Quadrifoglio Verde (Alfa Romeo)

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The "Quadrifoglio Verde" in both original versions

The "Quadrifoglio Verde" is a trademark of the Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo , which in its original form refers to the works racing car - and later to a performance-enhanced series, or the racing version of a certain model, similar to the M emblem of BMW , or (at least in the Early years) the "Scudetto" (small sign) of Scuderia Ferrari . "Quadrifoglio" is the Italian word for four-leaf clover , "Verde" means green.

The Quadrifoglio was usually placed on the flanks of the car above or behind the front wheels - on modern vehicles on the fenders. The current version of the logo consists of a four-leaf, heraldic stylized green clover leaf on a white triangle.

history

The symbol first appeared in 1923 on one of the four Alfa Romeo RLs specially prepared by Giuseppe Merosi for the Targa Florio in Sicily. The Targa Florio was considered one of the most prestigious automobile competitions at the time.

Alfa Romeo had taken class wins and small competitions and had high expectations of the team, but due to inexperience - and sometimes just bad luck - Alfa had not yet won a major international race.

Merosi prepared four cars for the 1923 Targa Florio and entrusted them to Antonio Ascari , Enzo Ferrari , Giulio Masetti and Ugo Sivocci . Sivocci, Ferrari's discoverer, friend and mentor, was a pilot with great experience and technical competence, but was often unlucky in his missions and was considered "l'eterno secondo" (Italian for "the eternal second" ). To ward off misfortune, Sivocci had painted a white square next to the radiator grille of his car with a green four-leaf clover on it. The team's surprising result at this Targa Florio on the Madonie track laid the foundation for the Quadrifoglio cult at Alfa Romeo:

Targa Florio (1923)

Alfa Romeo RL Targa Florio by Ugo Sivocci

Towards the end of the race the chances of victory were limited to the leading trio, consisting of Ascari and Sivocci, followed by Minoia on a Steyr VI Klausen Sport. The Ascaris Alfa RL engine stopped just two hundred meters from the finish. Ascari's head start enabled his mechanics to get to where his car had stopped in time to restart the engine. In their euphoria (and in anticipation of certain victory) they all got on to cross the finish line with Ascari, but this resulted in a disqualification. So Ascari returned to where he'd stopped his car and covered the last part of the route again. He finished second behind Sivocci, who had meanwhile crossed the finish line as the winner and gave Alfa Romeo its first international victory. From then on, the emblem adorned all Alfa Romeo factory racing cars as a "lucky charm".

Like a self-fulfilling prophecy that seems to confirm the importance of the Quadrifoglio, Sivocci had a fatal accident a few months later, on September 8, 1923 , while training for the 1st Grand Prix of Europe in Monza with his Alfa Romeo P1 . Due to complications when painting the car, the quadrifoglio was missing on the car with the start number "17" , the number that is symbolic in Italy as the "13" in Germany. Both together made a lasting impression on drivers, mechanics and technicians throughout the racing scene. As a result, the number 17 was no longer assigned to an Italian racing car.

In his surprise victory (with the painted QV), Sivocci ironically had start number 13 , which, as an Italian, did not particularly bother him, as 17 was an "unlucky number" for him. In his fatal accident, he was - from his point of view - “doubly burdened” because of his missing lucky charm and the start number. This is either ignored or misinterpreted in numerous articles.

Modern times

Alfa GTA

In the 1970 / 1980s, the Alfa Romeo racing department also used the emblem (in a partially modified form) on their Formula 1 vehicles. From 2017 , the Quadrifoglio emblem could be seen on the rear of the Ferrari SF70H Formula 1 car and on the racing overalls of Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel . In 2018 it was also part of the Alfa Romeo Sauber Formula 1 team and, from 2019, also at Alfa Romeo Racing .

The design

In the original version, the stylized green shamrock was placed on a square on top. The four corners stood for the four Alfa works drivers Antonio Ascari , Ugo Sivocci, Giulio Masetti and Giuseppe Campari . After the fatal accident in Sivocci, the emblem was changed: In memory of Sivocci and as a sign that he is irreplaceable for Alfa, the clover leaf no longer has a rhombus as a background, but a triangle. The design of the emblem differs depending on whether it is attached to the left or right side of the vehicle: the stem of the leaf should always point towards the rear of the vehicle.

To this day, quadrifoglio verde is a trademark for the Alfa Romeo vehicles used in racing. The former factory racing team Alfa Corse and the racing car department Autodelta adopted the clover leaf as a distinctive mark and symbol of luck.

Use outside of racing

Alfa Romeo Giulia TI Super from 1964, the first production vehicle to carry the "Quadrifoglio"

After the Second World War, the Quadrifoglio was used to mark particularly sporty versions of the various Alfa Romeo types. The logo was first used on the Giulia TI Super from 1963, also called Giulia Quadrifoglio . It was a variant of the Giulia sedan that was developed for racing, but was also regularly sold. This version of the emblem featured the green four-leaf clover on the front fenders, but without a triangle.

In the 1970s, the Quadrifoglio Verde established itself as the emblem of those models that were equipped with the most powerful engine and / or showed another sporting increase in value. It is often abbreviated as QV. The Alfasud , Sprint , 33 , 75 , 164 and 145 all had Quadrifoglio Verde versions.

The Quadrifoglio Oro logo

Also in the 1970s and 1980s, gold four-leaf clover badges were used to identify the most luxurious and best-equipped variants of Alfa Romeo vehicles with the name Quadrifoglio Oro ("Oro" Italian: gold). There were gold versions of the Alfasud, Alfetta, Alfa 6, 90 and 33.

More recently, the QV mark has been revived for the 2007 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione and the Spider eight-cylinder sports cars. With the Alfa Romeo MiTo in 2012 and the Giulietta in the early 2010s, the Quadrifoglio Verde established itself again as the sportiest trim level in the range.

Current Alfa Romeo models that bear the Quadrifoglio emblem are the high-performance versions of the Giulia and Stelvio models . Although the abbreviation “V” for Verde is not used on these models, the QV abbreviation is still often used informally when referred to, for example in the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV .

Web links

Commons : Quadrifoglio Verde (Alfa Romeo)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • Autonatives.de On board with Alfa Romeo for 90 years - the Quadrifoglio Verde. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  • Octane Magazine article with a photo showing the scene that led to Ascari's disqualification. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  • commercial-publishing.ch The DNA - The legend of the Quadrifoglio Verde. Retrieved June 16, 2020.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio: Alfa's best performance cars | Alfa Romeo. Retrieved June 15, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Berthold Dörrich: Green happiness - The story of the Quadrifoglio Verde. In: Octane magazine. January 17, 2020, accessed June 16, 2020 .
  3. ↑ historicracing.com. Retrieved June 15, 2020 .
  4. ↑ THE POWER OF A LEGEND. Retrieved June 16, 2020 .
  5. ↑ n-tv NEWS: Clover leaf is said to bring luck to Alfa Romeo. Retrieved June 16, 2020 .
  6. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio: Green Clover - DER SPIEGEL - Mobility. Retrieved June 16, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Alfa Romeo Giulia: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (2020) Facelift: This is new for the Italian M3 opponent. Retrieved June 15, 2020 .