Dealership emblems, do you want them on your car?

[Steve Moskowitz]

I might be smart to stay out of this one but what the heck.  As a former Olds dealer I see both sides of the story.  When I started as Service Director we would drill holes and mount a cast piece on the trunk.  When I took over, I switched to stick on emblems as I did not like us drilling holes in a customer's car.  We had a large service department and in our sales pitch we always talked about doing whatever we could for OUR customers.  Other dealers in the area told their customers to bring their problems to US!  It got old as it was warranty work and in many cases we did not get paid for our time.  So the sticker let the service writers know it was one of our customers.  That did not mean we would not give the best service possible to others.

 

Since leaving the business and buying cars (ouch, after 30 plus years of not doing that) I have left the sticker on if the dealer treated me well in the purchase and service department.  If not, the sticker came off. I still have quite a few of these stickers left and key chains from my store. I have a friend with Olds woodie wagon who sports both.  He seems to think it will get him better judging at AACA events!  

[Walt G]

Great perspective Steve, thanks. Now we can see both sides of the coin so far as "why" and it is not all about promoting a dealership.

This may be a very small part of automotive history but it is indeed a part of it. NOT trivial ( I do not like/use the world trivial or trivia) . I thought it was always neat that as far back as 1931- that a water transfer decal was being used in a non "in you face" manor by a dealership when I first saw that decal I mentioned on the lower rear body molding of my friends 1931 Plymouth sedan - first saw that in 1964!!!

[West Peterson]

On 9/16/2024 at 7:16 AM, TAKerry said:

Which brings up another thought, would that be a point deduction for judging? It is dealer installed but is it 'factory authorized'?

 

On 9/16/2024 at 9:27 AM, West Peterson said:

I think it would depend on its condition.

 

15 hours ago, Pfeil said:

It would depend on if it were factory authorized.

 

Possibly, but probably its condition would be more important.  

[Pfeil]

1 hour ago, West Peterson said:

 

 

 

Possibly, but probably its condition would be more important.  

Maybe AACA Judging should do some research to find out if the manufacturers gave dealers permission, or not to add these mobile billboards. If not, the emblems should be looked at as something just the same as anything out of a JC Whitney catalogue.

Research on the subject is the only way to find the truth so we can put the subject to rest. Speculating is futile. 

[West Peterson]

4 hours ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

I might be smart to stay out of this one but what the heck.  As a former Olds dealer I see both sides of the story.  When I started as Service Director we would drill holes and mount a cast piece on the trunk.  When I took over, I switched to stick on emblems as I did not like us drilling holes in a customer's car.  We had a large service department and in our sales pitch we always talked about doing whatever we could for OUR customers.  Other dealers in the area told their customers to bring their problems to US!  It got old as it was warranty work and in many cases we did not get paid for our time.  So the sticker let the service writers know it was one of our customers.  That did not mean we would not give the best service possible to others.

 

Since leaving the business and buying cars (ouch, after 30 plus years of not doing that) I have left the sticker on if the dealer treated me well in the purchase and service department.  If not, the sticker came off. I still have quite a few of these stickers left and key chains from my store. I have a friend with Olds woodie wagon who sports both.  He seems to think it will get him better judging at AACA events!  

 

Okay...

Steve. Did the factory authorize you to put your business name on the car?

[Chry54]

i do not know what the dealer logo is made of on my 54 chrysler but it still looks good.i like it. recently at a car show a man who lived a block away from the dealer who sold my car [oaklyn new jersey] was happy to see that dealer tag. they are no longer in business.    dennis

[KURTRUK]

Then there's this:

 

 

 

(IYKYK) 

Edited September 18 by KURTRUK (see edit history)

[8E45E]

On 9/15/2024 at 10:48 AM, Walt G said:

If they are already on the car I would not remove it and go to the effort to fill any holes that they used to mount them on then have to try to match paint etc.

What you show are post war, pre war I have seen small plates mounted inside a door post so you saw it when you opened the door( front door)( and I know that the local ( western Nassau County - long island near the Queens County border)  Chrysler /Plymouth dealer in 1931 used a decal with their name on it on the lower right corner of the belt molding at the bottom rear to identify who sold the car to the local person from their dealership when new. Packard on the ID plate on the firewall often had the dealer location stamped into that plate when the car arrived at the dealership ( some neater then others).

I have seen those water-slide transfer decals on the dashboard of older cars, usually near the ignition key.

