The 100 candles of the four-leaf clover

March 26, 2023

we celebrate the century of life of the symbol of alfa romeo with the contribution of our dear friend elvira ruocco

The Quadrifoglio, Alfa Romeo's most famous symbol, blows out 100 candles: it first appeared on an Alfa Romeo sports car in 1923.

In the photos in this article are just a few of the four-leaf clovers that appear here and there in our Museum--the invitation, of course, is to come in person and look for them all.

To celebrate it, we share an article written by dear friend of the Museum Elvira Ruocco dedicated to this so famous good luck charm: thank you Elvira for allowing us to use it, and happy reading to all!

Alfa Romeo's lucky four-leaf clover turns 100 and changes its look - BY ELVIRA RUOCCO


The famous talisman that has always distinguished Alfa Romeo's sports cars first appeared on the R.L of 1923. It is said that it was chosen because there was a lack of an emblem to distinguish Alfa's racing cars, but there is also another, more credited version: at the 1923 Targa Florio, an R.L with the number 17 was entrusted to Ugo Sivocci who, out of superstition before the start, had a green Quadrifoglio painted on his hood. He had wanted it on the most forward part of the radiator on a white background in the shape of a quadrilateral, and he did well because he drove his car to victory, which was renamed: R.L. "Targa Florio." Just four months later, during practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Sivocci lost his life in an off-track accident at the Vialone curve while at the wheel of another Alfa Romeo, the talisman-less P.1 number 17 that had been designed in the fall of 1922 by Giuseppe Merosi and his helper Antonio Santoni. Sivocci died on the spot, and from that day on that race number was never again assigned to Italian racing cars. That corner today is called "Curva Ascari" but it could have been named after him because Sivocci was the first victim of the Monza racetrack.

As a sign of mourning, Alfa Romeo withdrew from the race. Truth be told, the Alfa Romeo R.L. was not the first to boast the Quadrifoglio. A few years before the birth of the Alfa, a famous French car, the "Brasier," known for winning several editions of the Gordon Bennet Cup, had an enameled Quadrifoglio enclosed in a golden circle on its radiator as its trademark; and again, a green Quadrifoglio first appeared on bombing airplanes of the 10th Caproni Squadron on May 25, 1916, on the field of Villaverla in Thiene.

But back to Alfa Romeo: after Sivocci's death the Quadrifoglio underwent a change, the white background took on a triangular shape, was moved from the hood to the sides and was converted into the permanent insignia of the Portello sports cars. In the early 1960s Alfa disclaimed its use in the automotive field in the press; a green Quadrifoglio was registered in 1963 with the Central Patent Office, and in May 1968 a second Quadrifoglio with a simple black stroke with the stem on the right was filed, but the one most currently used differs from the first because it is rotated 90 degrees.

Since Sivocci's victory in 1923, the Quadrifoglio has been identified with Alfa Romeo cars starting with the P2 triumphant in the first World Championship in 1925 and continuing in 1950 and 1951 with the Alfetta 158 and 159 winners with Giuseppe (Nino) Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio respectively of the first two Formula 1 World Championships. Then in the 1960s, a green Quadrifoglio reappeared on the racing version of the Giulia (the TI Super), and from 1963 for more than two decades, it was juxtaposed with Autodelta's blue triangle in a long string of victories: from the GTA to the 33, passing through the two World Championships won by the 33 TT 12 in 1975 and the 33 SC 12 in 1977. After a return to F1 and victories in touring car racing with the GTV 6 2.5, in 1993 it was the 155 V6 TI that triumphed in the DTM, and from 1998 to 2004 the 156 recorded a large number of victories in Superturismo.

The Quadrifoglio Oro symbol has since been affixed to production models built since the 1980s: starting with the Alfasud and Alfetta (1982 and 1983, respectively), which were followed by: the Alfasud TI and Alfasud Sprint both Quadrifoglio Verde; the various models of the 33 Quadrifoglio Verde from 1983 to 1991 and also in Station Wagon version; the Alfa 6 Quadrifoglio Oro; the Alfa 75 Quadrifoglio Verde; the 164 of 1992; and again the Giulietta and Mito.   

Finally, a curious note. By the end of the 1960s, the Quadrifoglio had become a fashion; motorists were putting it on their cars even if they were not Alfas. Alfa Romeo's quarterly magazine "Il Quadrifoglio" born in 1966 (edited by Leonardo Sinisgalli, co-director Franco Massari, which lasted until 1973 ed.) carried out a survey from which it emerged that the application of the sticker on cars was not an exhibitionist craze but rather a sign of sporting and, above all, auspicious distinction.

To this day, Alfisti still proudly sport the most famous good luck charm in motorsports, which over the years has taken on a very important meaning, but for Alfa Romeo in so many years of glorious sports victories, more than the four-leaf clover have counted the horses under the hood.