Light-up grille logos are the latest questionable automotive styling trend, popping up on vehicles ranging from Mercedes to Infiniti (and beyond). Many readers may not realize that this styling feature has far older origins. Let’s explore.
From my research, the granddaddy of light-up grille badges all is British carmaker Wolseley, who made somewhat of a trademark fitting an illuminated badge to the front of their vehicles, starting in 1932 and continuing all the way to their final vehicle in 1975. There is a closeup view of their illuminated badge in the hero image above, while one of their last models (a Wolseley Six) appears below.
Surprisingly, for most of the rest of the 20th century, few other automakers took advantage of this opportunity for illuminated automotive iconography.
There is one interesting outlier – the 1965 Chrysler 300L. By 1965, there was very little to differentiate the letter series 300L from the lesser 300 models. So for the final iteration of letter series of the 1960s, Chrysler decided to affix a light-up medallion to the grille (referred to in the brochure as a “center-grille running light”). With only 2,845 300L hardtops and convertibles produced, these would have been rare sights on the road even back in the day. Online photos of this badge are almost impossible to find: Interestingly (but not surprisingly) the best picture I was able to find came from this very site.
At this point, the trail for illuminated grilles goes dark (so to speak) for a decade or two, until Mercury revived the look with the illuminated grille of the 1986 Sable. I can remember how cool I thought these were when they first came out – they were easy and fun to spot at night. The grilleless look was very popular in the aerodynamic 1990s, and I thought this light-up panel was a nice alternative to the filler panels and hood extensions everyone else was using to fill the space between the headlights at the time. For one of the few times in its troubled existence, Mercury was as cool as the other side of the pillow.
Initially, the Sable’s panel only had two bulbs on either side of the Mercury logo (the logo itself did not light up). In 1989, Mercury doubled the bulb count to four, and now the entire panel lit up, badge included.
By 1992, the light-up panel look had spread to much of the rest of the Mercury lineup. While the lights on the Villager minivan grille (shown above) were functional, the light bars on the Topaz and Tracer were both fake, not actually lighting up.
And then, almost as quickly as they appeared, Mercury’s light-up grilles were gone. The redesigned 1996 Sable sported only turn signals in the grille, as sort of a cruel reminder of past light-up glories. By 2000, even the turn signals had moved to the headlight assemblies, leaving the grille completely unlit. The Topaz was gone after 1994, and by 1997 the Tracer had lost its fake light bar. Mercury, a brand forever chasing the fickle foibles of fashion, had deemed light up grilles passé.
If Mercury only knew how wrong they were. In 2013, Mercedes-Benz started offering an illuminated star as a dealer installed option. It quickly became a factory option due to rising popularity. Other manufacturers quickly followed suit, fueling the lit up grille badge renaissance that continues to this day.
A rerun of an older post.
I thought the grille lit up in the early 90s GP and STE sedans….
https://www.edmunds.com/assets/m/pontiac/grand-prix/1993/oem/1993_pontiac_grand-prix_sedan_le_fq_oem_1_500.jpg
My uncle Terry Henline was chief of the Pontiac design studio responsible for styling the GM10/W-body Grand Prix, and he once showed us some photos of design bucks and illustrations showing they’d come up with that full-width light bar well before production commenced for the ’88 model year.
However, the ’86 Sable beat them to market with that motif, and they didn’t want to seem like copycats or risk brand/model confusion with the Mercury, so they grudgingly launched the GP with a blank panel between the headlights instead, and saved the light bar for later, ultimately debuting on the ’90 GP STE, expanded to the SE the following year, and finally to the LE for ’92. The GP coupes never got the light bar, instead going from the early blank-center nose to squinty mini-quad sealed beams.
Yeah here we go-
I had the 2 door version new in 92 so different treatment.
https://platform.cstatic-images.com/xxlarge/in/v2/stock_photos/a2e9c51f-0212-40db-b5ac-c1220b23f78b/d8b38a62-ab90-4a67-8e23-39ec2bd765cb.png
Hudson had a lighted grille badge on the stepdown, at least in the first few years. Here’s part of a ’52 wiring diagram.
Didn’t some of the 40’s era Pontiacs have an illuminated hood ornament?
Quite possibly. My parents’ ’53 Pontiac had one. A ’54, being essentially the same car, would have had one. I’m pretty sure Pontiacs had them before ’53 and after ’54, but I don’t know for how long. As a kid, I thought the light-up ornament was cool. Now I think it was tacky.
Yeah, it smacks of something out of the JC Whitney catalog. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s what inspired those light-up hood ornaments.
Yes, Pontiac offered an illuminated hood ornament for some years.
My mother won a `49 Pontiac some years before was born,but she gave it to my grandfather because she didn`t have a license at the time. The car did have an Indian head hood ornament that lit up in an amber type color. Even as a small kid I thought that was so cool.
One of the limitations is how many car companies logos incorporate colors that are reserved for emergency services. Ford sidesteps that by only illuminating the white parts of the badge-the script and outline- despite being ideally positioned for malicious compliance (the oval lights up blue on Police Interceptors. No, there’s no way to turn it off without shutting everything off first. Disconnect it and you brick the whole car. We’re lobbying for an exemption to blue light regs for manufacturers logos) while Chevy’s clear to light the whole bowtie yellow/gold, if they hadn’t already been moving away from gold bowties for years.
It’s funny my family had a 93 Villager and in spite of loving the lightbar on Sables I somehow don’t at all remember it lighting up on ours.
Good remembering! The Hudson Club has pictures. I have owned many Wolseley cars and the Art Deco badge is part of the charm.
And lit up.
The 1978 Olds Toronado had an illuminated logo on both sides the front clip.
The only thing that diffentiated the 300L from the standard 1965 300 series was that light-up grille ornament and some trim pieces. Otherwise, all of the equipment of the 300L could be had on the regular 300 (including the 413-4v).
Some will say that the previous year’s 300K dual-quad set-up could still be installed by a dealer, but I have no doubt they would have been more than happy to put it on the regular 300, too. Hell, they’d put it on any 413 Mopar if the buyer ponied up the money for it.
I think the Wolseley was advertised as ‘The car with its name in lights’
I started noticing last Christmas around Central New Jersey some vehicles had the whole cars decorated with Christmas lights. Actually first time I saw it was a Porsche 911, relatively new model, don’t know what it is called now. It was kind of weird and nice. Wonder if it legal to drive around on street. I believe it can be turned off by driver any movement.