Pininfarina. Bertone. Touring. Giugiaro. Vignale. These are some of the most important names in the automotive design world. They are all Italian design houses that, among other things, are also given the task to design automobiles. Whether that would be production cars, concept cars, or their own take on a production car, these companies have been at it for more than five decades, creating some of the coolest and most important cars in all history.

Sometimes, when these design houses aren't busy with production cars and concept cars, they like to let their hair down. What that means is, they like to take an existing, cool sports car and do their own little take on it. The changes can be minor or major, but either way, they take cool cars and make them even cooler with their own special touch.

8 Alfa Romeo Disco Volante

Front 3/4 view of the Disco Volante Spider
favcars.com

Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera is one of the oldest design houses in Italy, and they were responsible for legends such as the original Lamborghini; the 350GT. A few years ago, they decided to create a modern interpretation of a coachbuilt sports car. A heaping dose of carbon fiber, a little cash, and one Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione later, the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante was born.

Rear 3/4 view of the Disco Volante Spider
favcars.com

RELATED: Ranking The Best Alfa Romeo Sports Cars Ever Made

The design of this car was based on the original Disco Volante experimental prototype from the 1960s. It's based on the rather disappointing 8C Competizione, but this is a totally different car. As Jeremy Clarkson showed on Top Gear, the Disco Volante is genuinely a special and unique sports car.

7 Aston Martin V12 Zagato

Front 3/4 view of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato
favcars.com

This is probably the most recognizable example of an Italian design house doing their own take on a sports car. Zagato has had a long-standing partnership with Aston Martin, to the point where the latter has developed a specific badge for such models. The most easily recognizable one is the V12 Zagato.

Rear 3/4 view of the V12 Zagato
favcars.com

Underneath the rather dramatic exterior, the V12 Zagato is based on the V12 Vanquish. It was a very track-focused sports car, even spawning a full race version. Power came from Aston's familiar 5.9-liter V12, developing 510 hp. It also used independent double wishbone suspension on all four corners, with Multimatic DSSV dampers, making it pretty much unstoppable on track.

6 BMW Zagato Coupe

Front 3/4 view of the BMW Zagato Coupe
favcars.com

Once you look a ltitle closer, this may look like a second generation BMW Z4. That's because it is one. You have to appreciate how the Zagato Coupe came to be; BMW's chief designer and Zagato's chief designer at the time were friends, so they decided to put together this collaboration.

Rear 3/4 view of the BMW Zagato Coupe
favcars.com

RELATED: 2022 BMW Z4: Costs, Facts, And Figures

Mechanically, the Zagato Coupe wasn't all that different from the regular Z4. The exterior was pretty distinguishable, thanks to the double bubble roof, and especially the kidney grilles that had a "Z" pattern. The exterior paint would also change color depending on the lighting.

5 Ford Mustang Giugiaro Concept

Front 3/4 view of the Mustang by Giugiaro
favcars.com

Even though the name may suggest it, this car wasn't designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro himself, but rather his son, Fabrizio. Even though this is only a concept car, it actually had a pretty heavy influence on the design of the current generation Mustang.

The side of the Mustang by Giugiaro, door open
favcars.com

Much like his father, Fabrizio wanted to do a European take on the Mustang formula, and he did a pretty good job of it. As well as bright orange paintwork and scissor doors, the Mustang Giugiaro also had a pretty heavily revised interior. It was still a Mustang, though, with a 4.6-liter V8 under the hood, sending power to the rear via a 5-speed manual transmission.

4 Corvette Rondine

Front 3/4 view of the Corvette Rondine
Via favcars.com

When the iconic second generation, or C2 Corvette came along in the 60s, Pininfarina decided to do their own take on the Corvette. They envisioned what the Corvette would be like with a little more European chic, by way of the Rondine concept.

Front 3/4 view of the Corvette Rondine near a coast
favcars.com

At the helm of the Rondine's design was Tom Tjaarda, a very influential automotive designer who was also designed legends such as the DeTomaso Pantera and the Saab 900. The Rondine concept is a seriously beautiful car, and it's a shame that we never saw the actual Corvette take some influences from it.

3 Bentley Continental GT Flying Star

Front 3/4 view of the Continental Flying Star
netcarshow.com

Before Touring worked on the amazing Disco Volante, they were involved with much simpler projects. This is one of them, a shooting brake version of the Bentley Continental GT. The Continental GT is a pretty cool car, but turning it into a shooting brake definitely raises the bar.

The rear of the Continental Flying Star
netcarshow.com

RELATED: These Are The 10 Sickest Features Of The Bentley Continental GT

Other than the shooting brake conversion, the Continental GT Flying Star remained mostly the same. It's also extremely rare, but if you ever see one in real life, you will almost certainly notice it.

2 Ferrari 330 GTS

Front 3/4 view of the 330 GTS
favcars.com

When it comes to Ferrari's sports cars in the 60s, it's very difficult to keep up. There were several versions of the 330, but the GTS convertible is definitely a highlight of the lineup. The proportions, the general styling, everything just seems to fit together perfectly, and it's a beautiful car.

Rear 3/4 view of the 330 GTS
favcars.com

Elsewhere, the 330 GTS is largely the same as the 330 GTC. It used a 4.0-liter Colombo V12 engine with 300 hp and a glorious old-school V12 soundtrack. The GTS is among the rarest, with only around 100 units being made before production ended in 1968.

1 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake

Front 3/4 view of the Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake
netcarshow.com

The Vanquish Zagato family is the most recent effort from Zagato. Over the past couple of years, they built several different unique versions of Aston Martin's now-discontinued Vanquish. The coolest one, by far, has to be the Shooting Brake.

Rear 3/4 view of the Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake
netcarshow.com

The mechanicals are mostly unchanged compared to the regular Vanquish, but the exterior design has been overhauled significantly. It really is a beautiful car, even with the shooting brake body style. What's more, like other Zagato specials, this one is very rare, making it a real occasion when (and if) you see one.