Touring's Disco Volante Steals Show

Of all the breathtakingly beautiful concepts on display at Villa d'Este this year, Carrozzeria Touring's rebody of the Alfa 8C takes top honors. 

The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este isn’t just about classic cars, though it never fails to draw the most beautiful of them. It’s also about new concept cars, and for the second year in a row, a prototype Alfa Romeo sportscar has been named the most beautiful of them all. And with good reason, if you ask us. Last year it was the 4C, which Alfa has since revealed in production form. But this year, the Design Award for Concept Cars & Prototypes went to Carrozzeria Touring’s Disco Volante.

For those who don’t recall, the Disco Volante is a modern interpretation of the classic Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 which earned the same nickname in 1952. Sixty years on, the reborn Touring revived the design in modern form. It’s based on the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, and retains its 450-horsepower 4.7-liter V8. But after 4,000 man-hours of labor, it’s been transformed into the shape you see here. What’s more is that any client can commission Touring to perform the same transformation on their own 8C, propelling the Disco from 0-62 in 4.2 seconds and out of concept-car territory into limited production.