Jalopnik: emblems

Eleganté Embléms: Detroit Gets Classy

Murilee Martin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EDT

I tell you what, my latest junkyard haul has me considering a name change to Brougham E. Landau (the E stands for Eleganté, with the accent).

The upcoming Concours d'Lemons features a class called Most Eleganté, open to "Vintage neoclassics, Shaft-worthy pimpmobiles, Excaliburs, Zimmers." Contemplating the Eleganté concept made me realize how cheezily cool is Detroit's heavy hand with heraldic crests, emblems featuring names of royal horse-drawn coaches, and the like- only in America, suckaz! With that in mind, I spotted this Mark Cross emblem on a 1988 Chrysler New Yorker Landau at my local self-serve junkyard, and I had to have it.

A landau was a "social carriage" meant to haul four rich folks in bouncy, horse-poop-scented comfort back in the 18th century, but Malaise Era marketers in the Motor City made the name their own. This emblem now adorns my desktop computer.

Respected fashion names can often be persuaded to put their names on Detroit's special-edition cars. Oleg Cassini, Bill Blass, Cartier, and many others have cashed in on this deal.

Buick went with the "knighthood" theme for much of the Malaise Era.

While we're talking class, how about this piece of commemorative wedding glassware that I found on the trash-strewn floor of the Mark Cross Edition Chrysler New Yorker Landau? Yes, Cassandra and Bernard had such true love at their wedding last year that they gave out shot glasses… which then ended up in a car destined to be ticketed, towed away, and junked. Eleganté!

Shiny Stuff Aplenty Down On The Alameda Street

Murilee Martin — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Every October, the old-time gearheads at Lee Auto Supply take over Alameda's main drag for the Park Street Classic Car Show. As we saw last year, I prefer obsessive close-ups of emblems and carburetors to shots of endless rows of 60s Mustangs and Camaros- hey, you can find that stuff anywhere! Make the jump to see hundreds of photos of gleaming, chrome-plated goodness!

First, we've got a couple galleries full of emblems and trim.

Then we've got hood ornaments. Bring back the big chrome hood ornaments, Detroit!

I found a handful of DOTS cars at the show, including the '61 Mini, the '50 Ford (which now has a new paint job), the '64 Dart wagon, the '65 Thunderbird, the '55 Mercury, the '37 Cadillac, and the '60 VW Transporter.

And here's a final gallery of hood scoops, engines, and other stuff. Enjoy!

The Emblems Of Billetproof Nor-Cal 2008

Murilee Martin — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:15:00 EDT

I really love photographing car emblems and hood ornaments, so you know I had a good time at Billetproof Nor-Cal last weekend. Casadelshawn also got some Emblem Pr0n shots for us, and you'll see the whole mess merely by making the jump! And, yes, you can download the desktop-wallpaper-ready image files below the jump.

Click here for all the images in one .zip file.

Not Just Engines At Monterey: Emblems, Chrome, And Shiny Baubles!

Murilee Martin — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT

I've always loved photographing car emblems and hood ornaments, and what better place to do so than a huge racetrack complex full of priceless vintage racing machinery?

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.

[Lerr]

Cats and Cads: More Fun With Junkyard Emblems

Murilee Martin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EDT

During the discussion of my wall-hung '56 Chevy hood ornament yesterday, some readers wanted to know how it's possible that a guy who spends as much time in junkyards as I do hasn't managed to build up a suitably awesome emblem collection. Well, I do have quite a few Leaping Impala emblem, and I also have a smattering of other small emblems I've pried off junked cars over the years. For whatever reason, I've mostly grabbed cats and Cadillacs, with a bunch of Cougars, a Jaguar, and a Wildcat in addition to the Caddy crests. What will I do with them? Any ideas?

Sometimes You Must Buy The Emblem

Murilee Martin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:00:00 EDT

I violated my "No Emblem Clutter" policy last week, when I found this Malaisetastic Caddy V8-6-4 emblem at the junkyard, and now I've fallen off the wagon again. It is not possible for me to discover a junked '68 Peugeot with an "Automatique" emblem and not dredge up $2.99 for the thing. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but for now it shall live on my office bulletin board.

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...

...did you know the griffin head on the Saab emblem is derived from the coat of arms of Count von Skane and the symbol for the Swedish province of Skane, where Saab originates from? Neither did we, but we're not exactly experts on Swedish heraldry. Many more arcane gems of information await at The History of Car Logos.