The ancestors of Italian flying saucers

Rare ONES - Of all the weird cars ever known, maybe you do not know intimately the following car. Well, the mentioned car was the Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 'Disco Volante'. It is a concept car series with production starting from 1952 with the body was built on a tubular space frame.

1952 Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 'Disco Volante'. (Picture from: VintageEveryday)

Disco Volante in English means Flying Saucer. This name arose because the car' shape resembles a flying saucer design imagination. For information, the 1950s was an era when people were dreaming can be walked on the moon and outer space. This car had been debuted at the 1953 New York Motor Show.

Rear side view of 1952 Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 'Disco Volante'. (Picture from: VintageEveryday)

The design of Alfa Romero 1900 C52 was very futuristic in that time and like not came from the Earth. This is because when making this car the Alfa Romeo in collaboration with Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera were develop the car's designs in the wind tunnel facility to actually get a very low wind resistance.

Front three-quartered of 1952 Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 'Disco Volante Fianchi Stretti'. (Picture from: RMSothebys)

This aerodynamic shape made a top speed of 220 kilometers per hour (140 mph) possible. Just three 2-litre open-top examples were initially built, one of which was converted into a coupé with a fixed roof in 1953. With the other, the Alfa engineers modified the bodywork to give it "slim hips". The Italian name "fianchi stretti" is still used today for this variant. There was even a 3.5-liter version made for Juan Manuel Fangio.

Front three-quartered view of 1953 Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 'Disco Volante' Coupe. (Picture from: Squadra Alfa Romeo Madeira)

None of these automobiles ever attained to the status of truly successful racing cars although they were tried a few times, with one victory having been taken at the Gran Premio Supercortemaggiore. According to some the design of the Jaguar E-type has some design cues similar to the Disco Volante.

 

The Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 is built on top of the all-new frame structure tubular space frame and using a slightly tuned 1900 engine (1,997 cc) now producing 158 bhp (118 kW) is made of aluminum material. The unique 3.5-liter car is preserved in the Museo nazionale dell’Automobile in Turin; two 2.0-liter prototypes are preserved in the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo in Arese and are regularly used in classic car races. *** [EKA  [13012020]| FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | AUTOEVOLUTION | SUPERCARS.NET | VINTAGEEVERYDAY | RMSOTHEBYS ]

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