Badge bloat

5,105 · January 6

How have we got this far without this:

6,475 · January 6

9 hours ago, goosey said:

Audi 80 advertising “safety system Procon-ten”

I can see why the marketing people called it "procon-ten", though. "Cunningly placed bit of steel wire" doesn't quite have the same effect 😉

11,074 · January 7

The 'con' came from the fact that even a relatively minor frontal impact would see the cables rip the steering column through the bulkhead, writing off a car that could otherwise have had its crash structures repaired.

68,445 · January 7

9 hours ago, Shite Ron said:

How have we got this far without this:

I was hoping someone would find that, I saw one wearing that sticker at Southend years ago and it always stuck in my mind

19,039 · January 7

19 hours ago, Lanciaman said:

This sticks in the memory. Was wondering if they were trying to get along the whole boot lid...

I remember a cartoon a newspaper at around this time (early 80s). Two guys standing in a car park looking at their new cars, one with something similar to the above. The other just had “mine’s better that your’s”.

4,953 · January 7

Badge bloat?

Those cheap bastards at Ford couldn’t even stretch to putting”Focus” on the back.

January 7

Haven't got a picture but the Charade GTti had all their info on the side rubbing strips

"12 Valve Turbo Intercooled Twin Cam" in silver and red. The order may have been different but that's the gist of it

6,791 · January 7

I think I prefer the days when everything was spelled out and the numbers actually corresponded to what engine you had compared to the current day in Porsche land where an electric car can be badged Turbo and a C63 Merc has a 2.0 four banger instead of a stonking big V8.

4,684 · January 7

On 04/01/2026 at 19:35, Heidel_Kakao said:

I just spotted this egregious example of extra badges on a Facebook advert and couldn't resist sharing it. I have never understood why people feel the need to do this, if it's your own car you know what it is so it must be for the benefit of the general public but why would they care that you have a 3.2 V8 or whatever.

Feel free to share any examples you may have and if anyone can explain the reasoning behind it I would love to know what it's all about.

I don't mind the ridiculous stack of characters as much as the tool who applied them lacking a er, tool to MAKE THEM LEVEL

4,684 · January 7

On 05/01/2026 at 00:12, Imhotep said:

Came here to upload similar and say the same!

But Citroen's complete inability to achieve this in the factory beggars belief.

I mean WTF Citroen?!?

18,869 · January 7

2 minutes ago, chodweaver said:

But Citroen's complete inability to achieve this in the factory beggars belief.

I mean WTF Citroen?!?

The badge was straight when it was fitted, its the suspension that was wonky.

1,914 · January 7

2 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

in Porsche land where an electric car can be badged Turbo

Really? How does that work then? Given that putting a "Turbo" badge on a naturally aspirated combustion engine would surely be a trades descriptions contravention, how is it okay for an electric car?

Edit: mind you I've just remembered that my food mixer has a "Turbo" button on it so maybe it's just that I'm the only person who gives a shit.

1,139 · January 7

Earliest example that I can remember was the Triumph TR4a IRS.

23,495 · January 7

Jaguar were doing it in the 60s...

26,371 · January 7

7 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Jaguar were doing it in the 60s...

A visual warning which says "hang back a bit, peasant - I can stop a lot quicker than you..."

6,791 · January 7

@Mr LiveredApparently their reasoning is that Turbo is now just a trim level and denotes the top spec model.

4,354 · January 7

1 hour ago, chodweaver said:

But Citroen's complete inability to achieve this in the factory beggars belief.

I mean WTF Citroen?!?

I was wondering where Zastava learned to make the badge wonky from the factory!

2,903 · January 7

6 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

I think I prefer the days when everything was spelled out and the numbers actually corresponded to what engine you had compared to the current day in Porsche land where an electric car can be badged Turbo and a C63 Merc has a 2.0 four banger instead of a stonking big V8.

If we're to be pedantic, I'm not sure Mercedes and BMW model numbers have ever corresponded exactly to their engine sizes, at least in the strict sense. The mismatching goes back to the 1930s, at least!

18,413 · January 7

5 hours ago, chodweaver said:

But Citroen's complete inability to achieve this in the factory beggars belief.

I mean WTF Citroen?!?

Shrug 🙄

January 8

The one that always stuck in my mind…

January 8

On 04/01/2026 at 23:49, IronStar said:

Early 90s Citroen easily wins this from factory

You could also have ABS if your example had an ABS 😄

Did it successfully evade that turbo?

3,933 · January 8

On 04/01/2026 at 19:35, Heidel_Kakao said:

I just spotted this egregious example of extra badges on a Facebook advert and couldn't resist sharing it. I have never understood why people feel the need to do this, if it's your own car you know what it is so it must be for the benefit of the general public but why would they care that you have a 3.2 V8 or whatever.

Feel free to share any examples you may have and if anyone can explain the reasoning behind it I would love to know what it's all about.

Nice green jag outside yours today LOL....and BTW ya boots open....or broken!

6,791 · January 8

Just now, bezzabsa said:

Nice green jag outside yours today LOL....and BTW ya boots open....or broken!

It's open, I have the battery on charge and the key currently doesn't open it as the lock is seized so I can only open it with the electric popper.

6,791 · February 9

Came across another example where someone doesn't seem to like the subtlety of an X308 XJR and has added a supercharged badge and the R badge from a later model.

11,074 · February 9

Kei car and GranTurismo enthusiasts might remember the Daihatsu Mira Turbo TR-XX Avanzato R. The tiny bootlid was deemed too small for all that so some of the badging spilled onto the sides. It must be the most letters per square foot of road space of any car.

5,485 · February 9

57 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Came across another example where someone doesn't seem to like the subtlety of an X308 XJR and has added a supercharged badge and the R badge from a later model.

With added mould.

18,413 · February 9

1 hour ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Came across another example where someone doesn't seem to like the subtlety of an X308 XJR and has added a supercharged badge and the R badge from a later model.

Badge engineering, innit! 😁

2,356 · February 10

Ankai did a similar thing- OEM, yo! With their Big Bus Tour 'deckers, innit. Can't seem to find any pics that I can download...

7,483 · February 10

My favourite pointless badge is the Texas Edition.

They're all at it so that spreadsheet jockeys and middle managers in the suburbs can feel like cowboys.

https://www.jalopnik.com/1949830/what-does-texas-edition-mean-on-trucks/

Can't help thinking that European marketeers are missing a trick but maybe there are effectively country editions of various cars already, big alloys for UK, small saloons for Ireland, winter packs as standard in Scandinavia.

3,815 · February 11

On 06/01/2026 at 22:16, Shite Ron said:

How have we got this far without this:

Raise you with some spelling errors:

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