With A Hidden Meaning: Car Company Emblems That Are Useful

It only seems that the emblem on the radiator grill is needed only for beauty. After all, even by hanging a Mercedes star on a BMW, hardly anyone will be able to mislead, right? However, in especially rare cases, emblems were a very useful thing in a practical sense. If you don't believe it, see for yourself.

Backlit emblem

Let's start with the simplest. Ever wondered why car emblems don't light up? After all, it is also much easier to identify the make of the car in the dark? However, in the entire history of the car, only one brand has had an illuminated emblem. He hails from the UK and … no, this is not a Rolls-Royce. We are talking about the company Wolseley, whose name in Russian sounds like "Wolseley". Today the brand no longer exists, but until now very few people have dared to repeat the simple but effective trick with a light bulb.

You can, of course, remember the conceptual Infiniti Q60, and the illumination of the three-pointed star in the Mercedes-Benz accessories catalog. But so far no one does this for all models, but straight from the factory.

Emblem for better hearing

Illumination of the emblem is, of course, interesting, but there is not too much useful functionality in that. Perhaps, the French from Renault were among the first who guessed to give the corporate badge a significant semantic load. Back in the 20s of the last century, they placed … a horn right behind the corporate emblem. And so that the warning sounds were perfectly audible to those to whom they were intended, the center of the emblem was made lattice. Simple, like everything ingenious.

Emblem so as not to boil

At the dawn of the automotive age, branded car emblems also had another useful purpose. They often served as a fancy radiator cap. What's easier? But an ordinary plug is too boring, so a little over a hundred years ago, the American firm Boyce Motometer, founded by the German engineer Hermann Schleich, came up with a cool contraption - a coolant temperature indicator integrated into the radiator cap. Thus, on some models, the branded emblem helped drivers to ensure that the car did not overheat.

Emblem so it doesn't hurt

But the fact that the beautiful bonnet emblems and mascot figures carried a real threat to the health of pedestrians, the car companies did not immediately guess. However, precisely because of the increased risk of injury, the famous deer disappeared from the hoods of the 21st "Volga" of the second and third series. But Mercedes-Benz is not the Gorky Automobile Plant for you. In Stuttgart, the loss of the three-beam logo on the hood could not be reconciled. Therefore, the famous star on the hood was made movable: in a collision with a pedestrian, it folds without causing unnecessary injuries to the unfortunate.

An emblem that cannot be stolen

However, sometimes the threat does not come from the emblem to a person, but exactly the opposite. In order to protect the beautiful emblem from ill-wishers, Rolls Royce, for example, uses hidden springs, thanks to which the "Spirit of Ecstasy" instantly hides in the bowels of the hood, you just have to touch it with playful handles. And on more recent models, the "Spirit of Ecstasy" rises when the ignition is turned on and lowers when turned off using the servos.

Anti-theft emblem

It is a mistake to believe that in the modern car industry no one is trying to find new roles for emblems. Remember, more recently, a keyhole was hidden behind the folding blue oval of the Ford emblem. The hood lock, in theory, was supposed to increase the anti-theft efficiency of the car - after all, it was opened only with a key, but in reality this thing only prevented the owners of the "Focus" and "Mondeo" from living in the conditions of the Russian winter.Dirt got into the locks, the larva quickly wore out and failed.

Emblem just in case of fire

But today, some brands effectively use the corporate emblem as a protective casing for cruise control radars and active safety systems. And this is very reasonable. Better if a stone from under the wheels of a car in front shoots into the plastic of the emblem than into the peephole of a device costing many hundreds of euros, isn't it? And designers have less work - because it is sometimes very difficult to fit a massive knot into the laconic look of modern cars.