Once upon a time (in fact, not that long ago), the four-leaf clover on an Alfa Romeo wasn’t necessarily cause for much enthusiasm. Then along came the Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglios, which helped us all forget two decades of duds and recall the glory days of Alfa as a maker of fast road cars and even faster racers. With not long left for either, they’re flying the cloverleaf flag in fine fashion.
2023 marks 100 years of the Quadrifoglio on the very best Alfa Romeos. ‘The constant pursuit of excellence’ is how the badge is summed up by Alfa, first appearing on a car in April 1923. It was on a Targa Florio winner that year, the first of 10 victories for Alfa at the iconic road race, then on subsequent GP racers, sportscars and touring cars. When you think of Alfa 33s, 159s, GTV6s, even the DTM 155, there’s always a little cloverleaf on the side, giving it some incredible history and heritage.
To mark 100 years of the Quadrifoglio, Alfa has a new logo for 2023. Needless to say, we’re hoping for something a little more exciting over the next few months, but for now its centenary will be marked by this new Alfa Centro Stile badge. For the moment, it won’t actually make it to the cars, instead being reserved for ‘communication activities and novelties that will follow throughout 2023’. Which seems a pity given how good green and gold would look against Alfa Red.
This year sees another important anniversary for Alfa Romeo, as well: 2023 is also 60 years since the formation of the Autodelta racing department. And you know what that means - another new badge! Originally formed in 1963 to assist Alfa with building the Giulia TZ, Autodelta’s most famous association is probably with the Giulia Sprint GTA touring cars.
But given Autodelta was also involved with F1 and top-level sportscar racing, its success certainly wasn’t limited to one discipline. Again, it seems like this new badge, resurrecting the classic logo and font, will be used for little more than stationery, but we’ll hope for more. It ‘aligns with Alfa Romeos’ current identity’, no less, so it would be a shame for it not to be seen on metal.
There remains some hope. Autodelta’s 60th anniversary is on March 5th, and the Quadrifoglio’s is on June 25th (ignore the April thing then, clearly). Which would put July’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in a great spot to launch a proper celebration of a truly great badge. Let's hope the logo is just the start, eh...
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