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As one of our two ‘wild card’ brand new car entries, the Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio holds its own with effortless ease. Even the regular Giulia Q would easily have made our Top 12: after all, it is comfortably Alfa’s greatest car of the last decade: Ferrari-developed 510hp V6 twin-turbo; dedicated Giorgio platform with sensational steering and suspension; lightweight carbon goodies; we could go on and on.

You just can’t stop gawping at it. On looks alone, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint deserves its high placing in our ‘Greatest Ever’ shootout. Designed by Franco Scaglione of Bertone, the Sprint was an exercise in the elegance of simplicity, perfect proportion and delicate understatement. This 1950s icon’s shape has withstood every changing fashion with easy grace

Some may question why the Alfasud rates such a lofty position as seventh in our top 12. After all, this is a car that could so easily have a tragic opera written about it, so troubled was its birth and its early life, as it returned to base mineral elements. The reason why the Alfasud is in seventh position – and why the tragedy of its reputation for rust is all the more acute – is because it’s an absolute cracker of a car.

The 1973 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super 1.6 Tipo 105 is here as a representative of our family car class, but it could so easily have joined as a sports car, even in four-door Berlina guise. Much of the magical driving experience you can enjoy in the sportier members of the Alfa 105 family – the Giulia GT coupe and Duetto/Spider – applies in equal measure to the saloon.

So many pre-war Italian cars might have made it on to our Top 12 list: the Lancia Lambda for its pioneering unitary construction; the Fiat Topolino for how it democratised transport; or the Lancia Aprilia for its advanced engineering. Instead, it’s one of the greatest sports cars of all time that has exerted an irresistible pull on us: the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750. Those ‘6C’ alpha-numerals simply signify six cylinders, but in Alfa lore that represents something very special. While there had been Alfa straight-six engines before (the G1 of 1921 and the Merosi-designed RL of 1923), it was engineer Vittorio Jano, who joined Alfa Romeo in September 1923, who catapulted the format to the height of success with his 1.5-litre ‘six’. The new powerplant entered production as the 6C 1500 in 1927.

From the ashes of war arose a unique Alfa Romeo V12 engine. Its survival in an equally mysterious body is a saga unknown until now, as Karl Ludvigsen reveals Photography Spalluto Press.

In the Seventies, South Africa was one of Alfa Romeo’s most important markets outside of Italy. The Berlina 2000 was both successful in sales and on the racetrack

In a booming post-warItaly, La Dolce Vita found form in these three distinctive coupes from Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo. But which of our six-cylinder trio is the best to drive?

The incredible story of how Jim Stokes Workshop created an Alfa Romeo Alfetta 158 Grand Prix racer from rediscovered parts in Italy

The battle is on between three cars that exemplify the pinnacle of Italian competition breeding in the 1990s. Which one – Alfa Romeo SZ, Lancia Delta HF integrale or Maserati Ghibli Cup – wins our hearts?

Not all the early history of this sinfully attractive Alfa is recorded. But maybe that’s a force for good, reckons

Boxing Match These two charismatic children of the 1970s arguably reached full maturity in the 1980s. But does Alfa V6 sportiness trump Lancia boxer-four elegance?

Alfa 12C a wartime mystery. After 80 years, a unique 1941 Alfa Romeo V12 racing prototype has emerged from oblivion. Born in the midst of the war, the story of the long-lost 12C Prototipo can now – finally – be told.

Marciano 268A This Alfa Montreal-engined one-off took more than 25 years to build

These two boxy-edged, superior-specced saloons were close rivals in the 1960s. Does Lancia Fulvia GTE or Alfa Giulia Super pull our heartstrings more today?