Get your funk on! Alfa Romeo gives early reveal of the Carrozzeria Touring Disco concept

It's serious beauty and luscious design you'll see in the conceptual releases teasing the car's showcase at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. Showcasing Alfa Romeo's signature lipstick red coat, the Disco Volante has all the sexiness expected of a design from Carrozzeria. Where the original 1952 design bubbled with form and eye candy, like a red haired Marilyn, this new 2012 design wears pants and exudes beautiful raw power like a fire-topped Hepburn.

Yet the two retain many similarities, keeping it all in the family. This new design incorporates the boattail rear window, though as a hatchback rather than a tube-like fin, and has the same strong hindquarters of its predecessor. Underneath the skin, things change drastically as the older C52 Disco Volante's 1900 engine and transmission are replaced with a more modern 4.7-liter V8 and 6-speed transmission from the 8C Competizione.

The original Disco Volante got its name from its shape. Although Americans think of "disco" with visions of John Travolta in tight bell bottom pants, in Italian the term "disco volante" means "flying saucer" - referring to the 1952 design's UFO-like shape as Alfa Romeo experimented with air flow designs for the race track. This newer 2012 design dispenses with that, of course, but has rounded body panels that flare just enough to hint at the concept of its predecessor.

This hint at its pedigree continues at the rear of the car where the large, rounded fins are replaced by a small, rounded, but clipped rear end with the same tiny tail lamps and twin exhaust ports sandwiched at center. The 1952 also featured one of the first all-aluminum engines in the Alfa Romeo line and this current drive train from the 8C in today's Carrozzeria Touring Disco Volante retains that in the 443 horsepower V8.

Indeed, in both modern function and throwback form, this 60th anniversary concept in the Disco Volante line is definitely one hot number. Carrozzeria says they will be building the car in small numbers as a limited edition, so those who want one will have to act quickly. Price tags haven't been set, but if you can afford to seriously consider buying one of these lipsticked beauties, you probably don't care what it costs anyway.

If you can afford a UFO and have the disco floor to park it on, however, nothing could be hotter than having an Alfa Romeo Carrozzeria Touring Disco Volante. Surely one of the smokinest concepts to reveal this year.