Mike Sealey's history of Chrysler's logos
The Pentastar (not written by Mike Sealey)
The Pentastar was created by Robert Stanley, at the Lippincott & Marguiles design firm. He wanted, according to his blog entry, “something simple, a classic, dynamic but stable shape for a mark that would lend itself to a highly designed, styled product. What that meant, basically, was a classic geometric form. We wanted something that was not stolid. That’s the reason that we broke up the pentagonal form that became the Pentastar. It provides a certain tension and a dynamic quality.” [This was reversed by Trevor Creed].
The [original] Pentastar was selected from more than 800 suggestions that a team from the design firm of Lippincott & Margulies Inc. proposed to the company.
“We were looking for something that would not be too complicated for people to remember and still have a very strong, engineered look to it,” said Robert Stanley. “We wanted something people could look at and say, ‘This was not done freehand.’”
In Chrysler’s annual report, they noted “A new Corporate Identity Office was established to be concerned with the manner in which the company identifies and visually presents itself and its products to the public. The [pentastar] emblem portrayed on the cover was developed as part of this broad program.”
It first showed up in ads with the 1963 models, and started showing up on the 1963 cars behind
the right front wheel, making its way to key blanks
with the 1964 models. Prior to that, the Chrysler corporate logo was a
pair of V-shapes, usually shown pointing to the right, part of Virgil Exner's "Forward Look" school of design. The new pentastar logo was also used on the front cover of the 1962 Annual Report — as an embossed cover (without any ink to set it off) — and on the back cover, in a deep blue.
In 1963, Bob Hope’s variety show (sponsored by the Chrysler Corporation) included opening graphics showing the segments of the Pentastar zooming into place with vroom-vroom noises, each piece accompanied by a callout of a brand - Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Imperial, and Dodge trucks. However, Bill Watson wrote noted that the five points do not stand for the five car divisions; at the time, Chrysler sold cars (Valiant, Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Imperial, Hillman, Sunbeam, Singer, Humber, Simca), trucks (Dodge, Fargo, DeSoto, Commer, Karrier, Barreiros), industrial and marine engines, boats, army tanks, air conditioners, heating systems, chemicals, plastics, missiles, electronics, and financial products. He also noted that the design would be recognizable no matter which way you looked at it, even if the design was flipped or looked at upside down.
A Chrysler press release noted:
The Pentastar was created in 1962 when Chrysler Corporation President Lynn Townsend decided the company needed a new symbol to represent all of the corporation’s brands. Townsend wanted a symbol with a strong, classic look that would be instantly recognizable, but was universal—without written words—allowing it to be used in all countries and across many cultures. The Pentastar was selected from more than 800 suggestions that a team from the design firm of Lippincott & Margulies Inc. proposed to the company.
“We were looking for something that would not be too complicated for people to remember and still have a very strong, engineered look to it,” said Robert Stanley, the Detroit office vice president and Chrysler account executive at Lippincott & Margulies, who is credited with creating the Pentastar. “We wanted something people could look at and say, ‘This was not done freehand.’”
Stanley also created the former blue color scheme for the symbol, and the name for the design.
Mopar
After launching Plymouth and buying Dodge in 1928, Chrysler needed a dedicated, central parts manufacturer, supplier and distribution system; thus, the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation (CMPC) was born in 1929. The contraction MoPar (from Motor Parts) was used starting in the 1920s, and was first trademarked for antifreeze in 1937; the use of the term to represent the CMPC appears to have grown over time, and was certainly fully in use by the 1960s. The current logo is a stylized “Omega M;” any rationale behind the design is unknown to us, and we’d appreciate any input. The following graphic is from cartype.com:
Chrysler
The original Chrysler logo,
which vanished after 1954 from all but 1955-1956 Windsors, C300s, and
300Bs with manual transmissions*, and reappeared in 1994, is a
rendition of a wax seal complete with ribbon affixed at the lower
right. The thunderbolts above and below the name are actually "Z"s, a
tribute to the prototype built before Chrysler took over Maxwell, which
took the name "Zeder" from chief engineer Fred Zeder. (At the time,
Chrysler was trying to keep development of the new car and his
involvement in it a secret, probably still upset about the loss of the
car that was supposed to be the first Chrysler. This car design was
sold to Billy Durant as a liquidated asset in the Willys-Overland
bankruptcy; Durant eventually built this car under the Flint name.)
