The Ford badge is so iconic, it’s become shorthand for the automaker itself. Hence its nickname: The Blue Oval. The insignia has graced Ford’s lineup since it was first introduced on the Ford Model A almost a century ago and is one of the most readily recognizable logos in history. But even so, there are currently two models in the lineup that don’t wear the badge at all.
The Blue Oval first introduced the swirling “Ford” script in 1907, penned by Childe Harold Wills using his grandfather’s stencil set, set in the style of the writing taught in schools when Henry Ford and Wills were young. The Ford script itself was emblazoned on the grilles of early Ford models. In 1927, the automaker finally encircled that Ford script in its famous blue oval, an icon that remain untouched until 2003.
The logo – which is the one that graces most of Ford’s lineup today – was modernized in 2003, now featuring a lower profile, a silver outline, and white Ford script inside. The logo means so much to Ford that in 2006, the automaker used it as collateral to secure a massive $23.5 billion loan package.
At the time, Ford was floundering as sales plummeted, and to avoid going bankrupt, the automaker mortgaged just about anything it could, and that include The Blue Oval badge itself. Six years later, in 2012, Ford earned that Blue Oval back when credit rating agencies raised the automaker back to “Investment” status, all without taking a dime of taxpayer money.
In recent years, Ford blacked out its Blue Oval on some models, and offers black ovals as standalone kits for certain models, including the Ford Super Duty, the Ford Ranger and Ford F-150 pickups, and most recently, the Ford Maverick. While they don’t sport the original blue hue, these vehicles still bear the Ford badge, as do the majority of the automaker’s current lineup. But two models don’t wear it – can you guess what they are?
Interestingly, the vehicles that don’t wear Ford badges belong to one of the automaker’s most iconic families: the Ford Mustang and its all-electric cousin, the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
Both models feature the Mustang running horse emblem front and center on the grille and out back, replacing the traditional oval. In fact, there’s no Ford script anywhere on either vehicle’s exterior, although the galloping pony badge is just as recognizable as the Ford insignia itself. There’s no mistaking either model’s Blue Oval bloodlines, even though they lack the actual badge to prove it.
Comments
Mustang and MachE. After Ford re-introduced the ford oval badge on its vehicles (around 1983 model year), some years of the Thunderbird also lacked the Ford oval.
I’ve always thought this was a terrible idea, and reflective of a Michigan-centric view of the market. Ford likely does this for the Mustang because Chevrolet does it for the Corvette. They also assume the “everybody knows the Mustang,” ignoring the fact that we’re just not the car culture society we once were.
Where I live, even import owners recognize the Mustang. It is the most common and recognized domestic sports car.
I knew it is the two Mustangs. I had a 1980 Mustang and I have seen the modern Mustangs. None have the Blue Oval.
I don’t think any Fords had the blue oval in 1980, but Mustangs had them through most of the 80s and 90s.
2019-2020 Mustang Bullitt only has it in the glass, no badge anyplace. Only place it has a Pony is in the headlight housing and center wheel caps.
The Mach-E has the Ford logo on the front windshield, just in front of the rear-view mirror.
I don’t have a Ford logo on my bronco…
Bronco raptor doesn’t bear the blue oval
The F53 and F59 commercial and motorhome chassis do not bear the Ford badge. I also believe the E-series stripped chassis doesn’t have it either