By the mid-1990s, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and its concurrent international counterpart, the International Touring Car Series—commonly abbreviated to “DTM” and “ITC” respectively—had become the world’s pre-eminent touring car championships, boasting spectacular racing, state-of-the-art technology and manufacturer-backed multi-car teams from Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz and Opel.

Originally constructed by Alfa Corse (née Autodelta), this stunning 155 V6 TI—chassis number “005”—was delivered to Milan-based Alfa satellite squad, Euroteam, ahead of the 1995 DTM/ITC season, in which it was to be driven by former Team Lotus entrant in Formula 1, Michael Bartels.

The campaign started encouragingly, with 6th place in the third DTM round at Avus and pole position in the inaugural ITC round in Helsinki underlining the new pairing’s competitiveness.

The season’s high point was undoubtedly a remarkable weekend at Diepholz, in which Bartels took pole position and won both DTM races, a...