1963 Chrysler Imperial emblem, recreated by Don Marsh. Other images by Alden Jewell, R. Gust Smith, Bryan Costin, and Andrew Wright.

Don is right, mostly, but I’m not so pessimistic about how scripts are seen today. The “handmade” look is back in vogue for everything from indie coffee shops to major national ad campaigns. Still, most mainstream corps don’t have the guts to use a script for their main logo, and the car industry is particularly conservative, especially in contrast with their history of ceativity. After years of collecting emblems for Chromeography I rarely find anything of interest that was produced after 1985.

Opel Kadett “L” (1963-65) by Florian Hardwig Commentary by Eric Bruckbauer of Other People’s Things: “I don’t get to travel to Europe as much as I would like, it's a whole untapped resource of amazing cars. I find that any time I go I am fascinated by even the most common models we didn't receive in the States. This is a prime example. The Kadett was Opel’s attempt to create a car to rival the success of the Volkswagen Beetle, and in most respects it was a success. It was certainly more contemporary and spacious, and the water cooled engine was thoroughly modern compared to the air cooled VW. Unfortunately its design was also its undoing as the body was poorly protected from rust. It’s good to see that someone has taken great care to restore and protect this one, it even looks like it’s painted the original “Gray Green” exterior color. The “L” badge on the interior glove compartment denotes it was the Luxury model, featuring a laundry list of chrome and interior material upgrades over the standard offering.”

Tune Up

I’ve packed the Chromeography sidebar with tags. Now you can navigate by color, era, car make/model, lettering style, and motif. More to come.