A Touring that is genuinely Grand
the lawyers at Mattel Inc have already applied for a licence to model the Touring Aero3 because, with its metallic red paint, dramatic rear fin and racing numbers on the flanks, it’s a shoo-in to become the next Hot Wheels replica. A grown-up toy for very big boys.
Touring’s 21st Century renaissance as a coachbuilder has already been established with such low-volume products as the Disco Volante and the Sciàdipersia, and now designer Louis de Fabribeckers has unveiled his most radical creation yet. Unashamedly referencing the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 streamliner that ran at Le Mans in 1938, the Aero3 is intended – to quote Louis’s own words from the car’s debut at Salon Privé this September – ‘to create a vision of aerodynamics and speed, without being obsessed with ultimate performance’.
Not that the Aero3 is lacking in the latter department. Touring is naturally discreet about the platform of its latest model, but the Aero3 is based upon a Ferrari F12. That means a 6.3-litre V12 up front (its cam covers suitably anonymised), a top speed of around 210mph and 0-60mph in 3.2sec, give-or-take. Customers can supply their own donor car, or Touring will source one for them, and pricing is ‘on application’. That’s not as evasive as it may sound, since each car will be totally bespoke to its owner; three of the projected 15 to be built have already been sold.
The first of those three is the car you see here, literally driven off the lush lawns of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, by Octane at the end of Salon Privé. It looks absolutely flawless in the metal – or, rather, the carbonfibre, since the Aero3’s coachwork is a new departure for Touring. The retro rear fin may be an acquired taste, but it makes for a striking car and one that presents better in reality than it can in photos. The ‘19’ race numbers on this example were chosen by the owner as a tribute to Alfa’s 1938 Le Mans entry.
Inside, the cabin’s dominant features are twin arches that flow upwards from the doorcards, along and under the dash, and down beside the centre console; a deliberate ‘race car’ compartmentalisation for driver and passenger. The interior is superbly finished in a riot of carbonfibre, alcantara, leather and cloth (again, the customer is the sole arbiter of what’s used where) and the bucket seats, while thinly padded, are remarkably comfortable.
Over-the-shoulder harness belts and a pair of colour-matched race helmets stowed behind those seats are perfect for trackdays – or, at least, for sending a not-so-subtle lifestyle message – but there are also conventional inertia-reel belts for when the driver is not in full race mode.
As a road car, the Aero3 works well. Controls are regular Ferrari, and so is the noise. The 730bhp V12 is hugely characterful, quite breathy low-down before developing a snarl and then a bark as you pile on the revs to 8000 and beyond. Steering is ultradirect, brakes superb, and the ride remarkably good, its firmness very well-controlled and never crashy. There’s a good sightline back along either flank via the door mirrors but the rear view is by camera, inevitably; some drivers may struggle with regular refocusing on the nearer plane that’s the corollary of using a digital screen rather than a traditional mirror.
A couple of details are worth noting. One of the twin filler caps conceals an electrical socket for trickle-charging the battery – a really useful feature for a car such as this, which is unlikely to be a daily driver – and there’s a rear aerofoil that automatically deploys above 50mph. Graduated degree markings on the fin show to which angle the aerofoil is set, although they’re purely for show since the angle of the aerofoil is not adjustable. But, then, this car is all about theatre.
Speaking of which, if that retro rear fin is considered just a step too far, customers can specify a conventional tailgate instead, with a glass rear window. But we suspect most of them won’t. Looking different is the name of the game here, a game that the Aero3 plays very well indeed.