110th Anniversary Alfa Romeo Heritage (Cronology)

The Quadrifoglio Symbol: More Than Luck While many stories circulate about the origin of the four-leaf clover (quadrifoglio in Italian) that adorned Alfa Romeo’s racing and high-performance models even until today, the true turn of events came in 1923. In view of the XIV edition of the Targa Florio, Alfa Romeo decided not to leave anything to chance: the team prepared a specific “Corsa” (racing) version of the new RL, Giuseppe Merosi’s masterpiece. The “three-liter” was made lighter, shorter and more powerful. The best drivers of the time were summoned: Antonio Ascari, Giuseppe Campari, Giulio Masetti, Enzo Ferrari and Ugo Sivocci. The latter two were behind the wheel of a more aggressive version of the car, with a displacement boosted to 3,154 cc and 95 HP. But having great vehicles and the best drivers to win races are not enough: you also need a bit of luck. With this in mind, added to an ill-concealed superstition, the company decided to paint a lucky charm on the hoods of its cars: a green four-leaf clover.