thumb|300px|[[Aston Martin DB6 Superleggera]]

right|thumb|Superleggera emblem on an Aston Martin DB6, with a body manufactured by Carrozzeria Touring, the firm that originated the superleggera system.

Superleggera (Italian for Superlight) is a custom tube and alloy panel automobile coachwork construction technology developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni of Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. A separate chassis 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 them. 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. Bristol introduced Superleggera construction on the Bristol 401 of 1948. Several other manufacturers created automobiles using Carrozzeria Touring's superleggera construction technology. Notable examples include:

<!--Do not add the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera to this list. Despite the name, it does not have a superleggera type chassis.-->

  • Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Mille Miglia
  • Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint
  • Alfa Romeo 2600
  • Aston Martin DB4, DB5 and Lagonda Rapide
  • BMW 328 Touring Roadster
  • Bristol Cars
  • Ferraris 166, 195, 212 and 340 models
  • Lamborghini 350 GT
  • Lancia Flaminia GT, GTL and Convertibile
  • Maserati 3500 GT
  • Pegaso Z-102

See also

  • Backbone chassis
  • Body-on-frame
  • Monocoque
  • Spaceframe

References