Superleggera (Italian for ''Superlight'') is a custom tube and alloy panel automobile coachwork construction technology developed by

Felice Bianchi Anderloni Felice is a name that can be used as both a given name, masculine or feminine, and a surname. It is a common name in Italian, where it is equivalent to Felix. Notable people with the name include: Given name Arts and literature Film and theater *Fe ...

of Italian

coachbuilder A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera is an Italian automobile coachbuilder. Originally established in Milan in 1925, Carrozzeria Touring became well known for both the beauty of its designs and patented superleggera construction methods. The bus ...

. A separate

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

was still required. Touring licensed Charles Weymann's system of fabric-covered lightweight frames, which led to Touring’s own superleggera construction. Patented by Carrozzeria Touring in 1936, the superleggera system consists of a structural framework of small-diameter steel tubes that conform to an automobile body's shape and are covered by thin alloy body panels that strengthen the framework. Aside from light weight, the superleggera construction system allows great design and manufacturing flexibility, enabling coachbuilders to quickly construct innovative body shapes. The superleggera tubes were brazed to shape on a jig and the panels were then fitted over this. The panels are only attached at their edges, mostly by swaging the panel edges over angle-section strips on the steel framework. Most of the panel has no rigid or metal-to-metal contact with the framework, it merely rests on it, with the tubes wrapped in hessian or with a rubber spacer. The superleggera system was primarily based on the use of '

Duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...

', a material that originated in the Zeppelin industry prior to World War I. The company was located just north of Milan, near Alfa Romeo, Italian

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

, and the former Isotta Fraschini plant. The first superleggera bodyworks were made for these companies. In England after World War II, the alloy Birmabright was used, as it was stiffer in thin sheets and more widely available. The superleggera system is no longer used in specialty automobile production for a number of reasons. Primarily, a superleggera body cannot meet modern impact resistance standards, and the cost of manufacture and

galvanic corrosion Galvanic corrosion (also called bimetallic corrosion or dissimilar metal corrosion) is an electrochemical process in which one metal corrodes preferentially when it is in electrical contact with another, in the presence of an electrolyte. A sim ...

between the aluminum body panels and the steel tubular frame are also prohibitive factors. Additionally, the frame tubes used to construct a superleggera body are too small and of unsuitable material for mounting suspension components, so a chassis is required, a disadvantage not found in unibody and other chassis systems. Car makers such as Bristol, which had aircraft industry experience, were more successful in countering galvanic corrosion than other manufacturers. Bristol introduced Superleggera construction on the

Bristol 401 The Bristol 401 saloon and Bristol 402 cabriolet are British luxury sporting cars, produced between 1948 and 1953 by Bristol Cars, an offshoot of the Bristol Aeroplane Co.Michael Sedgwick & Mark Gillies, A-Z of Cars 1945–1970, page 39 They w ...

of 1948. ''Superleggera'' is a trademark owned by Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera s.r.l., the modern incarnation of the firm that patented the system in 1936.

Notable automobiles

Carrozzeria Touring licensed the superleggera construction system to

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

, which designed and manufactured superleggera bodywork for the

DB4 The DB4 is a grand tourer that was produced by Aston Martin from 1958 until 1963. Technically the DB4 was not a development of the DB Mark III it replaced, nor did it evolve into the DB5. It had a platform rather than a tubular chassis with ...

and

DB5 The Aston Martin DB5 is a British grand tourer (GT) produced by Aston Martin and designed by Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Originally produced from 1963 to 1965, the DB5 was an evolution of the final series of DB4. Alth ...

. Several other manufacturers created automobiles using Carrozzeria Touring's superleggera construction technology. Notable examples include: * Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Mille Miglia * Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint * Alfa Romeo 2600 *

Aston Martin DB4 The DB4 is a grand tourer that was produced by Aston Martin from 1958 until 1963. Technically the DB4 was not a development of the DB Mark III it replaced, nor did it evolve into the DB5. It had a platform rather than a tubular chassis with a ...

and Lagonda Rapide *

BMW 328 The BMW 328 was a sports car offered by BMW from 1936 to 1940, with the body design credited to Peter Szymanowski, who became BMW chief of design after World War II (although technically the car was designed by Fritz Fiedler). Specifications ...

Touring Roadster'' *

Bristol Cars Bristol Cars were manufacturers of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Bristol, England. After being placed in receivership and being taken over in 2011, it entered liquidation in February 2020. After the Second World War, the car division ...

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

s 166, 195, 212 and 340 models * Lamborghini 350 GT * Lancia Flaminia GT, GTL and Convertibile * Maserati 3500 GT * Pegaso Z-102

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{Cite book , title=Cars of the Year: Bristol , work= The Motor Yearbook , editor1=Laurence Pomeroy , editor-link=Laurence Pomeroy , editor2=Rodney Walkerley , publisher=Temple Press , year=1949 Automotive chassis types

Notable automobiles

See also

References