There’s a secret culture of cars hiding in plain sight. If you don’t want to invest any time in learning the language, you can safely miss it. But if you choose to delve into it, your daily drives will fill with stories.
Alfa Romeo is about to build perhaps the perfect illustration of the hidden language of cars.
A Storied Badge, Mostly Missed in America
Casual American drivers might barely be aware of Alfa Romeo. That works out fine for those who don’t care to know.
But car lovers know an Alfa brings a special romance, and not all Alfas are equal. Today, two cars make up most of the Italian luxury brand’s limited sales in the U.S. – the Giulia sport sedan and Stelvio compact SUV. They’re known for subtle beauty and crisp handling, and they sell better overseas than stateside. Buying one grants a certain panache.
But each has a secret super performance model. If you know what to look for, an Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio (that’s four-leaf – look for the clover badge) is a truly unique sight. The Giulia and Stelvio each have one. They get all sorts of performance upgrades and not a lot of visual fluff to oversell those.
Best of all, a twin-turbo V6 derived from Ferrari sits under the hood, making 505 horsepower. With an Italian four-leaf clover, you can sit at the stoplight in an undercover Ferrari. It’s special.
An Ending, at Least for Now
Special things end. Alfa Romeo announced earlier this year that the Quadrifoglio editions would disappear this summer. The move is part of Alfa’s switch to electricity for power, and we suspect the Quadrifoglio badge will eventually return on a high-performance electric car.
But you know Italians and their romance – they may leave the name in history.
Its last act will be a salute to history. Alfa Romeo has announced that it will build a few final editions – 275 Giulia and 175 Stelvio models – called Quadrifoglio Super Sport.
Alfa Romeo will allocate just 72 of the Giulia Quadrifoglio Super Sport to U.S. dealers, priced at $88,365 each (including the $1,595 destination fee). Just 52 Stelvio Quadrifoglio Super Sport models will come our way, asking $95,965 delivered.
A Famed Race From Nearly a Century Ago
The name is a callback to racing history. Racing purists call the Mille Miglia (Italian for “thousand miles”) the world’s most beautiful race. It was run from 1927 to 1957 (paused for World War II) across much of the Italian countryside.
The Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport didn’t win the first Mille Miglia. It won the second, which kicked off a run of 11 straight wins for Alfa Romeo.
Like many great races from the early days of motorsports, the Mille Miglia ended in tragedy, never run again after a 1957 crash that killed spectators. Running race cars at high speed on public roads has always been a bad idea, even when it’s been lovely to watch.
A Clever, Coded Symbol for Those Who Speak the Language
Each Quadrifoglio Super Sport will get a mechanical limited-slip differential retuned by the company’s racing division. “The Quadrifoglio Super Sport models also feature a carbon-fiber driveshaft, four-mode Alfa DNA Pro selector, Chassis Domain Control, and aluminum column-mounted paddle shifters, with the Stelvio adding the innovative Q4 all-wheel-drive (AWD) system for additional driving confidence and superior control,” the company says.
“Performance is breathtaking: the Giulia Quadrifoglio Super Sport is capable of 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 191 mph; the Stelvio Quadrifoglio Super Sport delivers 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds and a top speed of 176 mph.”
Inside, they’ll use a “new 3D carbon fiber finish with a red weave,” leather and Alcantara steering wheels, and Super Sport badges, including a number plate showing their limited edition status.
Outside, the Stelvio will get a carbon fiber roof as standard equipment. It’s optional on the Giulia.
Our favorite feature, though, is incredibly subtle. The Quadrifoglio Super Sport models will wear the four-leaf clover badge but with a black background rather than the traditional white.
To most people in traffic, a Quadrifoglio Super Sport will just be a pretty car they haven’t seen before.
To the few who speak the language, that four-leaf clover will mean it’s carrying a stealth Ferrari-derived engine, probably in the hands of someone who deeply loves to drive. The black background on that four-leaf clover will mean it’s one of a tiny limited run meant to say goodbye and a call back to a beautiful race from a time that won’t return.
