Carrozzeria Touring
Encyclopedia
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
coachbuilder
Coachbuilder
A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...
established on March 25, 1926 in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
by Felice Bianchi Anderloni (1882–1948) and Gaetano Ponzoni. Carrozzeria Touring became well known for both the beauty of its designs and patented superleggera
Superleggera
Superleggera is an automobile chassis construction technology developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni of Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring. The company was located just north of Milan, near Alfa Romeo, Italian Citroen, and the former Isotta-Fraschini plant...
construction methods.
After achieving success through the middle of the 20th century, business began to decline as automobile manufacturers replaced body-on-frame
Body-on-frame
Body-on-frame is an automobile construction method. Mounting a separate body to a rigid frame that supports the drivetrain was the original method of building automobiles, and its use continues to this day. The original frames were made of wood , but steel ladder frames became common in the 1930s...
automobile construction with monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
construction and increasingly took coachbuilding in-house. The original firm ceased production in 1966, but Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni and Carrozzeria Marazzi preserved the "Touring Superleggera" trademark and used it on several occasions to support the company's heritage. The trademark was purchased by the current owner, Zeta Europe BV, which resumed business activities in 2006 under the name Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera s.r.l. The firm is headquartered in Carrozzeria Touring's hometown of Milan, Italy and operates under Head of Design Louis de Fabribeckers.
Carrozzeria Falco becomes Carrozzeria Touring
Carrozzeria Touring traces its roots to the 1926 purchase of a controlling interest in the Milan based coachbuilder, Carrozzeria Falco, by Milanese lawyers Felice Bianchi Anderloni (1882–1948) and Gaetano Ponzoni from Carrozeria Falco's founder, Vittorio Ascar. The new owners changed the name of the firm to Carrozzeria Touring. Bianchi Anderloni, a former test driver for Isotta-Fraschini and Peugeot Italia employee, assumed styling and engineering duties while Ponzoni assumed responsibility for administration of the firms business activities.Early work
Carrozzeria Touring's location at Via Ludovico da Breme 65 placed the coachbuilder in close proximity to automobile manufacturers Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
, Citroën
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
and Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta Fraschini represents two Italian manufacturing companies which produce, respectively, marine engines and luxury goods. In the early 20th century it was famous worldwide as a luxury car manufacturer.-History:...
. Predictably, Touring's first bodywork assignments were for chassis produced by these companies.
Development of the Superleggera construction system
Bianchi Anderloni came to Touring more as an automobile designer than a car constructor, and learned the mechanics of the trade as the company progressed. The company licensed Charles WeymannCharles Terres Weymann
Charles Terres Weymann was an early aeroplane racing pilot and businessman. He was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 2 August 1889 of an American father and Haitian motherIt is said that Charles Weymann's mother was Cornelie Miot, herself Haitian and daughter of Charles Miot and Lesinska Cecile...
's system of fabric-covered lightweight frames, a predecessor of their own Superleggera
Superleggera
Superleggera is an automobile chassis construction technology developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni of Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring. The company was located just north of Milan, near Alfa Romeo, Italian Citroen, and the former Isotta-Fraschini plant...
construction system. Touring hired Giuseppe Seregni, who previously collaborated with Bianchi Anderloni on the 1927 Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta Fraschini represents two Italian manufacturing companies which produce, respectively, marine engines and luxury goods. In the early 20th century it was famous worldwide as a luxury car manufacturer.-History:...
'Flying Star', as Carrozzeria Touring's first professional designer.
Touring's skills with light alloy and fabric-covered tubing forms brought commercial success in aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
production in the 1930s, leading Bianchi Anderloni to develop the Superleggera construction system, patented in 1936. This "super lightweight" system consists of a structure of small diameter tubes to form the body's shape with thin alloy panels attached to cover and strengthen the framework. Aside from light weight, the Superleggera construction system gave great flexibility, allowing Touring to quickly construct innovative body shapes.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Touring gained fame for their Superleggera bodies, particularly those made for the Alfa Romes 8C 2900
Alfa Romeo 8C
-1935 Monoposto 8C 35 Type C:Eight 3.8 litre versions, sharing no castings with the earlier blocks, were individually built for racing in five months, most being used in the Alfa Romeo Monoposto 8C 35 Type C, as raced by Scuderia Ferrari. The 3.8 produced at 5500 rpm, and had from...
and the BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
328
BMW 328
The BMW 328 is a sports car made by BMW between 1936 and 1940, with the body design credited to Peter Szymanowski, who became BMW chief of design after World War II ....
chassis.
