The high profile showing for Alfa Romeo at Goodwood this weekend is a welcome boost for the brand after a very difficult last year which has seen its future direction questioned by Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne and its sales continuing to tumble. It comes as a fillip after the official celebrations descended into farce and the widespread disgruntlement of enthusiasts who were taking part. Alfa Romeo's latest model, the Giulietta, is a must-succeed model, and the long-awaited replacement for the Alfa 147 in the vital C-segment, is also making its UK debut this weekend.

Alfa Romeo built its worldwide reputation on winning races, so showing off this unrivalled century-old history at Goodwood tunes straight into the heart of the brand's DNA; unfortunately the fact that Alfa Romeo has turned it back on the arena of racing in recent years hasn't been lost on the many enthusiasts' making the trip to Goodwood.

A long list of prized historic Alfas are featuring at this year’s Festival, including the 1925 World Championship winning Alfa P2 Grand Prix race car which joins its modern counterpart, the Alfa 8C Competizione on the Centenary central sculpture which celebrates Alfa Romeo – with design inspiration taken from the marque’s iconic Cloverleaf badge.

In all, more than 50 important Alfa Romeos are at this year’s Festival of Speed, which ends this evening, including sixteen priceless examples which have made the pilgrimage from the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo at Arese, Italy. Four of these, the 8C 2900 B Speciale tipo Le Mans 1938, Gran Premio Tipo B (P3) 1932, Gran Premio Tipo 159 ‘Alfetta’ 1951 and 155 DTM 1993 have been seen in action on the Goodwood Hillclimb course.

The "Hillclimb" is the Festival of Speed’s principal attraction. Taking place throughout the weekend, this challenging 1.16 mile course starts as a tree-lined run through the southern corner of the Goodwood Estate which then turns to sweep past the front of Goodwood House before climbing a steep and narrow Estate road bordered by flint walls and dense woodland groves towards Goodwood’s equine racecourse on top of the magnificent South Downs. The course rises by over 300 ft from the start line to the finish, and is very technical and challenging, putting the skills of the world’s very best drivers to a stern test of concentration and speed.

The remaining twelve historic Alfa Romeo models are being ‘shared’ between the Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ concours d’elegance and the Cathedral Paddock. In the Supercar Paddock, Alfa’s latest sports car offering, the convertible 8C Spider, has turned heads with its award-winning looks and distinctive V8 growl as it made its way past the crowds, up the historic Goodwood Hill.

Appearing as part of the magnificent static display in the Cathedral Paddock are historic delights such as the Alfa Gran Premio Tipo 512 1940, the car that never raced due to the advent of World War Two, and the one-off 164 Pro-Car which features the world’s first ever 10 cylinder engine, another car that never raced. Completing a trio of unraced racers is the beautiful SE 048 SP which was built in 1991 for Group C action but the project was canned before it saw the light of day.