“Inspired by the history, designed by the wind,” is the theme Touring Superleggera says led to the creation of the Aero 3, which will have its public unveiling this weekend at the 15th annual Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance at England’s historic Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill.
“Weight is the enemy, air resistance the obstacle,” Touring Superleggera said in offering a vehicle preview before the car’s official debut. Superleggera is Italian for “extra light.”
“From the aerodynamic heritage pioneered on milestones like their Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 and 8C 2900 B of the ’30s, the Disco Volante series of the ’50s, and the modern Disco Volantes of today, Touring has evolved the new Aero 3,” the company said.
“Inspired by the avant-garde ‘streamline’ designs that sprang from their own early wind tunnel, the first regularly employed by any major coachbuilder, the Aero 3 follows a clear line of design excellence directly from successes that included the 1939 Mille Miglia-winning BMW 328 Touring Berlinetta.”
“The Touring Aero 3 is our demonstration of resilience as an organization, our perseverance and desire to succeed,” said Salvatore Stranci, general manager of the design and coachbuilding company that traces its heritage to its founding in 1926 by Felice Bianchi Anderloni.
Stranci said the new car is ““a reward after the difficulties of the first months of this year that put a strain on the entire automotive sector.”
The company said 15 examples will be produced, each of them based on a donor vehicle, most likely from an Italian brand and then rebodied by Touring. Stanci said three of the cars already are sold.
Like other Italian supercars, the Aero 3 has a 12-cylinder engine, a 6.2-liter generating 730 horsepower and 509 pound-feet of torque. That power reaches the rear wheels through a 7-speed sequential gearbox with paddle shifters. The car reportedly will accelerate to 62 mph in 3.1 seconds en route to a top speed of 211 mph.
The car’s most striking design detail is its large rear fin, a feature on prototype endurance racing cars and a reflection, Touring Superleggera said, of the company’s “pioneering ‘wind profile’ studies into aerodynamic theories of that golden age by Touring in the industry’s first wind tunnel.
“The idea of a fin was born as a prominent but very natural extension of the teardrop shape of the passenger compartment,” said Touring head of design Louis de Fabribeckers, who added that the fin was “the purest way to illustrate the essence of Streamline Style.”
However, he added, “In the case of the Aero 3, it has no aerodynamic function in itself.”
Design sketch 
1938 8C2900 Le Mans provides inspiration
The show car version of the Aero 3 wears the No. 19 in honor of the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B LM Coupé Berlinetta Aerodinamica that competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The price of the cars was not included in the news release.
For additional information, visit the Touring Superleggera website.
