Added: Mar 4, 2010

From: ItaliaspeedTV

Duration: 1:32

Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera is back in the limelight at the Geneva Motor Show, the Milanese coachbuilder presenting its latest project, a "shooting brake" interpretation based on the Bentley Continental which has been well received by media at the Swiss show. Piero Mancardi, Touring Superleggera CEO, presented the world première of the Bentley Continental Flying Star by Touring during a press conference in Geneva. Meanwhile, Touring Superleggera's A8GCS Berlinetta project, unveiled as a mock-up at Ville d'Este in the spring of 2008, has also reappeared in Geneva with the news that it is set to be built for a customer as a one-off. The origins of the Bentley Continental Flying Star by Touring It takes an avid and passionate collector, with a taste for special coach building, to be at the basis of a project like the Bentley Continental Flying Star by Touring. Exactly such a person contacted Touring Superleggera in early 2008. An interesting initial creative process emerged involving parameters for design, proportions, vehicle concepts and - last but not least- feasibility and technical factors. Many steps from design to execution were shared with the customer, who contributed with his own ideas and taste to personalise the project and create a unique automobile. A basic idea was formed by the desire to diversify Bentley's very successful Continental model range, and to explore new concepts. The transformation of a 2-door coupé, by expanding the roof line and enlarging the interior dimensions, has led to a design concept baptised as shooting brake: a sports car featuring enough space to join a hunting party or a golf tournament with elegance and efficiency. Touring Superleggera explored the same field back in 1966, resulting in the amazing Lamborghini Flying Star II prototype. It was a dramatic interpretation of a sports car based on a new 2-volume design, safeguarding the dynamic performance. The Flying Star reference is a Touring parameter of sportive elegance, applied to many famous cars since the companies' start in 1926. Flying Star in 2010 - the Bentley challenge The Bentley Continental GT range set innovative and high standards for a new generation of very sophisticated Grand Tourers. As such, this model triggered the imagination of automotive designers and coach builders elsewhere. The GTC convertible, featuring a very rigid platform, proved to be a fully congruent basis to Touring Superleggeras plans for the new Flying Star. The new project required the modification of a number of external dimensions starting from the cars A-pillar backwards: extended roof line, a wider section including the doors, new aluminium door skins and a new all-aluminium, electrically operated tailgate. It also includes a completely new rear compartment with two foldable rear seats and a variable loading space. This long list of modifications and transformations had to be paired with, and to remain fully compatible to the basic car's technical layout and components. Given the sophistication of the basic car, a new challenge was laid out for Tourings craftsmen and engineers. The final result proves that special coach building can live on well into the 21st. century working with respect to the original manufacturers. Touring Superleggera is particularly proud of the fact that the complete productive cycle of the special coach building process was realized in their workshop near Milano. Modern body engineering went hand in hand with traditional handicraft skills, maintaining the highest quality directives for the final product.

Channel: Autos

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