Alfa’s Disco Volante goes into limited production

The fabulous 2013 Alfa Romeo Disco Volante will be built to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the original 1900 C52 Disco Volante.

The lightweight and aerodynamic C52 was considered a style icon in 1952; the car even being registered with a design patent.

The latest model was styled by Touring Superleggera. The company used a mixture of carbonfibre and aluminium to hide the underpinnings of Alfa’s GT – the 8C Competizione.

Carbonfibre is bonded to a steel central floor to create the passenger cell, while steel subframes front and rear support the engine, suspension and gearbox.

The Disco Volante uses the 8C’s 450bhp 4.7-litre V8, which has 354lb ft of torque, giving it a top speed of 181mph and a 0-62mph time of 4.2 seconds. It sends power through a sequential, paddle-shift gearbox and a limited-slip differential.

The chassis, and central carbon cell, is said to be extremely stiff, while the 8C’s transaxle transmission and mid-front engine configuration gives it a near-perfect weight balance of 49:51 front to rear.

The new Alfa’s price has not been revealed, but it takes 4000 hours to build, has a limited production run and will likely cost far in excess of the 8C, which was priced at around £100k when new.