Think Alfa 1750, think Zagato or Touring.

But Kentish coachbuilders James Young were major contributors to its legacy, too Vittorio Jano was a hugely successful pre-war engineer with the like of Grand Prix Alfa Romeos, the P2 and Tipo B which preceded and sired the legendary 6C and 8C road cars.

These were followed post-war, firstly by Lancia's Aurelia and D-series racers then the immortal Dino V6 and the 1.5-litre V8 that won Ferrari the 1964 F1 world championship.

All of them were kissed by his genius and bore his imprimatur.

The Alfa 6C 1500, introduced in 1927, spawned a family which proliferated into a bewildering array of variants when, in 1929, the original 1487cc, five-main bearing straight-six grew to 1752cc, creating the 1750 model.

Versions with both single and twin OHC valve gear were offered, plus a muscular compressore, blown by a Roots-type supercharger.

Power ranged from an underwhelming 46bhp in the first SOHC variants to a rather lustier 85bhp from the stock blo...