Medals relating to Cars and Car Makers
This page shows medals that have cars, automobiles, or car makers as their subjects.
Please let me know if I missed a car-related medal that is already on this site but not part of this collection.
The obverse bears a streamlined car with stylized wing extending vertically up. Top right and bottom left, TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF - MOTOR TRANSPORTATION; signed under car, NORMAN BEL GEDDES © 1933. The reverse bears a stylized piston and laurels. Around in four quadrants, COMMEMORATING / THE TWENTYFIFTH - ANNIVERSARY OF / GENERAL MOTORS - 1908 - 1933.
This iconic machine-age medal is a perfect example of the Streamlined style that dominated architecture and design in America from the late 1920s to the end of the 1930s. It was designed by Norman Bel Geddes but sculpted by Rene Paul Chambellan. Its main variant was commissioned by General Motors to be distributed during its 25th Anniversary celebrations and at the 1933 Chicago World Fair of Progress.
The General Motors romance brochure that accompanied some medals included the following words about the design:
"The face of the medal shows a speeding automotive body behind which a wing rises perpendicularly. Since the medal is to be used as an award in future years and the car of the future is merely a guess, this car is an abstract streamline form without doors or windows. The conventionalized wing symbolizes General Motors interest in air transportation. The wing being static; the car, by contrast, seems to move more swiftly ... The reverse of the medal shows a combustion chamber ... since it is the heart of the motor. It too has been conventionalized."
The medal was manufactured in different variants. The relatively common ones measure 76mm in diameter and are struck in bronze or silver-plated bronze. The large silver-plated medal is the most common variant. The bronze and the smaller 38mm and 29mm variants are much less common. The smallest was inscribed across the reverse G.M. - MENS / CLUB and only given to GM executives. In the thirties it was of course a fairly safe bet that executive positions would be limited to men. A mounted plaque version measuring 9 inches in diameter was given to some dealers in the 1950s.
Completely intact silver-plated variants are hard to come by; the silver layer did not stand the test of time on most pieces and it is almost unheard of to see one without at least rubbing on high points.
Just as the design is unmistakably Bel Geddes, the execution is unmistakably Chambellan. Before I knew that it was a Bel Geddes, I would have guessed it to be a Chambellan based on its lettering alone.
The medal was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York.
All that being said, prices for this medal vary even more widely based on quality and venue. Small antiques boutiques frequently offer the 76mm silver-plated pieces at prices over $2,000. Of course I do not know what prices are actually realized. On eBay, the 76mm medals frequently trade between $800 and $1,500 and I have not yet seen the smaller ones come up there.
The obverse bears the classic Ford V8 logo with the digit "8" formed by the letter "O" from FORD and a larger circle underneath. Around bottom, SAN DIEGO - 1935
The reverse bears legend · FORD · 1935 around centeral circle, surrounded by turbine-like pattern.
Ford introduced its flathead V8 engine in 1932, just in time for the Chicago World's Fair and issued a token with a similar obverse for that earlier exhibition. While the V8 engine was not new, it was Ford's first 8-cylinder engine for the American mass market and was an important milestone in Ford's history. The basic engine design remained in service till 1953.
The Ford V8 logo is one of the classic art deco logos that succeed through their simplicity and elegance. It combines a technical term with a graphical representation that symbolizes high speed.
The token measures 28.5mm in diameter and was struck in nickel.
De Francisci designed this medal for the Ford Motor Company to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The obverse bears the busts of Henry Ford, Edsel Ford, and Henry Ford II. Below, HENRY FORD - EDSEL FORD - HENRY FORD II; under lowest bust, After Norman Rockwell / * * A d F Sc * * *.
The reverse bears a circle of stars. Across, 50 / YEARS FORWARD / ON THE / AMERICAN ROAD / 1903 - 1953 / FORD MOTOR COMPANY.
The medal was struck in two variations. This is an examplar of the variant that was distributed in the United States and reads ... AMERICAN ROAD ... on the reverse. The variant for Canada and the rest of the world read 50 YEARS WITH FORD.
The medal measures 70mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York.