Post WWII activities
The company quickly re-energized after the war, with the Superleggera system widely licensed and copied. Felice Bianchi Anderloni died in 1948 and his son, Carlo Felice "Cici" Bianchi AnderloniCarlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni
Carlo Felice Bianchi "Cici" Anderloni was an Italian automobile designer, known for several designs for the Carrozzeria Touring company....
, (1916–2003) took over management of the firm under the guidance of Ponzoni. The two would remain in charge of the firm until the company discontinued production in 1966.
Cici's first major project was to create a body for the Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
166
Ferrari 166
Ferrari used its 2 L V12 engine in a number of models, all called 166 for the displacement of a single cylinder. Most early 166es were sports cars built for racing, though a later line of GT cars launched the company's street model line.The following models used the 166 name:* 1948 Ferrari...
Mille Miglia
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 ....
Touring barchetta
Barchetta
A barchetta was originally an Italian style of open 2-seater sports car which was built for racing. Weight and wind resistance were kept to a minimum, and any unnecessary equipment or decoration were sacrificed in order to maximize performance....
, which debuted in 1948. Automotive design critic Robert Cumberford has referred to the body design for the 166 as "One of the most charismatic shapes ever." The egg-crate grill of the 166 became a signature Ferrari design element and is still in use by Ferrari today on the California
Ferrari California
The Ferrari California is a grand touring sports car that was launched by Ferrari at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. It is a two door "2+2" hard top convertible. The California is powered by front-mid mounted gasoline direct injection V8 with...
.
Touring was particularly active late in the 1950s, with series production of bodies for the Pegaso Z-102
Pegaso Z-102
The Pegaso Z-102 was a sports car coupé produced in Spain between 1951 and 1958.-Background:Pegaso was an established company noted for its trucks and motor coaches, but also produced sports cars for seven years...
, Alfa Romeo 1900
Alfa Romeo 1900
The Alfa Romeo 1900 is a sports sedan designed by Orazio Satta for the Alfa Romeo company in 1950. It was Alfa Romeo's first car built entirely on a production line and was also Alfa's first production car without separate chassis and first Alfa offered with left-hand drive...
Super Sprint, Alfa Romeo 2600
Alfa Romeo 2600
The Alfa Romeo 2600 was Alfa Romeo´s six-cylinder flagship produced from 1961 to 1968. It was the successor to the Alfa Romeo 2000. It has become historically significant as the last Alfa Romeo to have been fitted with an inline six-cylinder engine having twin overhead camshafts...
, Aston Martin DB4
Aston Martin DB4
The DB4 is a sports car sold by Aston Martin from 1958 until 1963. It was an entirely different car from the DB Mark III it replaced, though the 3.7 L engine was externally visually related to the 2.9 L unit found in that car....
, Lancia Flaminia
Lancia Flaminia
The Lancia Flaminia is a luxury car from the Italian automaker, Lancia, built from 1957 to 1970. It was Lancia's flagship model at that time, replacing the Aurelia. It was available throughout its lifetime as saloon, coupé and cabriolet. The Flaminia coupé and cabriolet were coachbuilt cars with...
GT, Lamborghini 350, Lamborghini 400 GT and Maserati 3500
Maserati 3500
Maserati 3500 was a 2-door coupé and convertible made by Maserati of Italy. It was the company's first attempt at the Gran Turismo market and large-volume production.- History :...
GT. The firm also worked with Hudson Motors
Hudson Motor Car Company
The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.- Company strategy...
chief stylist Frank Spring on the development of the 1954 Hudson Italia
Hudson Italia
The Hudson Italia was an automobile styling study and limited production two-door compact coupé produced by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan in cooperation with Carrozzeria Touring of Italy during the 1954 and 1955 model years...
.
Declining fortunes
Touring's fortunes began to decline as automobile manufacturers replaced body-on-frame construction with monocoque construction and took coachbuilding activities in-house. Competing for the ever declining amount of coachbuilding work that remained, Touring lost out to larger competitors like PininfarinaPininfarina
Pininfarina S.p.A. is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy.Founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina, Pininfarina has been employed by a wide variety of high-end automobile manufacturers,...
and ItalDesign. The company's efforts to adhere to traditional methods and high standards ultimately led to its downfall, with the firm finally ceasing production in 1966.
