This very stylized logo used on the 1966 Ford Country Squire station wagon could only have been designed in the Sixties. Close to 3 1/2 inches in diameter, I would have been very happy to have the assignment to work on details like this, had I pursued a career in car design. Isn't the horse's head beautifully rendered? For a Google Image photo of the '66 Country Squire and the logo placement on the front fender, click here.
I'm guessing this 5-inch Nash hubcap dates to the early 1920s. Nash Motors began producing cars in 1916. This small cap, which literally covered only the center hub of the large wheels of that period, is cast from brass and was plated, probably in nickel. There is a tear in the brass—I can only imagine the force needed to do that—a car accident, perhaps? I found this in my dad's garage bins when the house was sold, He was as much of a pack rat as I am. I love the dull sheen and the slight glow of the aged brass coming through the thinning nickel outer plating, sort of like the way I fade layers in my art. The oh-so Twenties logo and typography is charming as well.
The gas cap used on the early 1970s AMC Hornet. American Motors created some great logos for their cars in the '60s and '70s, including the Marlin, Gremlin and this Hornet, They were whimsical, stylish and well-detailed, and small items like this gas cap were well-made of quality materials.
I once had close to 100 hubcaps/wheelcovers in my collection, but they're one of the few things I downsized at my last move, and it was very difficult for me to let them go! I now have only ten or so. I'll photograph and post them one of these days.
I used to have a pink gas cap from a Nash. It had their "N" logo on it. I think I must have found it on the street. I also, for a long time, had the hood ornament and Ford logos from my brother's 51 Ford Tudor sedan after he nosed and decked it. I also had quite a few hubcaps and wheelcovers -- we lived on a county road and there were often prizes like that to be picked up from the gutter!
ReplyDeletePaul, NYC
most of my wheelcovers were found by my father on the sides of the road. For close to 20 years, 3 days a week, he drove 2 hours each way into Manhattan, and would surprise me often with a "new" hubcap, as we called them then. It was always a treat when it was a Cadillac or Lincoln, but I also have a Jaguar, Mercedes, VW, and one with AH stamped on it which must have been Austin Healey. I also have a hood ornament from a '51-'52 car, a Packard. It's cast brass and weighs almost 12 lbs! the plating is wearing off on that too, but it's a wonderful stylized plane, or bird, or something with wings, lol.
ReplyDeleteI know PX has tons of car parts also, mostly Tbird and Lincoln items. Discerning collector!
I do have boxes (AND bOXES) of old parts! Your giving away all of my secrets, lol! I just bought four new chrome shelving units for the new house in a vain attempt to organize them all. I vowed to myself that I would make sense of the "mess" so I could clearly see what I do have. Talk about a winter project!
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