Art & Inspiration Automobile nameplates, emblems, hood ornaments and badges

Pan-American automobile made in Decatur Ill in 1917 to 1922

 

If I still have any of these I have no idea where they are.

 

Hello,

My wife and I were checking out some old surf spots located in between some houses along the city beach area. As we got close to the turn off, she saw an old truck and made me aware of it. As we got closer, I took some digital camera focus shots and later found this unique hood ornament on the hood of the truck. The truck had a great looking style in a combination of patina and new tires/rims combination.

The two color look was different than one other old truck that we saw finished in dark green with black fenders. Perhaps, that is the eventual goal of this old truck. Maybe the owners are avid billfish fishermen, as there are plenty of those fish out in the blue Pacific Ocean.

Jnaki

Old trucks are plentiful in our neighborhood. It might be that it is a working class neighborhood and trucks are associated with workers’ work tools/stuff in the back. But, a cool old hot rod truck does add some class to the area... YRMV


Fog lights? Yes, an addition that serves some purpose on those cold, coastal incursions of thick fog and mist covering our coastlines. It is almost a daily occurrence when the ocean influence is stronger than the heat from the shoreline land areas... a battle of nature in the making for thousands of years.

 

1911 Stanley Steamer

 

Great posts, guys. Thanks for the contributions.

 

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Great stuff.@41GMC K-18.

 

I have this tool cabinet from my dad’s garage. I have a good idea of what vehicles most of the emblems are from, with the exception of the Chev and Studebaker … Can anyone let me know what year/model they are from?
Thanks Ron

 

Pointy Chev is '37 trunk ...
Top left Chev is 1st series '55 trk.

 

Still looking for ANYTHING related to this car built in the second decade of the 20th century.

 

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love that one. a work buddy was building a safari wagon and located one of those hood ornaments at a small-town pontiac dealer. they had no idea what to charge, so he got it for the 1955 price, six dollars!

 

There’s a chapter on the Spaulding in the book Great Cars of the Great Plains by Curt McConnell. It’s out of print, but used copies are available. Your library may also be able to get it on interlibrary loan.

 

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Sum-total of the entry in Burgess-Wise D (ed), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles, Hamlyn 1979:

"SPAULDING / USA 1910-1916
"From Grinnell, Iowa, the Spaulding 30 was available with epicyclic or sliding gear-change."​

 

1931 1932 Plymouth

 

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...True art.

 

Something I've noticed: manufacturers weren't all that big on badges until around the mid-'30s. It was as if there was a decorum about where to put badges, and in the early days it was only on radiator shells, wheel hubs, perhaps instrument clusters and steering wheels: places unlikely to comprise third-party components. Things like headlights might very well have their own manufacturers' badges. Even manufacturers like Ford, who sought to bring as much as possible in-house, seemed to respect this principle.

As cars gradually became less compositions of components and more unified entities (up to today, when an entire car is legally attached to as physically ephemeral as part as its dashboard) badging began to invade other areas of the car.

On a completely different note, it's interesting how shaving badges was the overwhelming instinct of the traditional custom movement, while in my part of the world the tendency was towards a cross between '70s British "peacock" customising and Philippine Jeepneys, South American Chiva buses, and Japanese Dekotora. The great challenge was finding space for all the badges, nameplates, refractive foil stickers, etc. The quintessential "zef" Ford Cortina might say "Ford FORD Ford Cortina FORD 3.0S CORTINA FORD TURBO (there's no turbocharger) pɹoℲ CORTINA Ford 3.0 Ford" across the bootlid. And that carries on all over the interior, under the hood, all over the engine, etc.

 

Thanks. I have that book and just about every photo or article I know to exist. Nothing material, though

 

Hello,

The sound of a modified motor with some cool mufflers made my wife and I turn our heads in a parking lot one day. Next to us was an old Ford Pickup Truck with a smiling old hot rod enthusiast stopping the motor and getting out of his truck. He was smiling as he walked in front of our car in the lot. It must have been the “burble” of the motor to the last moment. Even my wife liked that sound…

If we were in that truck, it probably would have given us the same feeling. A good sounding motor along with a cool truck. It was not a show quality truck, but one we could drive daily to work or just down to the beach for some relaxing views and moments. YRMV

Jnaki

We assumed the owner was an old time hot rod guy as he looked our age. Ha! Hot rod folks just keep on rolling along… yes!