February 9, 2023 , Windsor, Ontario – 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 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 colour point. A contemporary chromatic touch recalling the glorious past of legendary Alfa Romeo cars that have entered the collective imagination.
The Autodelta logo is a stylistic feature, maintained and preserved both in its original look and colours. 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 tricolour, 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 in which 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.
Autodelta: Alfa Romeo’s legendary racing department
On March 5, 1963, Carlo Chiti and the Chizzola brothers founded a small company based in Feletto Umberto near Udine with the aim of collaborating with Alfa Romeo in the construction of the Giulia TZ, a compact gran turismo designed by Zagato, built on the Giulia’s engine and mechanics and equipped with an exclusive tubular chassis, hence the acronym Tubolare Zagato. This marked the beginning of one of the most beautiful chapters in international motorsport. The company soon became Alfa Romeo’s racing department. In 1965, it was bought by Biscione with the aim of running the official comeback to competitions, after its withdrawal from the F1 World Championship in 1951, when it won its second title with Alfetta.
For this reason, the car manufacturing company decided to create an ad hoc racing organization, physically detached from the production facility and with sufficient discretion in making technical and sporting decisions quickly. The general manager of the new industrial and sports reality was the charismatic engineer Carlo Chiti, who relocated Autodelta in some anonymous warehouses in Settimo Milanese not far from Arese. This is where some of the most famous Alfa Romeo racing cars would come from, including the legendary 1965 Giulia Sprint GTA, which won three consecutive Challenge Europeo Marche, dozens of national championships and hundreds of individual races all over the world. Fun fact: Giulia Sprint GTA was the first touring car to race at the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife under 10 minutes.
In 1967, Alfa Romeo decided to take the big step into the prototype category, the major international stage of motor racing at the time, with the 33/2-liter model winning its first trophy when it debuted in Fléron, Belgium. The following year, Autodelta’s prototype cars won the category victory at the 24 hours of Daytona, the 1000 km of Nurburgring, the 500 km of Imola and the 24 hours of Le Mans. The 33 TT 12 of 1975 (probably the most successful year for Autodelta) was also remarkable. The model helped Autodelta win the World Championship of Marche, repeating the victory two years later with the 33 SC 12. Later, Autodelta took over the management of all Alfa Romeo sports programs, from the Alfasud trophy to Formula 1. In 1984, Carlo Chiti left the company, and the following year Autodelta was dismissed. Autodelta was a formidable training ground for many Italian drivers, including Andrea De Adamich, Arturo Merzario, Andrea De Cesaris, Bruno Giacomelli, Giorgio Francia and just as many foreign champions: from Jochen Rindt to Jacky Ickx, from Jean Pierre Jarier to Mario Andretti.
Alfa Romeo
Born in 1910 in Milan, Italy, Alfa Romeo has designed and crafted some of the most stylish and sporty cars in automotive history. That tradition lives on today as Alfa Romeo continues to take a unique and innovative approach to automobiles. The Alfa Romeo Stelvio sets a benchmark in performance, style and technology in an SUV. The award-winning Alfa Romeo Giulia delivers race-inspired performance, advanced technologies and an exhilarating driving experience to the premium midsize sedan segment. In early 2023, Alfa Romeo will offer its first compact SUV with the all-new Tonale. The globally available Tonale is part of a radical evolution taking place at Alfa Romeo, which looks ahead to a new era of electrification and connectivity. Alfa Romeo is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.
Follow Alfa Romeo brand news and video on:
Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Media website: http://stellantismedia.ca
Alfa Romeo newsroom: https://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com/newsroom.do?id=395&mid=894
Consumer website: www.alfaromeo.ca and www.alfaromeo.com
Facebook: Alfa Romeo Canada
Instagram: @alfaromeoca
Twitter: @alfaromeoca and @StellantisNA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA