Aston Martin resurrects the Superleggera name for Vanquish replacement

Aston Martin had a great run with the V-12 Vanquish, but it’s now clear that the British outfit will retire the name in order to resurrect two other well-worn monikers. Yes, the DBS Superleggera will be the new crown jewel of the Aston grand touring pantheon, and that name gives us a nice hint at what we can expect from the 12-cylinder luxury road missile.

For one, the Superleggera badge is a solid indicator that not only with this new DBS be lightweight, but it will be made with the tradition of Carrozzeria Touring in mind.

Touring, of course, cemented its name alongside Aston Martin’s first with the DB4 and later with the DB5 of James Bond fame. Aston says that the new DBS Superleggera will “pay homage to the historic super lightweight construction technology of Touring.” That system, which involved a network of small tubes for the body structure covered with alloy panels, allowed Milan-based Touring the flexibility to build some of history’s most beautiful vehicles.

Before the second World War it built the Alfa Romeo 8C and BMW 328 Mille Miglia, while afterward it made beauties like the Ferrari 166 and Bristol 401. Things really kicked up in the 1950s and ’60s, when Touring churned out timeless classics like the Maserati 3500 GT, Alfa Romeo 2600, and Lamborghini 350 GT.

When Touring folded in 1966, it did so without any debt, and so it simply closed up shop until disaster struck and a fire destroyed a huge majority of its archives and trade treasures. The company was purchased in 2006 following 10 years of record collection and registry building by designer and Touring heir Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni.

As for the upcoming Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, we don’t know much, but it appears the car will use a high-output version of the brand’s new 5.2-liter twin-turbo V-12, making in the neighborhood of 650 hp. But performance aside, with a name like Superleggera, it had better be a stunner.