17 of our favorite American car emblems

[Grace]

Part of the charm of vintage cars lies in tiny aesthetic details that showcase the dedication of their designers. Modern cars may be faster, more reliable, and more likely to sip fuel than to guzzle it, but they often lack the personality of their retro predecessors. Emblems are one way that even run-of-the-mill economy cars were once given a splash of pizzazz—not to mention the high-power, stylish coupes that came packed to the gills (grilles?) with flashy trim.

Here are 17 of our favorite emblems from America's Big Three, from the '50s to today.

Read the full article on Hagerty.com: https://www.hagerty.com/media/lists/17-of-our-favorite-american-car-emblems/

[MMC]

Pontiacs hood ornament where the Amber Indian head lit up.

Plymouth 1966 B Bodies deck lid emblem "HEMI", also the front fender lower rear "426 HEMI" emblems

[davis]

The Negative comments on these are starting to get old. Hagerty does a great job finding different car related  content to keep their customers engaged but many of you still finds a way to complain in the comment section. Maybe next time your car, brand or opinion doesn't make their list you should wait for the next article and stop complaining. 

Good job Hagerty with all your content, Keep it up. 

[stevecobb45]

The Corvette drag flags were some of the first emblems I looked for on a Chevy of any model. They meant something special under the hood besides a 6 or a 283. I'm thinking the fuel injection emblem on the first gen Corvette's front fender would be, not just my favorite, but yours too.

[1969AMCAMX1]

You forgot the 1968-70 AMC (American Motors Corporation) AMX (American Motors Experimental) logos.  Not to be forgotten is the limited run of 52 SS/AMX Hurst-modified race cars.

[gdwriter]

Not sure why the arbitrary choice of 17 emblems, and while there are plenty of good ones here (I had never seen the Ford I6 before), I'm surprised to not see one that's probably been on more cars than anything other than the galloping horse on the Mustang: the leaping Impala.

[930Flachbau]

How about Hemi, L-88, ZL-1, Fuel Injection(Chevrolet in the 60's), but the I-6(?) and F-100(?)? C'mon that's a stretch.

[terryjudd]

Two Chrysler Corp. emblems deserved mention — the “Forward Look” emblem from the ‘50s and the Dodge triangle logo from the ‘60s and ‘70s. The Forward Look emblem, dubbed the Flookerang, featured a V-shaped arrow overlapping a less rakish boomerang shape and captured the spirit of the company’s Virgil Exner cars. The Dodge logo, dubbed the Fratzog, featured three Vs arranged in a triangle formation and was much more distinctive than today’s logo featuring block Dodge letters accented with two hash red hash lines. 

[jwinn55]

One of my favorites!

[doctorofmotors]

WHAAAT? NO GTO? The letters in the grill and on the rear deck lid. Rear quarters of the '68.

[RA]

The I6 made it but not the 442 from '67 or any of the Firebirds? No love for the Roadrunner either?

[nynick66]

Great list!   So many to choose from.  I always loved the "4-4-2 W-30" badges on those monster Oldsmobiles.  I have a '71 K-5 Blazer and I love that emblem along the front quarter.   One of my favorites of all time -- Cadillac stuck "8.2 Litre" on the old Eldorados.  No one knew what the hell that meant in those days so I always thought it was a nice subtle way to say "f'ing huge motor inside."  Great job, Hagerty.  You make loving cars even better.

[bobmannel]

Fairlanes in 1963 and 1964 received a special high performance 289 emblem on the fender when that engine was installed. The emblem was unique to those two years and made a simple statement.

[BADA55401]

what about American Motors products

[Papa-tony]

Demon?  How 'bout Duster... especially the Duster 340!  I know its not an "emblem", more of a "sticker"... but still one of my favorite Tasmanian Devils.

[mwmyers91]

Love  and remember them all up.

[Miketheump]

The statute of limitations is long over but have to admit acquiring emblems back in 50's and 60's for my collection, the Impala was nice but one of my favorites was the VW emblem, there were  few of us that did it, later on realized how wrong it was. Wish I still had them and have no idea what happened to them. 

[bechap]

1951 - 1956 Trunk emblem on the Oldsmobile "Rocket 88" See Fusick catalog #600 page 12. Who can forget this factory "hot-rod" well before the "muscle cars" ?

[Dcl4us]

How about any X Buick. GSX, GNX.  Go fast with class!

And though Cougar got mentioned, the greatest American driver of his time, Dan Gurney, had his own Cougars the Xr 7 G.  

