Remember when cars used to have personality?

Chances are if you’re less than 50 years of age, you don’t. With a few exceptions, you have to travel back to a time before the early-1970s to the heyday of the American performance movement. This era—from post World War II through the early-70s—is where you find cars with character. From the shark-teeth grille of the Barracuda to the rocket-ship fins of the old Galaxies and Impalas, vehicles oozed personality.

And that included the very emblems that identified them.

To this day, emblems are important details that must be included on any restoration or resto-mod project. That’s why companies like Trim Parts, Goodmark, Scott Drake, Original Parts Group, and others offers a full complement of emblems and decals for hundreds of vehicles. Browsing those different emblem designs made us a little nostalgic, so we’ve put together a list of our favorite emblems from back in the day. We’re talking model- and submodel-specific emblems, not brand logos like GM or Ford (perhaps a post for another time).

Since our list includes just 10, we’re sure we left plenty of good ones out. Let us know what we missed by commenting below. Better yet, go to our Facebook page and share a pic of your vintage vehicle emblem. Here are some of our favorites:

10. Oldsmobile 88

 

 

9. Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds

 

 

8. Pontiac Firebird

 

 

 

7. Dodge Demon

 

 

6. Dodge Super Bee

 

 

5. Pontiac GTO “The Judge”

 

 

4. Mustang/Shelby Cobra

 

 

3. Plymouth Road Runner Superbird

 

 

2. Corvette Crossed Flags

 

 

1. Ford Mustang (Striped)