Do your Memorial Day weekend plans involve spending some time over a grill?

Ours do. We plan on spending time around our favorite automotive grilles at local parades, cruise-ins, and car shows. We’ve even cooked up a list of our Top 10 favorite car grilles to celebrate the arrival of summer grilling season. There’s a lot of automotive artistry found on the front ends of classic automobiles—too much to cover in one Top 10 list—but here our some of our faves (in no particular order):

1959 Cadillac

There were a lot of elaborate grilles from this era—Plymouth Fury and Ford Galaxie are other grilles from this time frame that we like. We love the way this jewel-like grille makes up nearly the entire front of the Cadillac. After all, there’s a lot of real estate to work with there.

Excess, anyone?

 

1953-60 Chevrolet Corvette

We’re big fans of the C2 Corvette around here (find evidence here), but it’s hard to beat the C1 grille for overall styling. The grille teeth on the 1953-60 Corvette—General Motors eliminated the teeth for the last two years of the C1 Corvette—are just one of styling features that helped make the ‘Vette a success.

 

1967 Mercury Cougar

The first-generation Cougar came out at the same time as the first Chevrolet Camaro. It’s hard to argue with the success of the Camaro, but there’s one thing the Cougar had over its competitors: the electric shaver-style grille. A true classic!

 

 

1938 Plymouth

Picking just one great car grille from the 1930s is like trying to pick just one great Air Supply song—it’s just darn near impossible. Still, for us, the 1938 Plymouth’s rounded, vertical grille exemplifies the artistry of 1930s automobiles.

 

 

1966 Oldsmobile Toronado

Much like this take, the unmistakable Oldsmobile Toronado grille is just beautiful in its simplicity.

 

 

 

Hudson Hornet

Some love it. Some hate it. We’ve always loved the Hudson Hornet’s almost-facelike grille and front-end. Apparently, so did the folks at Disney Pixar, since the Hornet was personified in the Cars movie.

 

 

1964 Ford Mustang

Why the 1964 Mustang, you ask? The Mustang grille has changed many times over the years—much like the car itself—but the original grille stands the test of time. We appreciate the prominent role the Mustang logo plays within the grille.  Argue all you want, Bowtie guy—but that Mustang logo is an icon!

 

 

Studebaker Bullet Nose

Studebaker had a reputation for creating radical car designs, and this distinctive Bullet Nose grille is one of the company’s lasting legacies. The company offered this design on three of its models: Champion, Commander, and Land Cruiser, according to Studebakerpictures.com.

 

 

 

1950 Buick

Back before Buick relied on Shaquille O’Neal and Peyton Manning to hawk its vehicles, the company simply employed beautiful automotive designs to sell its cars. The 1950 Buick, for example, incorporated an absolutely stunning grille design to complement its distinctive body lines.

 

1932 Ford

Personally, we’re big fans of the subtly curved, drawn out look of the ’33 Ford grille, but it’s hard to argue with the popularity of the 1932 Ford grille. It’s the go-to automotive grille for custom builders and rat rod lovers alike. For sheer impact on the hot-rodding movement, we’d have to put the 1932 Ford grilleat the top of the list.

 

 

 

Bonus: Jeep Willys

It’s Memorial Day weekend, so we’re also including the quintessential Jeep grille on our list as an honorary member of our Top 10. This grille (and the Jeep Willys it was attached to) helped us win WWII and has stood the test of time.

 

 

 

 

What did we miss? Tell us your favorite automotive grille in the comments section below.

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Father’s Day Hint: You can find some of  hot rodding’s greatest bumpers/grilles made into shelves at Summit Gifts, Clothing & Memorabilia. You should check them out.

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