Tag: The Racing Car

More Champion… first the battery then the plugs… The tag line “Spark Plugs Too” as seen on each door of the 1989 racing cars were a simple box-stock typeface. Just had to find it.

[2018]

The AuburnGear corporate logo has not evolved much since the late ’80s. Their logo uses a box-stock typeface (Franklin Gothic) with a little chevron circle design element.

For 1989, there appears to be some variation to the “hi-performance limited-slip differentials,” in font weight and justification, so I assume the tag line was added as decals were cut.

[2018]

I thought the Champion Battery decal was fairly iconic on the 1988 & 1989 racing cars. It was a prominent 2-color printed decal. In my research a company called GNB produced the batteries and marketing. GNB does not exist today.

While looking at photos, I came to notice there were two drawn battery styles used on decals. What I call the “sloppy style” was seen on the sides of racing cars in 1988 & 1989. The “neat style” was used on the front air damns in 1989 and hood of the 1991 TransAm Scorcher car.

I split the difference and turned the sloppy style into a more precise illustration.

During the early 1990s, GNB changed their corporate logo… so I redrew the vintage GNB identification with the handy pen tool.

Did I try to locate original art? You bet, but came up empty. Next best option was to recreate the battery; after breaking the design into basic lines and rectangles. Which was my way of attacking the recreation.

The typeface used for “The Performance Battery” tag was a basic box stock font. Just had to go find it in the catalog. (Which was a common theme during these projects.)

[2018]

While reviewing and comparing brand logos though the years; at some point American Racing Equipment became… American Racing Custom Wheels… so I need a new set of vintage decals. After locating and purchasing vintage ARE decals, I then decided I would rather make them.

[2018]