1952 Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 Disco Volante Spider

The Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 “Disco Volante”, commonly known simply as Alfa Romeo Disco Volante (Italian for “Flying Saucer”), is a series of experimental sports racing cars produced between 1952 and 1953 by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo in collaboration with Milanese coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring. The car was distinguished by streamlined, wind tunnel tested bodywork.

For the first time after the war, in the 1950s, Alfa Romeo returned to making cars with four-cylinder engines and, even more importantly, adopting the new industrial approach of mass production. It was the moment of the 1900, a car created to reach out to a broader clientele than the gorgeous 6C 2500, which would stay in production a little longer.

As sales of its 1900 Saloon began to accelerate, Alfa Romeo, fresh off multiple recent world racing championships, had to decide whether it could continue to balance both its line of production cars along with its legendary racing division. Conceived by the head of Alfa Romeo’s racing division, Gioacchino Colombo—the man who also designed the first Ferrari V-12 engine—the new C52 series was to be a radical experiment in applying aerodynamics to auto racing. Many long days and nights were spent in the wind tunnel to develop the final result: a slippery, lenticular shape formed by Touring of Milan and quickly nicknamed “Disco Volante”.

The only Fianchi Stretti built by Alfa Romeo is sitting at the Schlumpf museum in France. The cars we’re reviewing is a recreation by OHA Automobili in Argentina. A boutique vehicle manufacture dedicated to building exclusive coach work with hand made aluminum bodies of historic vintage cars. The company has three Autoclasica awards. Autoclasica is the most important concours in South America and ranked top 8 in the world. The building process of the cars are just like they were 80 years ago.

Undeniably, one needs look no further than the side profile of the Disco Volante coupé to notice some striking resemblances to the E-type. Many believe it was part of the inspiration for the E-type’s design. The Disco Volante Spider is one of the true Alfa Romeo greats in terms design. It didn’t have racing heritage and it was built on a small budget and there wasn’t anything too special under the hood.