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The NEW 1985 Quadrifoglio

10 November, 2021

What was life like in Italy in 1985?

According to the covers of the Quadrifoglio published that year, it was gold (and silver).

A graphic taste all of the '80s, full of aspirations to wealth - what could be richer and more luxurious than gold and silver? - despite the fact that in Italy and the world there were already the first signs of the loss of innocence (the 1990s) and political and economic crises (the 2000s). 

19 July 1985 was the so-called 'Black Friday of the lira', with the 8% devaluation of our old currency and the exchange rate against the dollar at 2,200 lire. 

In December, there was the Palestinian attack on Fiumicino airport and in November, the Palermo Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office indicted more than 700 people suspected of belonging to Cosa Nostra.

All is not well, but Italians want to feel safe. Between golden and silver dreams.

Welcome once again to the Cozzi.Lab archive : let's browse through the 1985 Quadrifoglio kept by Pietro Cozzi .

 "We greet you with the pre-magon in our throats and a good deal of sadness in our hearts" Ernesto Gastaldelli, from the poem Ciao Portell

"we will do it with a light hand, i.e. giving fantasy and image predominant roles'.

ettore massacesi, talking about the rebirth of il quadrifoglio".

IN THE BEGINNING WAS ALPHA

The history of the Alfa Romeo emblems is a subject that really fascinates fans of Italy's most elegant cars: the Quadrifoglio had already dealt with the coats of arms issue in 1970, but in 1972 and again in 1982 further changes to the logo required new updates for enthusiasts!

So we see the coat of arms in force in 1970 still with stylised Savoy knots (it had been designed in 1950) transformed into a more sober symbol but still crowned by a silver circle in 1972 and then into a cleanlogo very similar to the modern one in 1982 .

Do you know all the Alfa logos? Which is your favourite?

THE WISH FACTORY

Another focus on the world of Alfa Romeo, this time on advertising posters.

Valerio Castronovo starts from the most famous advertising campaigns to outline the history of Italy and its business culture in the 20th century, a century full of events and technological innovations.

It is amazing how, even without any knowledge of graphic language, it is easy to recognise the communication style of the fascist twenty years rather than the 1950s. 

What, after all, is thehistory of advertising if not the history of a desire, of a status symbol, placed in its context of the time?

BARELY SAVED

In the eighties Alfa Romeo winked at a nascent ecological conscience: these were the golden years of the WWF - the guest of honour in this issue of the Quadrifoglio is in fact the former Italian president Fulco Pratesi - and it was in 1985 that research published in the journal Nature demonstrated a correlation between CFCs in aerosol cans (including hairsprays) and the hole in the ozone layer. 

Today, 36 years later, we can enjoy the nature photos of those times!

THE MODERN

Here's a nod to a common passion for Italians in both the 1980s and the 2000s and beyond: modern antiques .

In Roberto Tabozzi's "Il modernario" column, we talk about the passion for "vintage" design from the 1950s and 1960s: barely 20 or 30 years had passed since that time and the value of historic pieces such as Zanotta's Sacco armchair and Castiglioni's Arco lamp had already been understood.

We know very well the value of that kind of design. history of a company like Velca we have dedicated an exhibition here at the Museum!

WITH THE DOOR CLOSED

Finally, an entire column is dedicated to the closure of the Alfa Romeo plant in Portello.

But you already know all about that, don't you?