Jalopnik: Logos

You Say Toyoda, We Say Toyota: How The Automaker Got Its Name

Sam Smith — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:30:00 EST

Sakichi Toyoda was born in Japan 145 years ago today on February 14th, 1867. By all accounts a hard-working entrepreneur, Toyoda's greatest success was building a small business manufacturing textile looms. That business ended up growing into a company that, for two years beginning in 2008, became the world's largest automaker. That company is named Toyota. We've always wondered: Why the change from "d" to "t"? More »

GM Upgrades HQ With Jumbotron Technology

Justin Hyde — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 13:30:00 EDT

General Motors has been upgrading the blue corporate logo on its Detroit Renaissance Center headquarters in recent weeks to a more dynamic format with a video screen. Flashy, and easily adaptable for when GM's bought by China. [WXYZ]. More »

The Evolution Of Automaker Logos

Tom Joslin — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EDT

As time, style and technology advance, so too do the brand logos by which automakers have identified themselves. Some have remained the same and some are hardly recognizable from the originals. Here's a look at how 14 changed. More »

New Dodge Viper Logo Was Once... A... Man...

Ray Wert — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EDT

Select members of the Viper Club of America were able to catch a glimpse of what's likely the logo of the upcoming fifth-generation Dodge Viper at the 11th Annual Viper Club of America's Owners Invitational. Looks familiar somehow. Hmm... More »

Dodge's New Logo?

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:30:00 EDT

When Chrysler spun-off trucks into their own Ram brand it created a problem for Dodge: The logo is a ram. Our sources claim Dodge plans to kill the "ram" in a new logo that'll likely look like this. More »

Email And Bacon: Misinterpreting Your Car's Iconography

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:15:00 EDT

The dashboard and underhood of your car provide a constellation of symbols — much of the iconography is standard. The symbols that aren't? Sometimes they're easily understood and sometimes they're open for misinterpretation. Here's 20 icons trending toward the hilarious. More »

Nissan Ad Campaign Smacks Porsche, Porsche Smacks Back

Sam Smith — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EDT

In what the British media is calling a "guerrilla ad campaign," Nissan recently stickered a handful of its fleet cars with "kill" graphics signifying motorsport wins. The targets? Porsche, BMW, and Audi. Guess which one couldn't take a joke. More »

Hank The Deuce Almost Changed The Blue Oval To What?

Sam Smith — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

What?" alt="Click here to read Hank The Deuce Almost Changed The Blue Oval To What?" src="http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/images/12/2010/01/rand_ford_logo.jpg"/>

In 1966, Henry Ford II asked famed graphic designer Paul Rand to update the Ford corporate logo. This is what he came up with. Why didn't it take? More »

The Art Of Car Logos

Matt Hardigree — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:45:00 EST

Artist Timothy Raines focuses much of his talent on automobile logos in his series "Brand As Art." He makes the Cavillino in these works Rampante and spreads Bentley's wings with a triptych. Glorious and gorgeous! More »

Girls Geek Out on Cars, Make Sushi

Peter Orosz — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EDT

This is what happens when women with a peculiar attraction to seafood and automobiles bring out the sushi knife and the tuna. More »

Awwww, Brand Logos When They Were Babies

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:00:00 EDT

We know where brand logos come from and what they mean, but what did they look like when they were babies? Thanks to Brazilian ad agency Dentsu working for Minichamps, a die-cast scale model company, we now know what the toddler versions of logos from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati and Jaguar all look like. Wait — why is there a "baby" version of a trident? They don't make baby tridents do they? How many Zeus babies can there possibly be? That's like making a baby version of the Buick logo with cutesy shields. That doesn't make any sense. More »

HuaTai Auto Comes Up With Most Suetastic Logo Ever

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EDT

Microsoft and BMW are both companies that have been willing to bend to governmental pressure to move product, but we don't see the companies abiding by the logo above from China's HuaTai Group. The company is about to launch a new line of SUV's at the Beijing Motor Show and has been purchasing expensive billboard space. The keen eyes of China Car Times noticed the clever compound logo. Let's see if BMW notices the HuaTai logo when walking by their stand at the show. Awkward! [China Car Times] More »

The Evolution of Automobile Logo Design

Travis Hudson — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:40:00 EST

Because they are the kings of all things neat, Neatorama took a look at the neat history of the big boys in auto manufacturing and how they came to develop their sometimes odd logos. The Ford and BMW logos are two that have stayed more or less the same over their respective lifetimes; Buick and Renault, by contrast, have experienced some significant changes in design since their inception. More »

Ever Wonder What Your Car's Emblem Means?

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:30:00 EST

Even though a recent trend with emblems is to use them as supersized chrome kitsch to draw attention away from an appealingly boring design, once upon a time they actually meant something. Like a family crest, most Automotive emblems represent something important to the maker—something historically important, ideals the brand strives towards, or a testament to someone's ego. We've stumbled across an index of sorts that catalogs the origins and meanings of most of the worlds major automakers, and we must say, it's pretty darn interesting. For instance... More »