Many of the Touring's workers went to Carrozzeria Marazzi
Carrozzeria Marazzi
Carrozzeria Marazzi is an Italian coachbuilding company founded in 1967 and is located in Caronno Pertusella, outside Milan.The company was established by Carlo Marazzi and employees from the then bankrupt Carrozzeria Touring of Milan...
, which continued to build bodies for Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini , is an Italian car manufacturer. The company was founded by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with established offerings from marques like...
. "Cici" Bianchi Anderloni became an advisor to the Alfa Romeo design department, eventually becoming head of Alfa Romeo design.
Legacy
Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni served as the President of the Jury at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'EsteConcorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este
Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este is a renowned elegance competition for classic and vintage cars. It has taken place every year since 1929 during the last weekend of April in Villa d'Este on the shores of Lake Como, Italy...
for a number of years and in 2003, the show began to award the Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni Memorial Trophy to the most elegant car with a body by Touring.
Revival
In 2006 Zeta Europe BV, a private investor specializing in high-end automotive brands, bought the brand and trademarks from Carrozzeria Marazzi. A newly created firm, Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera srl was established in Milan to provide automotive design, engineering, coachbuilding, homologation services, non-automotive industrial design, and restoration of historic vehicles.The new firm has shown several notable projects. At the 2008 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, Touring debuted the Bellagio Fastback
Fastback
A fastback is a car body style whose roofline slopes continuously down at the back. The word can also designate the car itself. The style is seen on two-door coupés as well as four-door sedans.-History:...
Touring, based on the Maserati
Maserati
Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...
Quattroporte
Maserati Quattroporte
The Maserati Quattroporte is a luxury four-door saloon made by Maserati in Italy. The name translated from Italian literally means "four doors". There have been five generations of the car, each separated by a period of roughly five years....
and the A8 GCS Berlinetta
Berlinetta
Berlinetta is an especially sporty form of coupé. Typically a two-seater, the type may include 2+2s.The real meaning for berlinetta in Italian is "little saloon".Introduced in the 1930s, the term was popularized by Ferrari in the 1950s...
Touring, based on a combination of Maserati and Touring designed parts. At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Touring debuted the Bentley Continental Flying Star, a shooting-brake
Shooting-brake
Shooting-brake, shooting brake or shooting break is a term for a car body style that has evolved through several distinct meanings over its history....
model based on the Bentley Continental GT
Bentley Continental GT
-Flying Spur:The four door Continental Flying Spur saloon was first displayed at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. The Flying Spur utilizes most of the technical underpinnings of the Bentley Continental GT, and was introduced to European and North American markets in the summer of 2005...
, coach built in limited series, that was developed in concert with Bentley.
List of Touring cars
- 1930s Alfa Romeo 8CAlfa Romeo 8C-1935 Monoposto 8C 35 Type C:Eight 3.8 litre versions, sharing no castings with the earlier blocks, were individually built for racing in five months, most being used in the Alfa Romeo Monoposto 8C 35 Type C, as raced by Scuderia Ferrari. The 3.8 produced at 5500 rpm, and had from...
- 1940s BMW 328BMW 328The BMW 328 is a sports car made by BMW between 1936 and 1940, with the body design credited to Peter Szymanowski, who became BMW chief of design after World War II ....
- 1940s Alfa Romeo 2500Alfa Romeo 6CThe Alfa Romeo 6C name was used on road, race and sports cars made between 1925–1954 by Alfa Romeo. 6C refers to a straight 6 engine. Bodies for these cars were made by coachbuilders such as James Young, Zagato, Touring, Castagna, and Pininfarina...
- 1950s Alfa Romeo SSAlfa Romeo 1900The Alfa Romeo 1900 is a sports sedan designed by Orazio Satta for the Alfa Romeo company in 1950. It was Alfa Romeo's first car built entirely on a production line and was also Alfa's first production car without separate chassis and first Alfa offered with left-hand drive...
(Super Sprint) 1900 - 1950s Pegaso Z-102Pegaso Z-102The Pegaso Z-102 was a sports car coupé produced in Spain between 1951 and 1958.-Background:Pegaso was an established company noted for its trucks and motor coaches, but also produced sports cars for seven years...