From 1955 to the early 1980s,
various stylized coats of arms appeared as Chrysler logos, none of
which are believed to be the Chrysler (originally Kreussler) family
crest. Lions also turned up in Chrysler emblems from 1955-1961, during
which time Chrysler engines bore names such as "Golden Lion 413".
Crowns are another recurring theme, fitting for a make with model names
such as Royal, Windsor and Imperial.
* The manual-transmission cars kept the 1953-1954 steering column as well as the gearshift.
Starting in the 1980s, Chrysler adopted “modernistic” logos in print materials and on some car nameplates.
During the “rebirth” of Chrysler in the late 1990s, the Chrysler “seal” logo was installed in wings.
After Cerberus bought Chrysler, Trevor Creed was let loose on the traditional pentastar.
Dodge Brothers (pre-Chrysler)
The use of
the Star of David in the Dodge Brothers logo goes back to 1914 and the
first Dodge Brothers car built. It was last used on the 1938
Dodge.
The Dodge Brothers logo has been extensively discussed in the Dodge Brothers Club newsletter, which notes that in 1938, an export version with a single black triangle was used, and shortly afterwards, the Star-of-David logo disappeared completely. David Zimmerman wrote that he suspected that the Dodge Brothers may have believed that certain export markets would not buy a car with the link to the Jewish symbol.
The Dodge Brothers Club's FAQ states that the symbol was not chosen to anger Henry Ford, and goes on to say that "At the time the emblem was selected (most likely 1912-1914) it's likely that the Dodge brothers were unaware of its use in Judiasm. In fact, at this time, that symbol was not used universally in this context." It suggests these possibilities, among others:
1. These are two interlocking Greek letter "deltas" or "Ds" for the two Dodge brothers
2. A medieval symbol of mysticism and the joining of mind and body; in this case representing the joining of two brothers, who were very close, in this business venture (allegedly, letters addressed to just one of them would be discarded).
3. An abstraction of the square and compass of the Freemasons (this seems unlikely as well).
4. Nothing more or less than a badge with six pointed star similar to those used for law-enforcement officer's badges, some outlined with triangles. Sheriff, Marshall, and police badges frequently wore six pointed stars. The old-west Dodge City badge had six points. Horace Dodge was said to enjoy accompanying local law-enforcement officers on their runs.
The Dodge Brothers Club News editor wrote that "emblem is also a "Solomon’s Seal" sign of interconnected spirits, as the brothers were."
The source for the FAQ information on this topic appears to be Dodge Bros, the men, the motorcars, the legacy, by Charles K. Hyde, Wayne State University Press, 2004.
The source for the Dodge Brothers logos is cartype.com.
Dodge Ram (trucks)
The original Dodge Ram logo came from sculptor Avard T. Fairbanks, who was working at the University of Michigan in 1929; he needed a new car to replace his Willys-Knight, and offered his services to Chrysler Corporation in exchange for designing a hood ornament.
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Mike Sealey wrote that this hood ornament appeared in stylized form on cars around 1954, and was then applied to trucks. “Probably the best remembered ram ornaments was seen on the 1951-1952 passenger cars. This one had separate horns, and was a popular aftermarket accessory for Dodge trucks well into the late 1960s.” (see photo below.) A striking ram logo was substituted in the late 1990s.
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Dodge cars
Chrysler replaced the Dodge Brothers logo with a gold winged
shield, through to 1938. Some years wings were more level, while
later ones drooped. Starting around 1954, the Ram logo, based on the old hood ornaments, was applied.
The crest with red bars was, which is actually the Dodge family coat of arms, was first used in 1941, then faded out at some point. A revival of the coat of arms was used in the mid/late 1970s. A three-pointed arrow shape (like a rocket) was used from the early 1960s through to the 1970s.
The Dodge coat of arms Dan Minick referred to changed shape in 1955, 1956 and 1957 before fading away. It returned briefly in 1976 before fading away again again around 1982, when Lee Iacocca sublimated all division logos in favor of the pentastar logo on all cars.
