Just picture that scene in the gathering dusk of a balmy Italian evening.

Reflections of the setting sun rippling towards you over that shapely, pent-roofed bonnet, the warm, slightly oil-scented air wafting up from the pedal box and gearbox housing down in the driver's footwell...and all the time that characteristic, unforgettable, head-turning bark, and strum, and thunder – of the supercharged straight-8 cylinder Alfa Romeo engine...molto fortissimo personified.

Few great classic sports cars can match the intense sensory overload provided by the supreme Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 in raucous action.

Add the historic importance and cachet of the Le Mans 24-Hours race, of Sir Henry 'Tim' Birkin and of Francis, Earl Howe – and then of Marshal Italo Balbo – and as the cherry on the cake add the connoisseurial ownership of the late George Daniels and it becomes patently obvious that '065' offered here is a thoroughbred sports car of great stature.

The history of this magnificent Alfa Romeo 8C-...