Badge of honour. Here are the the Top 10 best car name badges of all time | Opinion

What’s a car without a name? It’s an object that may function superbly well. It might even look impressively tough or beautifully sleek.

But a name gives extra depth to a car’s positioning, helping prospective buyers, owners or interested onlookers get to grips with its personality.

Then the challenge becomes how best to apply it to the car. And from close to the dawn of automotive time a carefully crafted badge has been the preferred option.

It’s arguably the ultimate expression of car styling, rather than formal design. A decorative flourish to add an extra layer of visual interest and emotional connection.

For those who are interested, long-time US auto industry executive, analyst and commentator, Jim Hill does a great job of highlighting the differences between the two intimately related disciplines - design and styling - in this video for Autoline Network’s Design Handbook.

So, from the roughly one billion model nameplates physically attached to cars over the decades which ones stand out? 

Like any question demanding a subjective answer it’s open to debate, and we want to hear about your favourites in the comments.

But to get the ball rolling, here is CarsGuide’s list of the Top 10 best car names badges of all time.

10. Holden EJ / EH Special

Talk about the name saying it all. Variants of Holden’s EJ of 1962 and the EH that replaced it in 1963 proudly wore this iconic badge. The Special tag was applied to other Holden models over time, but this one’s the best. FACT!

9. Nissan GT-R 

Sturdy, racy and beautifully balanced, this badge perfectly matches the various iterations of the AWD monster that came to be known as Godzilla. The red highlight in the oversize R sparkles like a precious jewel.

8. Chevrolet Impala

Chevy’s Impala is one of GM’s longest running nameplates so there are a lot of variations to choose from. But, full disclosure, the author once owned a tidy 1968 327 pillar-less four-door hardtop and that year model’s beautifully executed badge comes out on top.

7. BMW M3

This could be any BMW M badge. Those blue, purple and red accent stripes, the sloping M… it literally screams motorsport and is arguably the most concise expression of a car’s personality on this list.

6. Ferrari 500 Superfast

Wow. If you were behind the wheel of this Pininfarina penned, V12-powered masterpiece in the mid-1960s you were s-o-m-e-b-o-d-y, and this sub-zero cool badge encapsulates its super-sophisticated aura. 

5. Rambler / AMC Marlin

In response to corporate shenanigans the Rambler Marlin eventually morphed into the AMC Marlin but either way, this is a mid-1960s car name badge highlight. You can feel the tension on the line as that big fish puts up an epic fight.

4. Aston Martin Superleggera

Okay, okay, okay… not exactly a car name, but this exceptional piece of typography simply has to be included in this list. Denoting Carrozzeria Touring’s lightweight body building technique it was (and still is) most often applied to Aston Martins as well as, over time, Alfas, BMWs, Ferraris, Lambos and more.

3. Renault 8 Gordini

There’s art deco, and then there’s art deco that is simply perfection. As the name implies this badge was applied to the Gordini version of the rear-engine Renault 8 launched in 1964. A monster 66kW, trick suspension, close-ratio four-speed box. What a machine, and what a badge.

2. Studebaker Avanti

Raymond Loewy never did things by halves, and in designing the stunning Avanti coupe he added a suitably arresting badge to this early 1960s break-through model. The car’s distinctive look was instantly polarising (I love it) but you’ve got to admit that space-age badge is a cracker!

1. Karmann Ghia

A car many (in Type 1 form, anyway) consider to be one of the most beautifully balanced automotive designs of all time, needed a statement badge, and this one delivers. Bold, masculine type above a flowing, cursive finish. We have a winner!