The coat of arms may have returned as a result of controversy over the hubcap logo used on the 1975 Coronet Brougham, which needed only the stylized "Z" to appear identical to the crest used on Zenith radios and TVs for many years. I myself remember looking at that and wondering why Dodge didn't bring back the perfectly good crest it used in the 1940s and 1950s; the following year they did just that.
The three-delta Dodge emblem used from 1962-1976 is called a "fratzog". This is believed to be a name made up by a designer who was told it had to be called something. During the 1970s, a moderately slanted type-based logo was used to convey speed and a modern feel; Plymouth used a similar logo. In the 1980s, it was changed to all capitals and given a stronger slant. Starting in the late 1990s, the Ram logo was applied to cars as well.
Not to be forgotten is the short-lived Dodge “Scat Pack” logo, drawn up for the Super Bee in imitation of the more successful Plymouth Road Runner’s Warner Bros. cartoon Road Runner and Wiley Coyote. The logo was in tune with the times, but the Road Runner was far more in character for the value-oriented Plymouth brand than the “bare performance” Super Bee was for the still-upmarket Dodge brand.
Plymouth
The original logo was the Mayflower; it was brought back in the 1990s. This emblem
was joined by a coat of arms that is believed to be the seal of a
county in Massachusetts where the Pilgrims first landed. The coat of
arms, with the Mayflower either part of it or above it, appeared from 1949 to 1958.
Starting in the 1940s (the small one on the right is from 1946 and appeared in several places inside the Plymouth cars), concurrent with the sailing ship, Plymouth
used a sloping, tall triangle "rocket ship" logo with two colors,
featuring it on steering wheels, hubcaps, etc.; it made a comeback in 1959. The first one shared
space with the last appearance of the Mayflower until it was brought
back in the 1990s; the 1959 Mayflower is noteworthy in that this is the
only year where the ship was clearly shown facing forward. A stylized
gold forward-facing Mayflower was also used on the trunklid and most
grilles in 1957, but was so abstract that many people had no idea what
it was supposed to be. The rocket logo, as seen on a Valiant, is shown below.
Just before Plymouth’s demise, a new “sailing ship” logo was designed; conveniently it had the same round shape as the new Chrysler logo, so the two could be used interchangeably, and in fact the Chrysler logo would supplant the Plymouth sailing-ship on the Prowler, Voyager, and PT Cruiser, almost as though it had been designed to do so from the start.
AMC
The original AMC logo was an “AM” in script, with the A leading into the M; in 1970 the “A-Mark” logo replaced the older script. The A-Mark would remain AMC’s trademark until AMC itself disappeared.
DeSoto
This logo is believed to be Hernando DeSoto's coat of arms, and turned up in more and more diluted form until the end in 1961, by which time it was reduced to the cross mark seen in the middle of the 1960-1961 wheelcover. A brief attempt at a different stylized logo showed up in the middle of the 1958 Adventurer wheel cover and later on the front bumper, trunk lid and steering wheel center of the entire 1959 DeSoto line. This is another abstract figure that looks somewhat like an eagle with a conquistador's helmet.
Andy added: "The DeSoto's coat of arms isn't the only badge for this line, as there's been also a portrait of Sr. Hernando against a circular 'sombrero' shape in the early Fifties."
Jeep
Jeep started out as a military vehicle and was later a Willys-Overland model; it’s “logo” was the word "Jeep," in the same typeface from civilian introduction in 1946 well into the 1960s. The closest thing to a Jeep logo appeared in 1963 in the center of Wagoneer and Gladiator hubcaps and steering wheels, as Kaiser changed from Willys Motors to Kaiser Jeep Corporation and established Jeep as a stand-alone brand name. This emblem was a circle (in some illustrations looking vaguely like a stylized rendition of a Warn locking hub) with two gold quarters, two red quarters, and the "Jeep" name across the middle. After AMC's purchase of Jeep in 1971, the gold was replaced by blue. In 2004, Jeep started using an advertising logo based on the image of the Wrangler, but this was not used in the cars themselves.
Imperial (Dave Duricy)
The Chrysler Imperial became truly Imperial with the introduction of
the 1926 Chrysler Imperial E-80. Although bigger, faster, and more
costly than standard Chryslers,
the E-80 used Chrysler's standard winged helmet as a radiator mascot
and the Chrysler gold seal for badging.
