I’m hoping some of you guys may know more about this cool, rarely seen decal. I recently came across some pics and measurements I took of an original decal on a car that was here. I hadn’t seen it before but thought it was something I could recreate someday. Well that day has some, and I made a new version! It’s available now at WCCC. (link)
We’re going to buy a copy of the May 1968 issue of Car and Driver where they announced the results to try to glean a little more info. But does anyone know where these decals originally came from? Did Ford / L-M make them and distribute them to dealers, to spice up the Cougars on their lot? Or would they have been made by Car and Driver? Seems less likely.
Anyway, the new decals came out very nice and I thought it would be a fun little bragging piece for us '68 owners.
Definitely made by Ford but the question I have was were they put on by dealers in some cases on older stock that was built prior to the vote? Or were they only put on cars built in May 68 and after at the factory? Whats the build date on your 68 equipped with this decal, anyone?
There may have also been a version with a green field of color in the shield.
It is a more abstract graphic. From '68 on into '69 and '70 all of the automaker’s implemented more and more “mod” and psychedelic designs in their marketing and advertising.
That “alien” cat’s head changed a bit from piece to piece.
Now that I think about it the May issue would have come out a month prior or earlier. Maybe they would have alerted Ford prior to print? I know for a fact they sent the 67 Motor Trend decals to the dealers as well as put them on at the factory. Years ago I got a large stack of these from a closing dealership.
Cool! Nice little part of the history! I would not want to put that on my car but I can sure find a place on in my garage cabinet full of stickers for it!
Thanks for all the extra pics and info Phillip! And yes, the new stickers are printed on shiny “mirror” vinyl and treated for UV, so they should hold up decently. The one main difference is the originals had the adhesive on the front, so they could be stuck on the inside of the glass, facing out. I asked the sticker company if they could do that, but it was a nope for the mirror vinyl. So the new ones have the adhesive on the back and will stick on the outside of the glass (or on your toolbox / wherever). They could do a transparent version that would work on the inside of the glass, but I wanted to replicate the shiny.
LOL it does look kind of alien-ey now that you mention it
Don, my July’68 built XR 7 has one on each rear quarter window. I’m sure they were factory installed. I’ve owned it 32 years & I don’t believe the original owner put them on. They are attached to the inside of each window & have held up well over the years.
S. DiPrima
C/D would include a post card in the magazine for readers to vote for their favorites in several categories, to be mailed back to the magazine. Results would be posted in the May issue each year.
This was sort of a precursor to the “10Best” list.
