While coachbuilding was at its height in the pre-war era, it has experienced a renaissance in the 21st century, led by some of the same pioneering design houses that brought such incredible cars to life in the past. Pininfarina, Zagato, Italdesign, and in the case of the car offered here, Carrozzeria Touring, have all pushed automotive design into the future while seeking to celebrate their respective histories.

Carrozzeria Touring’s modern Alfa Romeo Disco Volante was inspired by the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante of 1952. The first Alfa Romeo built with a monocoque body shell chassis, the original Disco Volante tipped the scales at just 735 kilograms, allowing the 158 bhp 1900 Sprint engine to propel it to a top speed of over 220 km/h. Five cars were built, all initially built as Spiders, but just one car was rebodied as a coupe. Touring themselves argue that the first Disco Volante is one of their most important designs, and one that influenced not only their own design language, but the work of many designers to follow.

Looking to refresh their 1950s design for the modern era, the 8C Competizione was an obvious base for a new Disco Volante, as this was Alfa Romeo’s highest-performance car for a generation. Breaking cover in 2012 at the Geneva Motor Show, the Disco Volante received near universal acclaim. It is thought that no more than ten coupes were built, with each example being unique. Keeping up with their rich traditions, each car’s bodywork was made of hand-beaten aluminium panels. Inside, Touring reupholstered the interior, creating their own distinctive flair, awash in leather, aluminium, and carbon fibre.

Like the coachbuilt cars of yesterday, Touring took the Disco Volante to numerous concours d'elegance where its design was widely acclaimed, winning its class at the 2016 Zoute Grand Prix Concours d’Elegance, Best of Show at the 2014 Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille Concours d’Etat, and the Design Award for Concept Cars & Prototypes by Public Referendum at the 2013 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

This example here was commissioned by the current owner and completed in 2018. Using a donor 8C Competizione with 6,300 km on the odometer, the car was built to unique specifications and dubbed the ‘C52 Special Edition’. Finished in stunning Rosso paintwork to match the original C52 Disco Volante, the car sports Alfa Romeo emblems from 1952 (rather than the modern emblems used on an 8C Competizione), a cross motif over the grille, painted Quadrifoglio logos on the front ¾ panels, matte carbon, and the rear window has been replaced with a black cover. Inside, the car is trimmed in black leather with red detailing, as well as a brown leather-trimmed steering wheel to visually mimic a wooden steering wheel. A keen enthusiast, the owner did not shy away from using his brand new, one-off coachbuilt Alfa Romeo as its manufacturers intended, and today it has been driven just under 11,600 km from new, approximately 5,200 of which was accrued following the completion of Touring’s work. Upon arriving to Japan in Touring guise, the car was shown at the Concorso d’Eleganza Kyoto in 2018 to great fanfare. Later that year, it was used in the Japanese leg of the Gumball 3000, starting in Osaka, passing through Kyoto, and finishing in Tokyo.

A spectacular reimagining of Alfa Romeo’s celebrated 21st century supercar, the Disco Volante combines spectacular craftsmanship and style with modern performance. A surefire head-turner wherever it goes, the Disco Volante is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular automotive designs of the 21st century.