Geneva 2012: Touring Superleggera Disco Volante

Disco Volante is Italian for "Flying Saucer."  Of course, everything sounds slightly sexier in Italian (Quattroporte!), but Flying Saucer is a good start.  Touring built this outlandish concept car as a 60th anniversary of the original flying saucer - the 1952 Disco Volante, based off of the lithe Alfa Romeo 1900.

The original car was designed to be super-light and minimize wind resistance, which enabled a surprising top speed of 140mph with just a 2.0L four-cylinder.  The new Disco Volante won't have to struggle so much: it's basically a reskinned Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, so it's powered by the same 4.7L Maserati V8, with 450 horsepower.  The Disco has a rear-mounted sequential shifting transaxle for ideal weight distribution, as well.

Of course, if you're staring with an 8C, it's hard to make something prettier.  I can't definitively say the DV is prettier than the 8C, but it's certainly gorgeous - and striking.  The wildly flared rear hips, absurdly steep tumblehome (the line dividing the upper and lower segments of the body), the partially fared in front wheels and the pinched-in rear end all echo the shape of the original, without being retro in the details.

But none of this would be particularly fascinating if it was simply an excercise in "Hey, look what we can do!"  Touring says they'll produce a limited number of Disco Volantes for customers.  If you're hankering for one (and have the no doubt immense bankroll), there'll be quite a wait.  Each Disco Volante takes more than 4,000 man hours to convert - because the body panels are all hand-beaten aluminum, like they used to do back in the old days, with the exception of the carbon-fiber bumpers.  Touring says it's about an 8 month wait from ordering time.

That's about all there is to say regarding the Disco Volante - check out the artsy gallery below, and leave your thoughts in the comments section.  Gorgeous?  Too bizarre?  Let us know!

Live images via carscoop.blogspot.com