- 1950s BristolBristol CarsBristol Cars is a manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Patchway, near Bristol, United Kingdom. Bristol have always been a low-volume manufacturer; the most recent published official production figures were for 1982, which stated that 104 cars were produced in that year...
401 - 1959-1962 Lancia FlaminiaLancia FlaminiaThe Lancia Flaminia is a luxury car from the Italian automaker, Lancia, built from 1957 to 1970. It was Lancia's flagship model at that time, replacing the Aurelia. It was available throughout its lifetime as saloon, coupé and cabriolet. The Flaminia coupé and cabriolet were coachbuilt cars with...
GT, GTL and GTC - 1956 Aston Martin DB2/4Aston Martin DB2/4The DB2/4 is a grand tourer sold by Aston Martin from 1953 through 1957. It was based on the DB2 it replaced, available as a Drophead coupe and 2+2 hatchback well ahead of the times. Other changes included a wraparound windscreen, larger bumpers, and repositioned headlights...
Mark II Spider (3 produced) - 1957-1962 Maserati 3500Maserati 3500Maserati 3500 was a 2-door coupé and convertible made by Maserati of Italy. It was the company's first attempt at the Gran Turismo market and large-volume production.- History :...
GT - 1959-1960 Maserati 5000 Scià di Persia
- 1960s Alfa Romeo 2000Alfa Romeo 2000Alfa Romeo 2000 is a car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturing company Alfa Romeo as a successor to the 1900.First shown in 1957 on the Turin autosalon, the car was produced in two models, the Berlina with and the Spider with since 1958. In 1960, the Sprint was added...
convertible - 1960s FiatFiatFIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
spider - 1959-1962 Aston Martin DB4Aston Martin DB4The DB4 is a sports car sold by Aston Martin from 1958 until 1963. It was an entirely different car from the DB Mark III it replaced, though the 3.7 L engine was externally visually related to the 2.9 L unit found in that car....
(built under license by Aston MartinAston MartinAston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
) - 1963-1966 Lamborghini 350 GT/GTV, 400 GT
- 1940 Auto Avio Costruzioni 815Auto Avio Costruzioni 815The Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 was the first car to be fully designed and built by Enzo Ferrari. Legal issues with former associates Alfa Romeo prevented Ferrari from creating the Ferrari marque. The 815 raced at the 1940 Brescia Grand Prix, where both entries failed to finish due to engine problems...
- 1948 Ferrari 166 Inter Coupe
- 1951 Ferrari 195 Inter Coupe
- 1951 Ferrari 212 Inter Coupe
- 1952 Ferrari 340 MM Spider
- 1953 HudsonHudson Motor Car CompanyThe Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.- Company strategy...
Italia - 1963-1964 Sunbeam Venezia
- 1966-1976 Jensen InterceptorJensen InterceptorThe Jensen Interceptor was a sporting GT-class car hand-built in the United Kingdom by Jensen Motors between 1966 and 1976. The Interceptor name had been used previously by Jensen for an earlier car made between 1950 and 1957...
- 2008 Maserati A8GCS Berlinetta (prototype based on the Maserati CoupéMaserati CoupeThe Maserati Coupé and Spyder are grand tourers produced by Italian automaker Maserati from 2001 to 2007. They have now been replaced by the GranTurismo. The two nameplates refer to the four-seater coupé and two-seater roadster versions, respectively. Both models were based on the 3200 GT, ...
Gransport) - 2008 Maserati Bellagio Fastback (based on the Maserati QuattroporteMaserati QuattroporteThe Maserati Quattroporte is a luxury four-door saloon made by Maserati in Italy. The name translated from Italian literally means "four doors". There have been five generations of the car, each separated by a period of roughly five years....
) - 2010 Bentley ContinentalBentley Continental GT-Flying Spur:The four door Continental Flying Spur saloon was first displayed at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. The Flying Spur utilizes most of the technical underpinnings of the Bentley Continental GT, and was introduced to European and North American markets in the summer of 2005...
Flying Star - 2011 Gumpert Tornante (prototype based on the Gumpert ApolloGumpert ApolloThe Gumpert Apollo is a sports car produced by German automaker Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH in Altenburg.-History:In 2000 Roland Gumpert proposed a new generation sports car. One of the first concerns of this car was that it would be a street-legal car, ready for the race track. Gumpert...
)