Touring Superleggera's 'Berlinetta Lusso' isn't about making the F12berlinetta better, but making it yours

15th April 2015, Singapore - When you're newly flush with cash, spending it is easy enough, especially with the many big-sticker luxury items clamouring for your attention. Of course, it quickly hits saturation point when you realise that you're just following the herd ' if you ask us, a better concept of luxury is personalisation and what better way of subtly achieving this than by cutting up million dollar cars and remaking them in your preferred image, residuals be da*ned!?

For the uninitiated, the proudly Italian Touring Superleggera is in the business of (coach)building the stuff of automotive dreams since the 1920s, well or whatever your heart fancies that your bank account can sustain of course. Also the 'Superleggera' in its company name isn't there by coincidence, since Touring has long advocated the application of slippery aero and the use of advanced weight-savings materials in the construction of its projects. We'd already seen the earlier iterations of the brand's work in the form of the Bentley Continental Flying Star, a cool 'shooting brake' version of the Continental GT, as well as the Disco Volante, Touring's reinterpretation of the Alfa Romeo 8C.

It's not about improving on Ferrari's, Bentley's or Alfa Romeo's creations, but rather making them your own in terms of aesthetics, since the powertrain and mechanicals that underpin each car remians untouched. The completed cars are only examples to showcase what is possible and since the idea behind each car is deeply personal, they evoke the sort of love-it-loathe-it impressions that characterise all good art.

Resplendent in Azzurro Niourlague that is inspired by the Mediterranean sea on a sunny and windy day and echoed inside through  discreet contrast stitching and cabin elements, the Berlinetta Lusso is the result of a Ferrari collector's desire to have his F12berlinetta dressed up, albeit retaining the stellar mechanicals and powertrain of Ferrari's finest V12. Of course, it can still be customised to individual tastes, but Touring commits to not more than five units built.

The car's elegant silhouette harks back to the golden era of classical Italian fuoriserie that is now all but lost in our era of sharp, angry cuts. For instance, the evident Touring traits in the surface treatment, like the hand-beaten waistline edge that spans front wheel arch to rear is inspired by iconic Ferrari 166 MM of the 1950s.

This first edition of the Berlinetta Lusso is priced at S$1.8m before COE and Singapore taxes, with an approximate delivery lead time of 10 months. Contact EuroSports Global, which is also the dealer for Pagani, Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo in Singapore, for more details. PHOTOS: EUROSPORTS GLOBAL