These 5 Handcrafted Supercars Show Why We Love Coachbuilding

1. Disco Volante by Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera

Remarkably, 2016 marks the 90th anniversary of Milan-based coachbuilders Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Founded in 1926, the company can lay claim to designing some of the most beautiful cars of all time, including the Lamborghini 350GT, Maserati 3500, and Aston Martin DB5. But that’s not to say those were an easy 90 years.

Touring was hit especially hard in the mid-1960s when manufacturers began to embrace monocoque designs over body-on-frame construction, reducing the demand for beautiful hand-crafted bodies. Eventually Touring couldn’t bring in enough business, and the company closed its doors in 1966.

Thankfully that wasn’t the end of Touring’s story. The company was revived in 2007, and very quickly started to produce some beautiful machines, including a re-bodied Maserati Quattroporte and a shooting brake Bentley Continental. But it was in 2012 when the company really got back into its stride. Using the 1952 Alfa Romeo C52 as inspiration, the company set about designing an all new body for the already beautiful Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione; a real challenge.

The finished car was absolutely jaw dropping, blending 1950s aesthetics with modern day performance. Each panel had to be beaten into shape by hand, and the rear arches, rear bumper and boot were all formed from one piece of metal. The car won the coveted Design Award at the 2013 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and received some serious praise from a certain Jeremy Clarkson. The original coupé was restricted to eight units and a further seven spiders are currently being produced to celebrate the company’s 90th birthday.

2. Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina

Founded in 1930, Pininfarina is arguably one of the most famous design houses in the world, but not everyone realises that the Turin-based company is also a certified coachbuilder. Over the years Pininfarina has created some real masterpieces for customers like the Sultan of Brunei, but our all time favourite build is the Ferrari Enzo-based P4/5, also known as the ’Glickenhaus’.

The story goes that the head of Pininfarina wanted to build a one-off supercar to prove to the world that the company was still capable of producing beautiful designs. Why, you might ask? Well, after the Pininfarina-designed 612 Scaglietti was released, the design house had come in for some serious flack. The company needed a new project that wouldn’t be affected by pushy Ferrari engineers. All Jason Castriota - lead designer of Pininfarina’s special projects team - had to do was find a willing client to fund the project. Welcome in Wall Street investor Jim Glickenhaus, a vintage Ferrari enthusiast who also wanted to build a one off vehicle, specifically to pay homage to one his most prized possessions, a 1967 330 P3/4. It was a match made in design heaven.

Castriota helped Glickenhaus track down a box fresh Ferrari Enzo so that they could get started on the project. They found the very last Enzo on sale in Beverly Hills and got to work. The car was stripped down to the bare chassis and after a year of stringent wind tunnel testing and multiple re-designs, a new CAD designed body was developed. The finished product was an absolute masterpiece, looking like a vintage Le Mans racer with the heart and skeleton of a modern supercar. And what we really love is the fact that the new body wasn’t just for show. The P4/5 produced more downforce, generated less drag and had better weight distribution than the original Enzo. The car Ferrari should have built in the first place? We think so.

3. Lancia Stratos by Pininfarina

If you ask a child to draw you a picture of a sports car, you’ll probably end up with a rough drawing of the Lancia Stratos. With its wedge shape, flared arches and ridiculously cool coffin-spoke wheels, the Stratos encapsulates everything we love about Italian design. A shame then that the driving experience doesn’t live up to the aesthetics. If you ever get the opportunity to actually drive one, you’ll find a car that’s completely impractical. There’s no headroom, the pedals are ridiculously offset and the clutch takes some serious work. If only you could have the 1970s style with modern day drivability. Well it turns out that German businessman Michael Stoschek had this very same thought back in 2005, when he saw the stunning Fenomenon Stratos concept car at the Geneva motor show.

After spending years trying to find the right coachbuilder, Stoschek finally commissioned Pininfarina to build him an absolute masterpiece in 2008. The finished car was completed in 2011, and what a machine it was. In true Pininfarina style, the special projects team went to town on the base car, a stock Ferrari 430 Scuderia. The plan was to make an even more hardcore track special, so Pininfarina shortened the Ferrari’s aluminium chassis, built a custom steel subframe to mount the 4.3-litre, 503bhp flat-plane V8 engine, and crafted the entire bodywork out of carbonfibre. The end result was a lighter, more nimble track weapon version of the Scuderia, with an improved 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds (down from 3.5).

A select number of journalists were given the opportunity to drive the car and all the reports were the same. Vicious handling, ridiculous acceleration and beautiful aesthetics. Says it all really. If you want your own, be prepared to put down three million euros. Gulp.

4. Aston Martin V12 by Zagato

Milanese design house Zagato is a coachbuilder that can be summed up in three words: hit or miss. For example, the Alfa Romeo SZ, Aston Martin DB7 Zagato and Bentley Continental GTZ were all highly questionable designs. But every so often, Zagato pulls something out of the bag that is so beautiful we completely forget about the company’s past failings. Case in point, the Aston Martin V12 Zagato.

Built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic DB4 GT Zagato, the V12 was a truly stunning machine. Built using a mixture of traditional and modern construction techniques, the V12 Zagato’s body was hand-crafted using copious amounts of aluminium and carbonfibre. In fact, each vehicle took approximately 2000 man hours to complete, with 100 hours going into producing that stunningly rich paintwork. And echoing the original DB4 GT, the V12 also featured a classic double bubble roof, wrap around windscreen and distinctive round front grill.

The car retained the original Vantage’s 5.9-litre, 510bhp V12, enough to give it an impressive 0-60mph time of 4.1 seconds, and a top speed of 190mph. Unlike the other cars on this list, the V12 Zagato was put into limited production, with 150 cars selling for £396,000. Almost reasonable if you ask me…

5. Aston Martin Rapide Jet 2+2 by Bertone

If there’s one thing we love at Car Throttle, it’s shooting brakes. Ultimately, there is nothing cooler than a practical performance car. I mean, we all love a flame spitting Lamborghini now and again, but what’s the point in having a fast car if you can’t take your friends along for a ride? Unfortunately manufacturers don’t see things the same way we do, typically going down the trendy crossover route; only Ferrari has been brave enough to give us a supercar shooting brake, in the form of the uber cool Ferrari FF.

Thankfully for us, coachbuilders like Bertone exist. Doing what Aston Martin was too scared to do, Bertone took an Aston Martin Rapide and converted it into a hatchback, solving almost all of the Rapide’s criticisms in the process. Rear leg room increased, as did headroom, and the boot was finally big enough for the annual family ski trip.

Mechanically the car remained unchanged, but then again, the 5.9-litre, 470bhp V12 always had ample power. Unfortunately, the Jet 2+2 was a £1.1 million pound one-off built for a rich collector. Let’s just hope Aston takes the hint and builds a production version.

So CTzens, which one of the five is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below!