Yes, We NEED Stickin' Badges!

Look for the return of badges.

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Lincoln offered several hood ornament and other emblem decorations since 1922. Lincoln adopted a greyhound dog as its uniformed stand-up hood ornament in 1927. It typified speed, stamina and beauty. Photo: Ford.

According to a Ford Motor Company designer, J. Mays has ordered designers to dig back into Ford's history and make the exterior of Ford Motor Company products more distinct by bringing back classic nameplate badges and emblems while creating new ones.

Nameplate badges were a big part of a product's recognition through and 1960s and into the early 1970s, but only a few products still have distinct exterior badges. Those include the Ford Mustang's running horse, which only came back to prominence in 1993. The Mustang Cobra's snake emblem was only recently resurrected as well.

According to our source, Ford wants to focus more on individual nameplate recognition than have a product associated with a particular brand - like Ford or Mercury. Additionally, Ford feels that the current system of applying script names on products is too bland and corporate.

Ford already has new badging on the way for the Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator and Ford Escape. A Ford designer admitted to BlueOvalNews that creating a badge for the Escape proved challenging because Ford couldn't decide on which segment of the market they wanted to target - off roaders or urban dwellers. Ford may have decided on the later as the badge shows a cityscape in the background of the Escape's exterior badge.

Ford doesn't want cheap badges though. For example, they not only want the badges to have eye appeal, but dimensional and texture appeal as well. The badging may not be limited to Ford and Lincoln-Mercury products either. Ford is conducting a cost study to have all badges on Volvo branded models to be made out of aluminum.

Ford may also bring back classic engine badges, such as the V8 one on the current generation Ford Explorer. Thunderbird owners can certainly look forward to classic engine badging to reappear after disappearing for decades.

What may have inspired Ford to bring specific model badging back? Our Ford source pointed to the very successful marketing campaign of the Dodge Hemi engine. During the 1960s, Ford designated some of their engines as Thunder Jet, Cobra Jet and Boss. Those nameplates may once again appear on Ford products in the next several years as well.

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Patrick '93 Cobra

Reply to
Patrick
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Let's see... Pony on the dashboard, ponies on the wheel hubs. A big ol' pony embossed in the insulation pad under the hood. But if I wanted a pony on the front of the car, I would have had to buy the Cobra.

Is THAT why you bought yours, Patrick?

dwight Twin '93 5.0's

Reply to
dwight

I think I'm gonna get me a 3D running pony and mount it on the hood, kinda like the Jag has... hoooRaaah!

FOFLMGDAO!

Reply to
SVTKate

No ponies anywhere near mine, unless you count the cover of the owner's manual... :(

Reply to
Garth Almgren

Yep, but if you would have opted for a Cobra instead of your LX in '93 you would have had to give up three ponies. The Cobra had the pony in the grill, the pony on the dashboard and the big ol' one on insulation pad under the hood. But the Cobra's wheels were "ponyless". So you made out on the deal.

No, I got the Cobra because I mistakenly thought it came cup holders. I'm still pissed!

Look at this guy's sig block... two 5.0. That's not cheering me up any... you lucky bastard!

Patrick Just one 5.0

Reply to
Patrick

Yeah, it was definitely those pony wheels that sold me. That, and the fact that the '94 turned out to be a bloated pig and my only real choice was to grab up a '93 leftover. At the time, the Cobras were all spoken for, but I seem to remember that they had some kind of turbine-shape wheel. And the no-pony look would have killed it for me, anyway.

1993 LX 5.0 hatchback, 5-speed, 175,000 miles = about $2,500.00 1993 GT convertible, auto, 75,000 miles = about $5,000.00

Lucky? It may very well be that I have twin '93 5.0's because I'm CHEAP.

dwight

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Reply to
dwight

How's the 93 LX 5.0 w/ so many miles still run? May be a dumb question, but I'm curious. What kind of motor oil do you use for it also?

-Mike

Reply to
<memset

It's a piece of junk.

There are so many things wrong with it, I could easily spend $10,000 fixing it up. BUT...

Where the GT convertible has a floaty but capable ride, and holding the automatic in first until I'm ready to shift is a hoot and a half, it just feels heavy and slow. TFrog, on the other hand, seems MUCH lighter, MUCH more nimble, MUCH quicker off the line, and still has the capacity to impress me, after all these years. I'm driving it today and still smiling.

One of its many flaws right now is a lack of heat (my heater core history is pathetic, and I'm not ready to try it again just yet), so the LX tends to sit on very cold days. (Funny that I take a CONVERTIBLE out on frosty days, but at least it keeps my feet warm.) This being February in the great Northeast, the LX has sat for weeks at a time. After driving the ragtop for a week, getting back into the LX is fantastic - the difference is night and day. (Of course, the Konis, the lowering springs, and the bracing certainly helps.)

To answer your question, my high-mileage LX is still a beautiful thing. Overlook the gauges that don't work, the no-heat thing, and the faded molding around the car, and you'll find that the engine and transmission are still holding up just fine. The car is about 75 in dog years, but doesn't act a day over 60.

As for oil... I like PepBoys 10w30 and add a quart every 1,000 miles or so. I'm not choosy about which oil the mechanic uses at my regular 20,000-mile oil changes, whatever's in stock is fine by me.

I am THE testament to the bulletproof-ness of the 5.0 engine.

dwight

1993 10.0 Mustang
Reply to
dwight

haha that's pretty cool. I've heard that 5.0's are extremely tough. Didn't know a lot of 5.0's had forged internals until recently though. Funny indeed that you drive the conv. on cold days though lol.

-Mike

Reply to
<memset

Forged pistons, check. The rest is cast. :-)

JS

Reply to
JS

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