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The story
Carrozzeria Falco becomes Carrozzeria Touring
Carrozzeria Touring traces its roots to the 1926 purchase of a controlling interest in the Milan-based coachbuilder, Carrozzeria Falco, by Milanese lawyers Felice Bianchi Anderloni (1882–1948) and Gaetano Ponzoni from Carrozzeria Falco's founder, Vittorio Ascari. The new owners changed the name of the firm to Carrozzeria Touring. Bianchi Anderloni, a former test driver for Isotta Fraschini and Peugeot Italia employee, assumed styling and engineering duties while Ponzoni assumed responsibility for administration of the firms business activities.
Early work
Carrozzeria Touring's location at Via Ludovico da Breme 65 placed the coachbuilder near automobile manufacturers Alfa Romeo, Citroën and Isotta Fraschini. Predictably, Touring's first bodywork assignments were for chassis produced by these companies.
Development of the Superleggera construction system
Bianchi Anderloni came to Touring more as an automobile designer than a car constructor, and learned the mechanics of the trade as the company progressed. The company licensed Charles Weymann's system of fabric-covered lightweight frames, a predecessor of their own Superleggera construction system. Touring hired Giuseppe Seregni, who previously collaborated with Bianchi Anderloni on the 1927 Isotta Fraschini 'Flying Star', as Carrozzeria Touring's first professional designer.
Touring's skills with light alloy and fabric-covered tubing forms brought commercial success in aircraft production in the 1930s, leading Bianchi Anderloni to develop the Superleggera construction system, patented in 1936. This "super lightweight" system consists of a structure of small diameter tubes to form the body's shape with thin alloy panels attached to cover and strengthen the framework. Additionally the system offered great versatility, allowing Touring to quickly construct innovative body shapes.
In 1937, at Mille Miglia, Alfa Romeo 6C 2300B was the first appearance of a Touring car built with the Superleggera system.
Prior to World War II, Touring gained fame for their Superleggera bodies, particularly those made for the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 and the BMW 328 chassis.
Post WWII activities
The company quickly re-energized after the war, with the Superleggera system widely licensed and copied. Felice Bianchi Anderloni died in 1948 and his son, Carlo Felice "Cici" Bianchi Anderloni, (1916–2003) took over management of the firm under the guidance of Ponzoni. The two would remain in charge of the firm until the company discontinued production in 1966. Chief designer at that time was Federico Formenti.
Formenti's first major project was to create a body for the Ferrari 166 MM Touring barchetta, which debuted in 1948. Automotive design critic Robert Cumberford has referred to the body design for the 166 as "One of the most charismatic shapes ever." The egg-crate grille of the 166 became a signature Ferrari design element and is still in use by Ferrari today.
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Touring was particularly active late in the late 50s, with design and body production for the Pegaso Z-102, Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint, Alfa Romeo 2600, Aston Martin DB4, Lancia Flaminia GT, Lamborghini 350, Lamborghini 400 GT and Maserati 3500 GT.
The Aston Martin DB4, the DB5 (famously driven by fictional character James Bond) and the DB6 were named after David Brown's initials. He entrusted Touring Superleggera to design their next generation GT after the introduction of the successful DB2. The license agreement enabled Aston Martin to use the design and the Superleggera construction method at Newton Pagnell plant against a licence fee of £9 for each of the first 500 bodies and £5 for each further unit.
Contract manufacturing
Touring's business began to decline as automobile manufacturers replaced body-on-frame construction with monocoque construction. The carmakers began to build their own bodies in their production lines. However, they were not able to produce less than a few thousand units yearly. Therefore, they decided to assign the body production to coachbuilders. This led coachbuilders to invest in additional manufacturing capacity. Once Touring Superleggera had the new plant in Nova Milanese completed, market fluctuation caused the loss of contractors. The company had to wind-up in 1966, although bankruptcy never occurred.
Legacy
During the winding up, roughly 80% of Touring Superleggera's archives caught fire. Seeking to reestablish a record of the firm's production, Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni got in touch with every owner, creating the Touring Superleggera registry and leading it from 1995 on.
In 1995, he contributed to the revival of Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, serving as president of the jury until his death in 2003. In his honor, the show began to award the "Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni Memorial Trophy" to the most elegant car with a body by Touring.
21st century
In 2006, a group of private investors specializing in high-end automotive makes, bought the brand and trademarks from the late owner. A newly created firm, Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera S.r.l. was established in Milan to provide automotive design, engineering, coachbuilding, homologation services, non-automotive industrial design, and restoration of historic vehicles.
At the 2008 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, Touring debuted the Bellagio Fastback Touring, based on the Maserati Quattroporte and the A8 GCS Berlinetta Touring, a concept car powered by a Maserati drivetrain. At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Touring Bentley Continental Flying Star premiered: a shooting-brake model based on the Bentley Continental GTC, coach built in limited series, with the endorsement of Bentley.
In 2011, it was followed by Gumpert Tornante by Touring, a superfast Grand Tourer commissioned by the German sports car manufacturer.
On the stage of the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, Touring Superleggera showcased a static style model based on the space-frame chassis of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. It was a tribute to the C52 Disco Volante, a racing car with a Touring Superleggera designed body introduced in 1952. The name in Italian stands for "Flying Saucer". The Disco Volante was very streamlined, wind tunnel tested and with the body built on a tubular space frame.
The style model gave birth, in 2013 to the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante by Touring, a bespoke car limited-series of eight units that won that year's Design Award at Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.
Revealed in 2014, the MINI Superleggera Vision is a concept car created in collaboration with BMW Group. It is an electric roadster. Anders Warming, head of MINI design and Touring Superleggera merged their teams to "explore new design languages for the British brand".
The Touring Berlinetta Lusso appeared in 2015. It is a street legal, 2-seater coupé featuring a three-volume form based on the Ferrari F12berlinetta. Like all modern Touring Superleggera models, it combines hand-beaten aluminium panels with carbon fibre. The series will be built in 5 units.
The Aero3 is a car introduced by Touring Superleggera in 2020. Its prominent rear fin was inspired by the aerodynamic berlinetta of the 1930s, particularly the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Berlinetta Speciale Le Mans. The Aero3's streamlined design features a rear spoiler and no rear window.
The Arese RH95 was introduced by Touring Superleggera in 2021 to commemorate the company's 95th anniversary. It is Touring's first entry into mid-engined designs. Six variations of the Arese RH95 were produced.
The Superleggera Veloce12 was unveiled at Monterey Car Week in 2024. It is a limited-edition grand tourer, based on the Ferrari 550 Maranello, with a production run of 30 cars planned.
From Wikipedia’s article on Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4