QOTD: Additional Branding for the Special Vehicular Feels?

by Corey Lewis

Published: April 24th, 2019

qotd additional branding for the special vehicular feels

They used to be commonplace, but the last decade or so has seen this automotive phenomenon fade from memory. Today we talk special branded editions, and how it’s time for them to make a comeback.

Today’s question was generated by a Twitter conversation the other day, when another Twitterer posted some photos of the superb 205 Lacoste Special Euro Yuppie Edition. While branded special editions and trims were used to denote luxurious or sporty versions of vehicles between the Sixties and the early part of the 2000s, they’re much less common now.

Sure, you could get a Fiat 500 Gucci (Jennifer Lopez, stop!) until a few years ago, but such branding just isn’t there any more.

The Nautica trim Villager was very exclusive, as were the Pucci, Bill Blass, and Valentino Lincoln vehicles. General Motors had that ghastly Gucci Seville in the Eighties, but I’m not calling for any of those kinds of things anymore. And perhaps something more subtle than a Pierre Cardin Javelin, too.

And that’s today’s question. What vehicles on sale in 2019 are most deserving of branded special editions or trims, and with which brands? The Navigator Yacht Club comes to mind today — all it needs is the Bill Blass logo. Take my money!

[Images: General Motors, Ford]

Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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2 of 54 comments

STS_Endeavour on Apr 24, 2019

Jack Nicklaus Town Car had a very lovely shade of green. Too bad it was matched with various golf-related colors that took away from the really cool green.

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Flipper35 on Apr 25, 2019

Well if Ram ever made a proper SUV again they need a Lone Wolf edition with the Hellcat motor. The commercial would start with it bursting out of the ground.

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