Superleggera Aero 3's devilish interior
No mistaking what car you're taking a seat in
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No mistaking what car you're taking a seat in
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 badging
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 badging
The interior includes Foglizzo leather, polished aluminum, black matte aluminum and matte carbon fiber
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The interior includes Foglizzo leather, polished aluminum, black matte aluminum and matte carbon fiber
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 badging
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 badging
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 in the build
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 in the build
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 in the build
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 in the build
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 in the build
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 in the build
The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 has dramatic new looks but maintains the donor Ferrari's performance specs
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The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 has dramatic new looks but maintains the donor Ferrari's performance specs
A Ferrari dressed as an Alfa Romeo
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A Ferrari dressed as an Alfa Romeo
Touring Superleggera Aero 3
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3
The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 has a gorgeous rear view
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The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 has a gorgeous rear view
Touring Superleggera Aero 3
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 est. top speed: 340 km/h
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 est. top speed: 340 km/h
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 rolling through Italia
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 rolling through Italia
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 rolling through Italia
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Touring Superleggera Aero 3 rolling through Italia
View gallery - 24 images

"Weight is the enemy, air resistance the obstacle." Not novel ideas to anyone who's spent time around fast vehicles, but the all-new Aero 3 from Touring Superleggera was developed with a brief featuring that simple phrase quadruple-sized and bolded at the top. And it very much shows. With a massive rear fin and bodywork so smooth it could have been poured on, the 731-hp gussied-up Ferrari F12 slithers its way between air molecules on its way to a 211-mph (340 km/h) top speed.

The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 and the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM Coupé Berlinetta Aerodinamica #19
The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 and the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM Coupé Berlinetta Aerodinamica #19

Despite that brief, at the end of the day the Aero 3 is perhaps less a product of modern state-of-the-art lightweighting and aero practices and more an homage to mid-20th-century Italian coach building, inspired by historic Tourings like the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM Coupe Berlinetta Aerodinamica, original 50s-era Disco Volantes and modern Disco Volante series revived in 2012.

Just take the Aero's most distinguishing feature: the rear fin. It's purely decorative and meant to recall Touring's golden age of aero experimentation and testing in its first wind tunnel.

"The idea of a fin was born as a prominent but very natural extension of the teardrop shape of the passenger compartment and the purest way to illustrate the essence of Streamline Style," explains Louis de Fabribeckers, Touring Head of Design. "In the case of the Aero 3, it has no aerodynamic function in itself, but it evokes Touring’s aerodynamics legacy, from the 1930s onward."

The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 has a gorgeous rear view
The Touring Superleggera Aero 3 has a gorgeous rear view

Moving away from the crisp lines of the Prancing Horse-badged skin that usually adorns this particular 6.3-liter V12-motivated rolling chassis, Touring smooths over edges and angles in favor of sweeping, harmonious curves. This strategy is most effectively expressed by the round, muscular fenders and smooth, flowing hood. Making a Ferrari chassis look even more beautiful is not an easy task, but it's one Touring is clearly up to, its paintwork serving as the "stratosphere red" cherry atop the project.

Despite the aforementioned emphasis on lightweight, aerodynamic design, the Aero 3 weighs more than the donor F12 at 3,627 lb (1,645 kg) and shares the same performance estimates, achieving a 3.1-second 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time well ahead of the 211-mph (340 km/h) top speed. But as a gorgeous, made-to-measure limited-run coupe with retro style and modern Ferrari power and driving dynamics, it's a raging success.

Touring Superleggera Aero 3 est. top speed: 340 km/h
Touring Superleggera Aero 3 est. top speed: 340 km/h

Touring premiered the Aero 3 at this week's Salon Privé. It intends to sell just 10 to 15 examples, of which three are already spoken for. Pricing is available upon request and will vary according to buyer selections and requests.

Source: Touring Superleggera

View gallery - 24 images
5 comments
5 comments
Nobody
Beautiful if they took off that ridiculous fin and cookie pan exhaust pipes. Performance matches a Corvette with 200 less horsepower. I don't even want to know how overpriced this is.
Gemaeden
Weight is the enemy, but they add a fin that has no purpose?
SideCar
Beautiful, but nothing is lightweight about a 3600 pound car. It really is a shame that manufacturers don't take serious that phrase that weight is the enemy.
David V
Come on boys - you gotta love that fin. You have guts to put that on a car and get away with it.
Take it off and it'll look like every other sports car out there. And you can't beat red and a number on the side. I want one !
buzzclick
With all the scoops and hoops that every carrozzieria coach builder is using in their designs it's not easy to stand out, but that fin does the trick. I love everything about this car, but the large upright rectangular openings at the rear and front ends bug me, as does the face. Pity that.