Alfa Romeo Celebrates 90 Years of the Quadrifoglio Verde Name

Alfa RomeoAlfa RomeoItaly, 1910 > present108 models
2257 photos
7 videos
is celebrating the 90th anniversary of their Quadrifoglio Verde name, which has adorned its race cars and sportiest road cars since 1923. 

The exact history of the Quadrifoglio Verde, or four-leaf clover, name has been lost to history. It was the insignia of the 10th Caproni Bomber Squadron in the Italian Air Force during World War One. Racer Ugo Sivocci put it on the hood of his Alfa Romeo RLAlfa Romeo RL Targa FlorioItaly, 1923 > 19242 photos
racecar in the 1923 Targa Florio and brought Alfa Romeo its first win in the race. It has been a part of Alfa Romeo iconography ever since, and the four leaf clover still appears on the crest of the Italian Air Force.

After the Targa Florio, Enzo Ferrari, Antonio Ascari and Giulio Ramponi adopted the four-leaf clover as an insignia on their own Alfa Romeo racecars, and it became a symbol for the team. Later, it became the sign of the Alfa Romeo factory racing team. The Alfa Romeo-backed cars wore the Quadrifoglio Verde, and the Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeos had the company's prancing horse emblem.

It took until the 60s for Alfa Romeo to adopt the name for road cars, but even then it was kept very exclusive. The ready-to-race Giulia TI Super in 1963 was the first to get the Quadrifoglio Verde, and only 501 were made. The cars received a tuned engine, lightened body and other modifications for racing.

Alfa Romeo still offers Quadrifoglio Verde trims on the sportiest models of the GiuliettaAlfa Romeo Giulietta 1.75...Italy, 2010 > present5 photos
and MiTo.