[MoparMan]

@ Jaguarman:  Speaking of gas caps, I prefer this one...simple, direct, nothing hidden! 🙂

[Jaguarman]

Yeah, no question what it's for.  🙂

[HowardSue]

Olds Globe Emblem

[Punk]

One of my favorites is the six pointed star of the Dodge Bros used from the 1920s up until about 1938. The reason for the Star of David is unclear although some have speculated it was to piss off Henry Ford I, who was a notorious Anti-semite. 

[Goes2fast]

What about the famous tri5 Vs?

[BillHanlon]

My favorite, but I'm prejudiced.  My '57 GMC 1/2 ton with factory Pontiac V8 and Hydra-Matic.  Unfortunately, It was hit, rolled and totaled 8 years ago.

https://talk.classicparts.com/media/bhanlon_7_.3830/

[cassman66]

I can only say . . . SS

[Charlie]

I did not see my most admired car emblem of all time in your list, it was, and i the 1932 Ford V-8 chrome emblem that was on in the middle of the headlight bar !!

[jenola]

Corvairs had several nice Turbocharged, Corsa and Spyder emblems along with the crossed flags and bowtie engine horsepower badges.

[mightyjoe]

Z/28 says it all

[BIGHOCK]

Missing logos ------ HEMI, GTO, ROADRUNNER, ZL1

[JohnGalt]

I had a 64 Hawk

[JohnGalt]

I currently drive an AMC Eagle Wagon

[Brandan]

That thing means business!

[zachary]

The 1966 426 HEMI emblem was special.

[3Deuces]

1964 Pontiac "421" emblem ...

[warrene]

The Y-Block V8 emblem came first on '54 Fords, my '54 has one on each side.

[Elanfhc69]

Pontiac TriPower - oh hell yes. 

[Elanfhc69]

Dad worked at The Plant in Van Nuys Ca in 1951 when I was born. He was a brilliant mechanic and fabricator and passed his adopted daughter The Car Gene. Took my driver’s license test in our ‘62 Catalina - but had been siphoning gas out of his Chevy work truck starting when I was 12 and already 5’ 7”. I absolutely loved that gorgeous Catalina. When that big girl hiked up her skirts and took off when you put your foot down, it was beyond exciting, even with a factory motor. Fast forward many years, had a ‘79 Trans Am with a factory Hurst four speed and 6.6 liter motor. It was a bloody beast, a real handful. 😈 Just ask the Porsche drivers on PCH in 1980. 

[farna]

I was actually expecting badges from makes that have passed on, or at least somewhat obscure, not the real popular, pretty well known ones.

[TeeeeJayyyy]

I have a 68 Cougar and love you included it in the group here but where is the SS logo or the full Super Sport logo?  

[VJBMichigan]

There are several from Pontiac but you missed probably the most iconic and one that drove the muscle car craz. The GTO emblem. It even create new subnames "Goat". When someone pulls up to a 60's Pontiac their eyes go right to behind the front wheel well. 

[JLFS]

You blew it again.... The best is an opinion of course, but what makes an emblem great? By far the best is the 64-67 GTO. It is a substantial size, unique shape & a great design. It is complex & colorful. Come on -  the Cyclone? The car should never have been made in the first place. 

[Billthecat707]

Read the title again, "17 of our favorite..."

[DUB6]

First thing added to my LeMans/GTO clone!

Obviously, a bit more work was done after this...

[PaulSS]

The oft forgotten 80s muscle cars, and rightly so. But one of my favs is the Grand National emblem on 86 & 87 models that also had “INTERCOOLED” boldly announced underneath.  

[PaulSS]

The oft forgotten 80s muscle cars, and rightly so. But one of my favs is the Grand National emblem on 86 & 87 models that also had “INTERCOOLED” boldly announced underneath.

[Jost]

Great selections and also the additional ones from other readers.  I never cought the Y in the Ford V8 emblems in the mid 50's denoting the Y block.. Shame on me and I'm a self professed Ford guy

[Steveamx1]

How about the blocky, straightforward AMC "THE MACHINE"......

[sclin10]

I remember reading somewhere that when AMC was readying the AMX for production, someone on the design staff suggested using crossed flags like on the Corvette. He was immediately fired.

[flycy]

I always liked the Impala emblem my 62 had.  

[Maestro1]

I like the I6, the Thunderbird, the Corvette flags and the Mustang.