 

Craig

[8E45E]

On 9/15/2024 at 1:46 PM, West Peterson said:

The only reason I would ever have one on my car is if it was a famous dealer of high-performance or notoriety. 

Royal Pontiac in Royal Oak, MI, and Grand Spaulding Dodge in Chicago both come to mind!!!!

 

Craig

[Steve Moskowitz]

AACA'S rule is if we can see it, it will be judged so license plate frames, badges or stickers would fall under that category. In almost 34 years as a dealer and factory rep I have never heard of the manufacturer authorizing placing emblems on cars. I have never heard of them prohibiting such either. That being said, the manufacturers sell the cars to the dealers and it is their property at that point.  Dealers put on Vogue tires, vinyl tops, custom grilles and even dealer advertising groups made special cars in volume that were not available everywhere. Then you have the Hess & Eisenhardt cars.  It all gets a bit murky.

 

I have always envisioned one of these marketing cars like the GMO group I was in showing up on a judging field.  Gallant Men of Olds in Chicago and we produced a special model Cutlass for many years. There will be very little factory type literature on these cars but the window sticker would in fact have a code in MOST cases.

[rocketraider]

Y76 on the window sticker, and I have the service parts list for the Dealer Marketing Group Car stuffed away somewhere. The parts list doesn't cover the striping and specific marketing group badging some of them had.

 

I suppose Buick's 1984 Olympics marketing tie-in would fall in this gray area too, as would the NC Olds sales zone's 1988 Cutlass GT.

 

Steve, where did the dealer groups get the Marketing Group Car badging made? A lot of it was trinkety plastic, but I believe some groups had potmetal badges.

[rocketraider]

10 hours ago, KURTRUK said:

Then there's this:

 

 

 

(IYKYK) 

One of my Oldsmobile buddies has a 1963 Dynamic 88. He had a "DePasto Faber" license frame made for it. Yah, goes right over most peoples' heads...

[8E45E]

5 hours ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

In almost 34 years as a dealer and factory rep I have never heard of the manufacturer authorizing placing emblems on cars.

They must do to a certain extent in that they allow the use of their logo on the dealer emblem in many cases.    Most likely the same as they allow business cards to have Ford, or GM's logo on them, selling their product.

 

Craig

[John348]

3 hours ago, rocketraider said:

One of my Oldsmobile buddies has a 1963 Dynamic 88. He had a "DePasto Faber" license frame made for it. Yah, goes right over most peoples' heads...

Animal House

[Paul Dobbin]

This whole discussion is why I like the Driver Participation Class.   I flunked out of HPOF for window decals on my well traveled old VW.

My "VW 66 Bug" European license tag on the front was another deduction.    Now our 34 Ford has water transfer window decals from the

29 States we've toured in with AACA, but driving is way more fun than showing and winning dust collecting trophies. IMHO.

[76 Caddy]

My grandparents bought their first new car in 1966 (Impala) from Burwell Chevrolet in Spartanburg SC and it had the Burwell name on the trunk lid.  They went back in 1969 and bought a new pick up, the one I have now.  On the passenger side cowl is the pot metal name Burwell.  The 1971 Impala I got earlier this year has the same Burwell name on the trunk lid.  Burwell Chevrolet sold many, many years ago and the current Chevrolet dealer is Park Chevrolet.  I am leaving the name plagues in place on both.  They are the only ones with dealership names, and I honestly don't remember if any of my past cars had names on them.  My Brougham has a Casa de Cadillac sticker on the driver's door jamb, so I know where it came from, but not the others.

 

Tim 

[Billy Kingsley]

I like them. They show part of the cars history. Then you have the wide variety of designs, locations, etc. To me they would be collectible in their own right. 

 

I like seeing the different locations the cars are from when I am out and about. 

 

When visiting the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Ohio back in 2019, which is about 14 hours from home in NY, there was a car in the parking lot when we got there that had a plate holder from the local dealer, which I thought was very cool. I don't remember what kind of car it was on, but I remember that! 

[Steve Moskowitz]

Yep, Y76 was correct for most of the marketing cars but I never knew where the special badging came from. I can only assume on some cars it was supplied by a vendor like C&C or Demmer (who did the Hurst Olds) who made the modifications. There were groups that had enough firepower and volume to do special things beyond the traditional Y76 package that Olds marketed to the dealer groups.  That's as much memory as I have left!

[West Peterson]

Packard dealers actually started stamping their names on its cars in the 1920s. Fortunately, it was done under the hood, on the Vehicle Number plate.