Around 1929, the Roman fasces was adopted as the exclusive Chrysler
Imperial logo. The fasces, an axe bundled within rods, was the visual
representation of Roman "imperium"
or power; the rods for scourging, the axe for beheading.
When
Chrysler introduced its Classic 1931 models, the logo seems to have
been changed to a pair of fasces, one carried below the other, with a
flowing, double banner draped across both declaring “Chrysler
Imperial.”
This version of the logo is displayed under the menu at my website, The Imperialist.
The fasces has been a standard element in western symbolism standing
for republicanism and law and order. It's found in the state seals of
U. S. states, coins, the
Lincoln Memorial, even the Knights of Columbus emblem. Unfortunately, Italian fascists appropriated the fasces back in 1919,
which must have become awkward for the Chrysler Imperial as the
Thirties progressed. As far as I can tell, 1933 was the last time
Imperial displayed the fasces.
Probably the most famous Imperial logo, the eagle, first appeared on the 1962 hood
ornament, reappearing in 1964 not only on the hood but in the middle of
the rear bumper as well, and staying until 1975 (a 1969 rendition is shown at right).
This is also the
version of the eagle that
reappeared on the 1978-1981 M-body LeBaron, and on the 1989-1993
FWD reissue of the Imperial.
Valiant
[Webmaster]
The Valiant remained its own brand in Australia for some time, using a
unique logo. Valiant was a brand in the United States for roughly one
year.
In the United States, Valiant used a stylized version of its name
as a logo, later switching to the Plymouth rocket.
The Valiant logo is designed to look like a V, while the Plymouth logo (shown at right) is more of a triangle.
Fargo
The Fargo logo was a representation of the globe from the beginning. (Fargo was originally Chrysler's homegrown truck line, built from Plymouth and DeSoto components, and planned to be sold by Chrysler dealers in the US before Chrysler's acquisition of Dodge.)
Fargos were only sold by US dealerships from 1929 to 1931, but the division remained in existence for fleet sales and export. Some 1930s Plymouth passenger cars purchased by the US Army were badged as Fargos.
In 1936, Chrysler Canada brought the Fargo name back for trucks sold by Canadian Chrysler-Plymouth dealers. From 1936 to 1972, Canadians probably bought more Fargos than any other export market. Nonetheless, the globe logo was perfect for Chrysler's export truck line, as Fargo was known the world over as Chrysler's truck.
Eagle
It's an eagle.
DPCD
The four Chrysler makes at the time this logo was created were Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler and DeSoto. Parts from the 1930s were accompanied by a series of banners from each letter telling what it stood for. Dan Stern wrote: “It's a logo that appeared on many Chrysler parts well after DeSoto had disappeared. There has been some speculation that the extended stem of the P is supposed to be an "I" for "Imperial", but I have never seen a variant that made any effort to stylise the P-stem to make it clear it's a separate letter (I), and if I'm not mistaken the logo was introduced before there was an Imperial division.
New Chrysler logo (2007)
The Pentastar, dropped as a corporate symbol by Daimler, returned in 2007 with modifications by Trevor Creed, who fused the ends of the five triangles to enclose the star, raised the triangles toward the center, and added a “brush” texture. “We wanted to give the mark a look of extremely high quality,” Creed said. “We closed up the gaps in geometric unity and added a sense of solidity that gave the star shape a much slimmer, high-quality, precise appearance.”
Above: original Robert Stanley logo and color. |
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Steven Landry, Executive Vice President—North America Sales and Marketing, Service and Parts, said, “The Pentastar represents all the pride that employees feel for the 82-year -history of Chrysler and the confidence we have in our new direction... Even during the past decade, the Pentastar never disappeared. The Pentastar literally towered over the company and employees [on top of the CTC], and has been a source of pride.”
“I do not envision us using this mark on our products, only on buildings, signage, corporate stationery and business cards,” Creed said.
In 1996, the company’s new headquarters in Auburn Hills included an office tower crowned by a two-story-high glass Pentastar. After the 1998 takeover by Daimler, the Pentastar was removed as the corporate symbol, and rumor has it that Daimler executives demanded to have it removed from the office tower, but that the cost was high enough to be scandalous.
