It's another Sunday. Today I thought that I'd give you folks a history lesson on one of the best in Italian Coachbuilding. Most of you would be familiar with them designing and constructing the Aston Martin DB5 (below)  styling (oh, you know, the James Bond car)



"The Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera coach building company has a history and tradition that stretches back more than 80 years as the first custom built bodies created by Touring – an Alfa Romeo and an Isotta Fraschini – were made in 1928.

Over the years the Touring brand has always been synonymous with elegance, quality and technical innovation: the ‘Superleggera’ (Super lightweight) construction system was patented in 1936 and consists of a structure – made up of thin steel tubes – that forms the body’s shape, with hand-hammered alloy panels covering the framework, adding extra strength.

The ‘Superleggera’ patent allowed Touring to build both unique masterpieces and limited series models with the same exquisite craftsmanship, as well as series-produced cars such as the Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint, Lancia Flaminia Coupé, Aston Martin DB5, Aston Martin DB4 (below)Lamborghini 350 (above) and 400 GT, and the Maserati 3500 and 5000 GT.



Perhaps the most important part of Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera’s history is the construction of some of the most important series-produced early Ferraris such as the 166 and 212 in Coupé, Spider and Barchetta (competition roadster) form. On top of this, the 328 coupé (below) with two seats had a body designed by Touring. The BMW was later appointed one of the 25 most important cars ever.

Today Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera offers the same traditional values and know-how, together with top-level expertise and state-of-the-art technology."

Even the latest designs from 2008 onwardss are pretty unique, in 2008, Touring came out with two Maserati based cars; the  Maserati A8GCS Berlinetta (prototype based on the Maserati Coupé Gransport) and the Maserati Bellagio Fastback (A wagon based on the Maserati Quattroporte, which you don't get in wagon form). You can actually get these made if you have a donor car and buckets of cash with you.



The 2010 Bentley Continental Flying Star - a Shooting Brake or wagon version of the Continental GT. Only 19 have or will be made.


The 2012 Alfa Romeo Dicso Volante - based on the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione.





And last but not least, the Mini Touring Superleggera Concept in 2014 which I covered earlier. I do hope that Mini will adopt this as its flagship model. It is gorgeous.


photos: touring superleggera and others

Tough. I remember reading sometime in 2006 that Sime Darby were serious in making Alfa Romeo work in Malaysia. They gave out pretty good warranties for the cars but it seems they have given up - voluntarily relinquishing their distributorship of Alfa Romeo in Malaysia.

Sometimes large conglomerates get over-confident, claiming that they can do wonders. Well, Alfa Romeo is an enigma all by itself and this year Alfa Romeo Malaysia managed a dozen or so cars. Last year they managed slightly below forty cars. This is quite a sad end to Sime Darby's venture with Alfa Romeo. But somehow this end is predictable.

 I mean how the heck can you try sell a premium Italian brand from one miserable showroom and service center in of all places, Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur? Everyone who sells premium cars is in Petaling Jaya, one should have stayed in Petaling Jaya instead of Jalan Ipoh. You only buy floor tiles and sanitary ware in Jalan Ipoh. How can you sell cars if you're not where the crowd who buys Alfa is? Maybe the only person that could sell Alfa Romeo in Malaysia was Ron Lim, the chap who used to run the previous Alfa Romeo distribution here who now runs Lamborghini Malaysia.

Anyway, press release from Sime Darby Motors after the jump.



- See more at: http://www.simedarbymotors.com/Sime_Darby_Motors_Relinquishes_Alfa_Romeo_in_Malaysia.aspx#sthash.tSkxe0s9.dpuf

As per Alfa Romeo:
"The backbone of the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante by Touring is the chassis of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, selected for its light, rigid structure, perfect as the basis for redesigning a high-performance car. In detail, the architecture features a mid-front engine, transaxle gearbox and rear-wheel drive: this layout offers an optimal 49–51% load distribution between the front and rear ends. It features double-wishbone suspension, with forged aluminium uprights and supports and additional strut at the rear for toe-in control.

The compact, light engine is a 450 HP, 4.7-litre V8 with 480 Nm of maximum torque. The gearbox is electrically operated with 6 speeds and paddle control, while the limited-slip differential and self-ventilating brakes are marked by their generous dimensions. With this equipment, the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante by Touring accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and reaches 290 km/h."

It's an Alfa Romeo. Enuff' Said.

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Nice. I don't really know how many horses this new M Division BMW will make (actually, about 450bhp) nor do I care how fast it goes (0-100km/h in about 4.4secs). The only reason the picture above is being shown on this site is the fact that I really wonder how BMW is going to market this new 4 series model here in Asia.

This car is actually the 2 door BMW 3 series. BMW wants us to believe that the 2 door variant is inherently sportier than any 2 door 3 series before this and that it deserves a series of its own. There goes our dreams of a new proper 2 door BMW M3 after the E92. Somehow unlike Mercedes Benz who have decided to call the 2 door C-class as the C-class Coupe, BMW had decided to make the coupe variant a whole new model series - the BMW 4 series. So we have the BMW M4 pictured above, as well as slower cooking models like the 420i, 428i, 420d, 430i, 440i. Now would Feng Shui practicing Asia welcome the 4 Series with open arms? The number 'Four' basically means 'die' in cantonese.



Audi somehow still manages to sell the A4 but the difference in the 4 series is that it starts with a 'four'. Slightly different...as it will be BMW Sei Something Something instead of, for example Audi A sei. Maybe BMW wouldn't give a damn since the brand is strong enough. I think BMW will stick with this.

If the car came from a brand where is had always been hard to push like the Alfa Romeo 164 (below), which numeral s actually meant 'all the way to death', this meant changing the model to something else - Alfa Romeo marketed the  164 as the 168 in Hong Kong and Malaysia. Anyway, expect the BMW M4 to go on sale in most major markets in 2014.