the smart devils at Petrolicious, they did the perfect St Patricks Day post... of why Alfas had 4 leaf clovers on the hoods

You have to admire the precise thinking over at Petrolicious, no one else thought to post about this!

Read the article at http://www.petrolicious.com/more-than-luck-the-story-of-alfa-romeo-s-quadrifoglio-badge

But long story short, Alfa had 4 race car drivers on their first factory racing team, Enzo Ferrari, his friend Ugo Sivocci, Giuseppe Campari and Alberto Ascari. Sivocci was unlucky, and to boost his luck, he painted a quadrafoglio - four leaf clover - on his car before the 1923 Targa Florio.

Sivocci won the 1923 Targa Florio—and, apart from his talent behind the wheel, it seemed as though the Quadrifoglio helped win him the race.

Sivocci, who died during practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza before the symbol was painted on his Alfa Romeo P1 race car.

His death was recognized in a symbolic change to the Quadrifoglio: before Monza, the clover sat inside a white diamond, each point said to represent each of the Alfa Romeo factory drivers.

When Sivocci died, one of the points of the diamond was removed, creating the cloverleaf in a triangle emblem that continues to this day.