Am I the only one who thinks old dealership logos on old cars are cool as hell? I just took the original dealership logo off my '65 F100 when I started working the tailgate. These logos are always so interesting to me. I can only imagine the day this thing rolled off the lot.. I think I'll put it back on when I finish my truck
I like em Cleetus. I found a set of plate frames from the ooold chevy dealer from my town to put on my wagon also. Bonus points because the dealers name was the same as my Grandpa's name (not related). I'll have to troll the local yards and see if they did any of those cool emblems though.
I just think it is cool that Red McCombs started the dealership back in '58 and today is a business mogul. Cool to see the truck stayed local for 48 years.
Very cool items. I have a local Ford dealer plate frame on my 54 Ford, its from the 90s but is the same design (metal) used since forever. I still want something from Andress Ford out of Shreveport and a St Louis or Southern Illinois vintage Lincoln plate frame. If you guys ever see vintage VW or Porsche frames, grab em. They bring insane $$.
Some where in my junk I have a die cast Ford dealer logo with a broncbuster astride a wild horse. Didn't think anybody else admired some of these old style logos as much as I have.
It's always cool to see one of the old dealership emblems on an old car. I dont have one on mine but I do have a pair of license plate frames on my Comet from the same dealership that sponsored Jack Chrisman.
A few years ago I found a license plate topper for an old Plymouth dealership here in Joplin. It was in the trunk of a real nice, low mileage 55 Plymouth, and of course the man didn't want to sell it. Took a picture of it, but have not been able to find another since then. I even know the son of one of the old dealership owners....but he has kept nothing from the place. Have seen various of those old chrome nameplates for the trunk but didn't get them. Usually they are pretty well pitted and dull. But, cool nonetheless.
In 1968 my dad bought his 29 Ford in Denver and flat towed it home. The running board steps are cast aluminum and has the dealer logo from the original selling dealer in Denver cast into it.
My dad has the same emblem on his 1967 Mustang! Coolest story related to dealership tags I have is my 1967 F-100 has a heavy duty bumper with the dealers name engraved into it. "Rebsamen Mtr Co. - Little Rock , Ark" I bought a 1976 4x4 a couple of years ago for the frame to convert mine to a 4x4, and guess what the bumper on that one said? Yep! I got two trucks that came from the same dealership in Arkansas, sold 9 years apart... pretty cool I thought. Especially since I'm in Texas.
I have a collection of 'em, most were in a pile found in the back room of the shop. Many from the 50s-60s. When my slightly OT Impala was first restored in the 80s, Pop tossed the emblem but I found a match in the junkyard one day. The Chevy displays it proudly. As for my shoebox, I'm 99% sure I know where it was bought new, but have never seen an emblem from that long gone dealer. I do have some really nice ones from various other old Ford dealers. Lately we've been fixing up a couple 60s Ford farm trucks for a customer, and they each still had the original dealer decal, stuck right in between the "O" and the "R" on the hood. I was going to get them reproduced at a sign shop but then was talking to a local junque dealer who had ended up with the old parts counter from that dealer-a stash of NOS decals were in one of the drawers.
I'm looking for a "Becker Mills Pontiac" I know they were used on 57 Pontiacs from my uncles dealership.
Wow, the first thing I always did when I bought a car was rip off the dealer's stuff -- no free advertising for them. I probably shoulda kept 'em in a pile like Bryan G found!
I like 'em. My truck didn't come from Las Vegas, New Mexico, but this emblem was given to me... I stuck it on there cuz my parents (most of my roots) are from around Las Vegas, NM...
I like the old dealer emblems as well. Here's the one on the back of my 53 Chrysler. Here's one that was on the back of a 1954 Mercury in Princeton, WV. I thought it was pretty cool. I believe I'm going to go back and try to get this emblem. Evidently the car was sold on a Pontiac dealership lot at some point.
My '64 Catalina 2+2 vert had a set of frames from Utter Pontiac in L.A.; odd name and I've never seen another one.
I think they're cool also. When I 1st started working at a Ford dealer in Detroit in 67 I picked up a die cast frame with the logo stating "Hettche Ford Detroit's oldest Ford dealer". Fast forward 40yrs I get all kinds of looks & offers to buy it from people (when I lived in Mi.) Every now and then I would run into someone that worked there or knew someone that worked there. Kinda cool since it closed in 86.