The NEW Quadrifoglio 1989

"Take me to the magic of the moment on a glory night, where the children of tomorrow dream away in the wind of change".

And what a wind of change was blowing through Europe and the world in 1989.

The year of the anticipated end of the Short Century, the twentieth century, with the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November. The year of the fall of Ceausescu's regime in Romania, of the Tiananmen Square protests, in short, the year in which people only talked about politics, the future and dreams.

What remains of 1989 on the pages of the Quadrifoglio of that year? Between style advice, tourism and cars, the Alfista magazine reflects the spirit of the times and preserves it, handing it back to us today as if protected by the patina of years gone by. 

This month we are once again returning to the Cozzi.Lab, the place in the Museum where we keep, among other mementos, the 1989 Quadrifoglio. Shall we leaf through them? 

A THOROUGHBRED ON THE PODIUM

Space for the ultra-sporty ES 30 (Experimental Sports Car 3000) prototype at the Geneva Show. Considered by Alfa Romeo, Alfa Corse and Zagato engineers to be a 'poster car', it was designed to communicate in the most immediate way - says Marco Matteucci in his article - the image of high sportiness and advanced technical expertise. 

A curiosity? The ES 30 was designed directly on the computer: a peculiarity in those years that Il Quadrifoglio could only highlight!

Do you know that we have one too? We did the 1000miles in it! 🙂 🙂

FULL OF NOSTALGIA

Already unobtainable and 'retired' in the 1980s, the old petrol pumps are described in the Quadrifoglio as a true cult object. 

From the Bergomi-type twin vessel pump to the Gilbert & Barker positive displacement pump, from the Twin double pumps of the 1940s to the Coca Cola pumps of the 1950s... a unique fascination that we too have.

And indeed we are friends of the Fisogni Museum: have you ever visited it?

ALFA ROMEO COACHBUILDERS OF THE PAST

Angelo Tito Anselmi's article on Alfa Romeo's historic coachworks is back.

A parade of style icons bearing the Stabilimenti Farina brand: a story that came from "from a collective activity, coordinated with creative force by a few brilliant men capable of synthesising, thanks to their experience, the role of responsibility for technical and aesthetic solutions".

What a fascinating journey!

A JEWEL FOR ALFISTI

The focus is on the Trophaeum plate, an enamel shield designed to adorn the cars of the 'champions of fidelity', i.e. the truly historic Alfisti of the Trophaeum club.

It is a completely handcrafted job, made by hand in a small workshop (Bregonzio Giuseppe snc), with moulds used from 1925 to 1945 and dusted off for the occasion.

Enamels, metals and special firings: the plates still come to life today thanks to photographs from 1989. An invaluable testimony, almost more valuable than the plates themselves.

SMALL, SPACE, ADVERTISING

Since we have arrived at the end of the 1980s, we wanted to collect some advertising pages from the 1989 Quadrifoglio.

Which is your favourite? We love the Alitalia one: how nostalgic!