Iconic historical models from Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Ferrari, OSCA and Maserati were all represented in the 'Cartier Style et Luxe' paddock where they took centre stage at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend. The Cartier 'Style et Luxe' is on of the world's most coveted car design competitions. It's a concours d'elegance like no other: a celebration of the beautiful, the imaginative and the innovative in automotive design, a tribute to the talents that produced the great cars gathered at Goodwood. Set on the tranquil lawn of Goodwood House, far from the throng of racing engines, the 'Style et Luxe' is a cherished bastion of artistry and good taste.

The competition comprises around 50 cars in 10 classes representing the history of motoring. Past categories have included everything from Victorian Steam Carriages or magnificent Thirties coachbuilt limousines to gas turbine-powered concept cars and road-going Supercars of the 1970s. Unlike a conventional concours d'elegance, the judges of the 'Style et Luxe' are not car experts but eminent personalities from the arts.

Judging is not a scientific points-scoring process, but a consideration of each car as an object of beauty and practicality. While most of the panel will know little about cars, the artist's intrinsic understanding of proportion, detail, texture and finish invoke some intriguing and often rather alternative opinions, and the judges bring a wide range of sympathies to the panel. The Cartier 'Style et Luxe' arena is open for viewing throughout the Festival weekend, with judging taking place on Saturday and Sunday to an accompaniment of live world-class jazz.

Five of the six Italian cars on show were fanned out together in a circle, their distinct Italian style clustered in an exclusive group, all entered in the category Fabulous Fastbacks of the 1950s. Much attention was focused on a glorious 1954 Maserati A6G54 Zagato which was entered by Mr Stefan Hamelmann from Düsseldorf. 1954 was a significant year for Maserati as the Trident brand introduced the 250F Grand Prix car and the successful development of the A6GCS sports racer; at the same time leading coachbuilders including Zagato, Frua and Allemano built bodies for the 2-litre, 6-cylinder A6G chassis.

A second model also boasting a gorgeous Zagato crafted body was included in this small group, this time the slippery Lancia Flaminia Zagato entered by David Gee from Leicestershire. Introduced at the Turin Motor Show in 1958 this model is regarded as one of Zagato's most elegant designs and in its day it was ordered by the rich and famous. This actual car was discovered in 1994 by David Gee and carefully restored over a ten year period.

Sandwiched between these two cars was the pretty OSCA MT4 Berlinette Touring, entered by Andrea Binda from Nice. When the Maserati brothers fell out with industrialist Adolfo Orsi they quit to form the OSCA concern.
 

During the early fifties OSCA earned a reputation for well-engineered small sports cars, and the most successful of these was the 1.5-litre MT4, which was also a winner on the race tracks, taking several class victory at Le Mans and winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1954. The rarest of these cars were a limited series of Berlinettes, including this unique example built by Touring in 1961.

The penultimate car in the category was the Fiat 8V from 1953, entered by Jean Sage of Annecy, in France. Every now and again a big car marker comes up with a car that is somehow everything to everybody, and attracts no detractors. The "Otto Vu", as the Fiat 8V is simply and affectionately known, was all of that, a perfect form which was bursting with advanced technology; and coming in the early 1950s when the Fiat was firmly focused on the mass market production it showed that the Turinese firm could easily buck the trend and build the most evocative of sporty cars. Fitted with a narrow-angled 2.0-litre V8 it was designed by the great Dante Giacosa, and featured an aerodynamic body developed in the wind tunnel at Turin Polytechnic. It could reach an impressive 128 mph. Just 114 of these cars were built between 1952 and 1954, although they were a rare site outside Italy.

The last model in the Fabulous Fastbacks of the 1950s category was the splendid Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France, entered at Goodwood by Friedrich von Bohlen und Halbach. This silver car represents one of the most famous cars of the Maranello breed, and displayed just yards from the Stable Courtyard where Ferrari was celebrating its 60th Anniversary, it provided an excellent extension to their historical collection, which included a 250 GTO.

The other Italian production car in the 'Cartier Style et Luxe' Paddock was a stunning 1966 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale, entered by Tony Coburn from Swindon in the category Innovative Motoring Technology, 1957-67. Launched at the 1957 Geneva Motor Show the Giulietta SS was the work of Florence-born designer Franco Scaglione, and it finally put into production the dramatic styling cues seen on the famous BAT series of concept cars. In pre-production testing it achieved an astonishing 0.29 drag coefficient. Originally it was conceived as an all-alloy competition car it though became an exclusive - and very expensive - coachbuilt GT. Other entrants in this category at Festival were the Morgan Plus Four Plus (1959), Lotus Elite (1961), Chevrolet Corvair Monza (1964) and Mazda Cosmo (1967).