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The Alfa Romeo 159, or the Alfetta (Little Alfa in Italian) as it was usually know, is one of the most successful racing cars ever produced.The Alfa Romeo 159 and the 158 that spawned it,  took 47 wins from 54 Formula One Grands Prix entered. It was originally developed for the pre-World War II world Grand Prix championships and has a 1.5 litre straight-8 supercharged engine, not exactly a common configuration nowadays.

Following World War II, the car was eligible for the new Formula One introduced in 1947. With such legendary drivers as Nino Farina, Juan-Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli, behind the wheel, it dominated the first two seasons of the Formula One World Championship.

The car won every race in which it competed during 1950; no mean feat for a car that had been produced 12 years. The Alfa Romeo team included talented drivers such as Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio, the latter of whom later won the World Drivers' Championship five times.

With the 1950 season over, a further updated version known as the Alfa Romeo 159 was produced. This version had reworked rear suspension and the engine produced around 420 bhp . For their last World Championship race, the 1951 Spanish Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo introduced a new evolution version known as the 159M, the "M" standing for Maggiorata.

The 1952 World Drivers' Championship was run to Formula Two regulations, so the 159 became obsolete.The car's last Grand Prix win came in 1953 at Merano Grand Prix, Italy.