Evolution of Car Logos

Over at Neatorama there’s a really cool bit about the evolution of car company logos over time.

They look at the logos for Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi (and Auto Union), BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Fiat, Ford, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Renault, Saab and Volkswagen.

For a lot, there’s a nice through-line from where the company started, and where they are now. Alfa, Aston & BMW are notable examples of this. Although Neatorama, says the symbology dates to the house of Visconti, I always heard that the logo is a graphic representation of St. George fighting his legendary dragon.

On the other end of the spectrum, Buick and Mazda seem at a loss for some sort continuity.

Mazda is sadly known for trying to come up with a new logo every 2 years or so … and the winner seemed to be picked from a random sampling of designs submitted by 12 year olds.

The first nine years of Buick logos are – sweet Jesus, what’s up with that pipe smoking guy in the top hat? I know, it was back in the Edwardian era, and sensibilities of all types were a bit, um, skewed for Edwardians back then, but explain the design rational behind that logo to me.

The real kicker is VW’s first logo. I bet they keep that one buried in the company archives as much as they can.

Filed Under: Misc