Do you remember when there was a badge on the boot of your car calling attention to some feature that actually mattered little, if at all, to other motorists?
The classic case was a badge reading “Automatic” or “V8”; later we saw badges covering everything from air conditioning, five-speed gearboxes, sixteen-valve heads, overdrive transmissions and ABS, to four-wheel steering systems and, of course, turbochargers. The current favourite is 4WD.
What is quite appealing about this disc brake badge from a 1962 Jaguar Mk2 2.4 litre is that it highlights something that potentially, through its performance enhancing capabilities, affects other motorists. By the time drivers of the day could make out what it said, their inadequate, likely unassisted, drum brake set-up would have allowed them to rear end this short-stopping sports saloon.
So, QOTD is: can you show a detail specification badge that is as unnecessary as this two-inch diameter disc brakes badge?
I once worked with a woman who drove a mid-’90s Mercury Villager minivan with decals along the side that proclaimed, “MULTI SPORT.”
I always thought that sounded like a label more befitting of a jockstrap…
“Multi-sport” makes sense in minivan terms.
One kid plays baseball in the summer and hockey in the winter, the other runs cross-country in the fall and track in the spring…
The “Police Interceptor” badges on the left rear of some of the Crown Vics are so cool. A lot of yellow cabs are still running around with those things on them.
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Mine has SAAB Airflow on the left and Turbo on the right.
I remember the “RTS” (radial tuned suspension) tags posted on certain Pontiac’s in the late 70’s. Radial tires were becoming standard to raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) numbers.
“Nissan Full Automatic” on an early 1970s Datsun 1200. At 12 years old, I thought a car was either manual or automatic – what was a “half-automatic?”
If you’re among the few with a CIVILIAN Ford Crown Victoria, these can be yours for about $15 for a genuine Ford one; somewhat less for a reproduction.
Now put that on Bajan Dave’s “Full Automatic” Datsun 1200…..
I remember when US manufacturers would make a “sport” model of just about anything by painting the word SPORT on it somewhere, and maybe also a body-colored grille. A minivan, a pickup, a little white sedan…it didn’t seem to matter.
Was very impressed as a little kid with my uncle’s ’55 Dodge with “Full time power steering”.
None of that slacker lackadaisical “part time” power steering. No sir.
… as well as an elderly woman in the neighborhood with a stripper ’54 Chevy 210. Only two options, which were:
The increasing availability of power steering and automatics had to have been very popular with women, I can’t imagine how hard to drive some earlier cars must have been if you were a small/petite woman.
And marketing these features to women went on for a very long time. I was surprised to find this ad from the late 60’s – feminism would soon eliminate much of this marketing.
and …
The pininfarina logo on the front fender was always a nice sign – even if no other motorist knew (or cared) what it meant. Also the chrome “Iniezione” (fuel injection) on the back of old Alfas was cool. At that point in the early 70s, it was actually a feature worth boasting about, but I’m sure most outside Italy didn’t know or care about its meaning either.
The aftermarket “Rabbit Injection” badge for the early watercooled VWs was entertainingly subversive. It looked just close enough to the stock badge that you wouldn’t notice it immediately, until you looked more closely and realized what the one rabbit was doing to the other.
Coolest badge implementation ever has to have been the “quattro” logo on the back glass of some 1980s Audi sedans. It was made of the same material as the rear defroster lines, and it was functional, so in frosty conditions the word “quattro” would appear in large print across the bottom of the rear window.
Hmm.. my 1986 Pontiac 6000-STE was the king of badges…
the 14″ long 6000-STE badges on each front fender, and trunk lid, the 4 wheel Disc Brakes center caps on each wheel, the ERC badge on the glove box for the self-adjusting air shocks, the Special Touring Edition badges on the grill and trunk lid, and the Extended Range Sound speakers (two way speakers). Strangely enough the steering wheel controls for the radio didn’t have a fancy acronym.
Sounds like a case of Malignant Scriptitis.
I seem to remember first generation Taurus, around 1990 onwards, having “V6 A/C” etched on the back window or one of the cargo area side windows. I could be crazy, but it sticks in my head.
“4 Speed Automatic” on the back of 1985 Buick Electras/Park Avenues. That seemed odd. But I guess was pretty wowee at the time for GM.
Mgillis knows of what he speaks. My 1986 Taurus L wagon (red…”The Tomato”) was thusly labeled. I carefully cleaned around it when doing the insides of the windows.
The early symbols and decals for factory installed air conditioning interest me and I was always on the outlook for them. The Airtemp logo, Chevrolet bow-tie with the words “Air Conditioned”, Buick, Pontiac A/C logos, Studebaker logo were proud indicators of an expensive option. AMC and Ford got into this with door mounted, chrome badges. Here is the Ford Selectaire – equipped cars (57-59) got this emblem mounted on the right front door only.
I guess when you were spending this kind of money back during the day, you wanted and expected some type of badging to indicate it.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one of those on a Ford – they must be pretty rare.
What about Mazdas? I’ve seen “Skyactiv Technology” in their ads, but do they put Skyactiv badging on the cars?
Just saw a Mazda CX-5 with a Skyactiv badge on the rear. First time I’ve seen one. If I hadn’t been stopped behind it in traffic I wouldn’t have noticed it.
Right here! The ‘4 wheel drive’ declaration may not be a ‘badge’, but I love how it looks like an ‘action statement’ on an old horror movie poster. Easily one of my favorites!
This V8 doesn’t suck….
How about the “Lambda Sond” grille badge on late 70s Volvo 240s? Just a fancy name for “oxygen sensor” and every car with OBD has at least one…
My favorite in huge letters across the side was “SPORTRUCK”. Did it come from a meteorite that burned through the atmosphere?
I’m a week late getting here, but my favourite pointless badge is this one which Nissan located somewhere on all of my Nissan Laurels:
Any GM car of the 80’s or 90’s with a Bose badge.
Talk about badge engineering personicified!
New to CC so I find myself commenting on old posts.
One thing I didn’t see mentioned were the badges available in your local auto parts store that could help you lie about what your ride had under the skin. In the ’80s, “TURBO” appliqués could be stuck on the back of any car for dime store prestige. The best use of them was for cheap laughs: you could show up the whole sham and get comic points by slapping one on a utility trailer or golf cart.
The king of fake stick-ons, however, was the “simulated cell phone antenna”. Remember when cell phones were the size of bricks, and people had them installed permanently in luxury cars so they could make executive decisions on the road for their venture businesses?
These handy self stick snobberies were just the thing to upgrade the status of the guy with a 7-year-old Sentra.
The one in this picture is even cheaper bow than when it was new in the ’90s. It’s advertised for 77 cents.