Alfa Romeo has announced the official start of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the legendary Quadrifoglio brand and the 60th anniversary of Autodelta with new logos that will serve as symbols of performance excellence for the premium Italian brand. These two historic milestones are an expression of noble Italian sportiness dating back to 1910, which continues to trigger strong emotions and great pride among Alfa Romeo fans.
The two new logos will accompany the clubs’ and the brand’s events, as well as the various communication activities and novelties that will follow throughout 2023. Created by Alfa Romeo’s Centro Stile, the two new logos reinterpret the design from a modern perspective, projecting them into the future of the brand, which aims to reinvent sportiness in the 21st century. In particular, the centenary of Quadrifoglio has the sturdiness and elegance of the historic logo while evolving only its color point. A contemporary chromatic touch recalls the glorious past of legendary Alfa Romeo cars.
The Autodelta logo is a stylistic feature, maintained and preserved in its original look and colors. This symbol of sportiness remains beloved in the memory of generations of motorsport lovers. The new celebratory version features minimal changes, but leans toward the contemporary and aligns with Alfa Romeo’s current identity. This design is evident in the new Sequel font, the same font employed by Alfa Romeo, the ever-present tricolor, as a proud expression of its origins, and the addition of the anniversary date that highlights the longevity of the Autodelta brand.
For Autodelta’s 60th anniversary, Alfa Romeo will hold a conference at the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, Milan, on March 5, the day the racing department was founded.
On June 25, as part of the brand’s birthday celebrations, Quadrifoglio Day will take place followed by a “backstage” conference, which will feature a parade and flash mob open to all of Alfa Romeo clubs.
Quadrifoglio: a symbol of made in Italian sportiness since 1923
The constant pursuit of excellence was first applied to racing and then transferred, entirely, to production cars: this, in a nutshell, is the Alfa Romeo philosophy embedded in the Quadrifoglio. The legendary symbol has identified Alfa Romeo’s most high-performance creations, not only those employed on racetracks around the world, but also special production models, since April 15, 1923.
The first Alfa Romeo car adorned with the Quadrifoglio was the RL Corsa of the driver Ugo Sivocci, who won the 14th edition of Targa Florio in 1923; thus, winning the first of the brand’s 10 laurels in this prestigious competition. The same symbol of good luck was a standout on Brilli Peri’s P2 when he won the first World Car Racing Championship in Monza, 1925, the first of the five world titles won by Alfa Romeo. In the late 1920s, it was, once again, the Quadrifoglio that distinguished Alfa Romeo cars from the cars run by Scuderia Ferrari, which had the “cavallino rampante” as its emblem.
In 1950 and 1951, Giuseppe “Nino” Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio led Alfa Romeo 158 and 159, the iconic Alfetta, to victory in the first two Formula 1 World Championships. Then, in the 1960s, the Quadrifoglio characterized the ready-to-race version of the Giulia, the TI Super, and then joined Autodelta’s blue triangle logo for several decades: from the GTA to the 33 to the two world championships of the 33 TT 12 (1975) and the 33 SC 12 (1977).
Alfa Romeo’s racing activity continued in the 1980s when, after its return to F1 in 1980, it triumphed again in touring car racing (GTV 6 2.5), followed by the DTM with the 155 V6 Ti in 1993 and the very long series of victories of the 156 Superturismo (1998-2004).
Ordinary Alfa Romeo production cars also featured the Quadrifoglio. They were high-performance models manufactured from the 1960s to the 1980s. Some carried the symbol on the bodywork, with no appearance in the official name, such as the Giulia Sprint GT Veloce or 1750 GT Veloce – while others, from the 1980s onwards, had the Quadrifoglio in their official name, such as the various versions of the 33 Quadrifoglio Verde and 164 Quadrifoglio Verde. Between the 1970s and 1980s, the Quadrifoglio also evolved and was available in two versions: Verde for sportier vehicles and Oro for more refined and luxurious set-ups.
Over time, the initial “Q” itself became part of the Alfa Romeo vocabulary, eventually identifying the most advanced technical solutions: the most famous of all is the Q4 all-wheel drive, but there was also the Q2 self-locking differential, the Q-System automatic transmission and the Q-Tronic.
In 2008, the Quadrifoglio symbol returned on Mito and Giulietta (2010). The latest Alfa Romeo generation was born in 2015 with the launch of Giulia in its Quadrifoglio version, powered by the new 2.9 BiTurbo gasoline engine with 510 horsepower and an outstanding performance. The car in Giulia form quickly set a category record of 7:32 on the famous Nurburgring circuit. Stelvio, the first SUV produced by Alfa Romeo, is also at the top of the range in its Quadrifoglio version.
SOURCE: Stellantis
