Photo: Touring Superleggera
The 15th Annual Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance, scheduled from September 23rd through 26th, will attempt to stand in for a major automotive show with an all-star cast ensemble that will also include significant new model introductions. Joining the ranks of Bentley, Morgan, McLaren, or Bugatti will be coachbuilding house Touring Superleggera, with the AERO 3.
A legendary styling house from Italy, Milan’s Touring Superleggera has been creating for decades what can only be described as automotive masterpieces. Still, only time will tell if their latest model, the AERO 3, presented in a show configuration and part of a limited series of just 15 examples, will also be included in the final roster.
But the company has done its best to ensure immortality, with another creation true to Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni’s (son of the co-founder, credited as company savior) main credo: “weight is the enemy, air resistance the obstacle.” As such, the donor Ferrari F12berlinetta has been dramatically restyled with a lot of influences from racers of old time.
How old – well, the primary source of inspiration for the coachbuilder was the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM Coupé Berlinetta Aerodinamica that raced with number 19 at the year’s edition of Le Mans. But we can also see Touring’s own touches – sometimes masterful (Alfa Disco Volante C52), sometimes plain odd (the recent Sciàdipersia).
Well, this time around the styling is blending both – with a flowing line that gets interrupted at the back by the very interesting “shark fin.” The first unit’s exterior color is honoring the Disco Volante Coupé Number One, and the company says it’s the popular “Stratosphere Red.”
Quite fitting, considering the source car. Speaking of, while Touring doesn’t specifically mention the F12 by name, it does explain that it decided to keep all of its “space frame chassis and running gear (sourced from a premier Italian supercar), fully maintained in its mechanical, electrical and electronic characteristics.”
As such, the supercar performance is unchanged. Power comes from the same 6.2-liter V12 capable of churning out 730 hp and 509 lb. ft. (690 Nm), enough for a 62 mph (100 kph) sprint in 3.1 seconds and a maximum speed of 211 mph (340 kph).
Still, the styling changes were not alone - the AERO 3 is now longer at 188.4 inches (4,785 mm) and has lost a considerable amount of weight, tipping the scales at 3,619 pounds (3,948 lb. for the F12).
But the company has done its best to ensure immortality, with another creation true to Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni’s (son of the co-founder, credited as company savior) main credo: “weight is the enemy, air resistance the obstacle.” As such, the donor Ferrari F12berlinetta has been dramatically restyled with a lot of influences from racers of old time.
How old – well, the primary source of inspiration for the coachbuilder was the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM Coupé Berlinetta Aerodinamica that raced with number 19 at the year’s edition of Le Mans. But we can also see Touring’s own touches – sometimes masterful (Alfa Disco Volante C52), sometimes plain odd (the recent Sciàdipersia).
Well, this time around the styling is blending both – with a flowing line that gets interrupted at the back by the very interesting “shark fin.” The first unit’s exterior color is honoring the Disco Volante Coupé Number One, and the company says it’s the popular “Stratosphere Red.”
Quite fitting, considering the source car. Speaking of, while Touring doesn’t specifically mention the F12 by name, it does explain that it decided to keep all of its “space frame chassis and running gear (sourced from a premier Italian supercar), fully maintained in its mechanical, electrical and electronic characteristics.”
As such, the supercar performance is unchanged. Power comes from the same 6.2-liter V12 capable of churning out 730 hp and 509 lb. ft. (690 Nm), enough for a 62 mph (100 kph) sprint in 3.1 seconds and a maximum speed of 211 mph (340 kph).
Still, the styling changes were not alone - the AERO 3 is now longer at 188.4 inches (4,785 mm) and has lost a considerable amount of weight, tipping the scales at 3,619 pounds (3,948 lb. for the F12).
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