Since then, the company has gone on to create a series of howling V12s and V8s, incredible five-litre flat 12s and even, for the Dino, a V6 with six crank throws instead of three and a 65 degree angle between the cylinder banks - but never a conventional inline four. Except for this one.

In the early 1950s, the regulations for Formula 2 series prescribed naturally aspirated two-litre engines of no more than four cylinders, and the 1952 and 1953 Formula One championships were run to these rules because there just weren’t enough 4.5-litre Grand Prix cars around to make up a decent field.