The dominant feature of the exhibition is the relationship that has always linked planning to design throughout the history of Alfa Rome. In other words, the fact that the technical essence of our products has always been at one with their formal essence. This bond lies at the root of the sensation that Alfa Romeo cars have always aroused, i.e. a 'bellezza necessaria' (sustainable beauty) that is formed in a place where the gods of engineering and the gods of form find harmony and essential balance.

Twenty cars from the Alfa Romeo museum are on show on this occasion, complemented by drawings, documents, engines, period posters and styling models. Visitors can admire the most famous and prestigious cars produced from 1910 to our own time and also explore the complicated relationship between racing and technical development, good looks and engineering.

The show is opened by the Torpedo 24 HP of 1910, the first car produced by Alfa Romeo. This is followed by the legendary 6C 1750 Gran Sport, winner of the 1930 Mille Miglia race with Tazio Nuvolari at the wheel. Then comes another car driven by the legendary 'Flying Mantovan': the 1931 8C 2300 Monza that triumphed on tracks and circuits throughout the world. The exhibition also features the Berlinetta 8C 2900 B, an elegant, sophisticated car with powerful mechanicals that was one of the most sophisticated Gran Turismo cars to be built by Alfa Romeo in the Thirties. 

The show would not be complete without the G.P. 159 in which Manuel Fangio won the World Formula 1 Championship in 1951. Cars that changed the industrial and commercial history of Alfa Romeo are also present: the 1900 dating from 1950, the first Alfa car to be manufactured on an industrial scale; the Giulietta in a Sprint versions with a body by Bertone and the Spider with a body by Pininfarina that have earned a place of their own in the history of Italian design. The line-up continues with cars produced from 1960 to our own time, including the Duetto open-topped sports car and the on-road 33.

'La Bellezza Necessaria' is thus a fascinating journey through time that treats the car both as art work and research product. An object that is created to arouse emotions yet is also the fruit of uncompromising rationality. Technology and passion have always been the twin souls of an Alfa Romeo.