Geneva motor show 2013: Touring Superleggera Disco Volante

Italian coachbuilder Touring Superleggera has created the Disco Volante, a stunning new model based on the Alfa Romeo 8C.

The production car for the Geneva motor show follows a concept of the same name at Geneva last year. The Disco Volante will be built to order at a price available on application only. Each one will take 4000 man-hours to make over the course of about six months.

The Alfa C52 Disco Volante of 1952 inspires the design of the 2013 Disco Volante. The brief for the 2013 car was to blend 'innovation, emotion and aerodynamic properties into a timeless and essential shape'.

The Alfa 8C's chassis, 444bhp 4.7-litre V8 and major hard points have carried over unchanged, with Touring Superleggera's main work centring on producing striking new bodywork, which is prodominantly aluminium.

The interior is luxuriously appointed and fully customisable, featuring high-quality leather and Alcantara. The Disco Volante can crack 0-62mph in 4.2sec and reach a 181mph top speed.

Milan-based Touring Superleggera has been designing and creating hand-built cars since 1926.

"With the production model we have gone back to our tradition of producing exciting shapes for the best-performing chassis. Coachbuilding today is a response to a growing demand for personalisation and for bespoke cars," said a spokesman.

"It obviously implies beautiful design, but it now requires engineering and technical skills at the highest level. This is what we are doing to revive the coachbuilding industry in the 21st century.

"Bespoke cars explore the future of design in a feasible way. Unlike concept cars from major manufacturers, our cars are visible today and made to be driven now.

"In less than one year we have developed the production model from the style model. The Disco Volante is now ready to be enjoyed by those who appreciate its unique combination of craftsmanship, quality, innovative design and a good deal of automotive history.

"During development the car had to preserve the design essence of the original style model in spite of the technical constraints. We solved the technical problems immediately without compromising the design.

"We changed many elements during this process. Maybe one single piece of the car is the same as the design that we showed last year, but what is important is that we retained the original proportions and I believe the final design is even more impressive."