CROSLEY

Crosley Motors Inc.
Richmond, Indiana (1939-1941)
Marion, Indiana (1946-1953)

This is a Crosley hood emblem (dates)     mjs
Size: 117mm high 92mm wide   MM: None

Powell Crosley had tried building automobiles in 1909 and again in 1913 but these ventures were unsuccessful. By the time he introduced his Crosley car in 1939, Powell Crosley was a highly successful industrialist with major businesses in radios and refrigerators. He was several decades ahead of his time with his new Crosley, which was a small lightweight car that sold over 2000 units in the first year.

Civilian production was put on hold during the Second World War but Crosley did produce a number of jeep-like models called the Crosley Pup for the US army. 

When production resumed in 1945 the Crosley was powered by a 722cc over-head camshaft four-cylinder Cobra engine. This was later replaced by a 26.5 hp CIBA engine, which was used to great success in Crosley sports cars. At the peak of post-war production Crosley was building a wide range of vehicles, including sedans, station wagons, delivery vans and several sports models. In 1950 a miniature jeep called the Farm-O-Road was introduced for small farmers. Crosley cars were exported under the name Crosmobile.

Emblems

Crosley used a trademark script with an arrow passing through the name "Crosley" on all of its products from radios to refrigerators and motor cars. see example shown below:

This is a Crosley trademark script

The first Crosley motor cars in 1939 did not carry an emblem, see photo shown below, but did display the "Crosley" trademark script on the hubcaps.

This is a Crosley car without an emblem (1939)   wiki

The following shows an example of a Crosley hubcap with the "Crosley trademark script:

This is a Crosley hubcap

Some early Crosley models also displayed a small chrome "Crosley" trademark script on the far rear sides of the hood, see example shown below:

This is a Crosley sedan displaying a hood side script (1942) wiki

Crosley rear hood side script (1942)    wiki

A larger version of the "Crosley" trademark script was used as an emblem on the front of the hood just above the radiator on the Crosley Pup, see example shown below:

This is a Crosley Pup with script emblem (1943) militarytrader

Close up showing Crosley script emblem (1943)

Crosley motor cars built from 1946 when post war production resumed carried an emblem mounted on the front of the hood above the radiator and another emblem on the trunk lid. 

Some surviving early post war production models carry a cross shaped Crosley emblem on the hood, see example shown below:

Crosley showing cross shaped hood emblem (1947) classiccarhistory

This is the red painted chrome Crosley hood emblem inscribed "A Fine Car" shown below, which was also used as the trunk lid emblem on all models. This emblem also has a red reflector glass disc at the top, which is clearly appropriate for an emblem at the rear of the car, but casts some doubt over its original use as a hood emblem. This Crosley emblem is scarce.

This is a Crosley trunk emblem (1946-1953)   mjs
Size: 129mm wide 129mm high   MM: None

Later Crosley models carried a shield shaped hood emblem but continued to use the cross shaped emblem on the trunk, see example from 1950 shown below:

Crosley showing shield shaped hood emblem (1950)  wiki

Crosley showing cross shaped trunk emblem (1950)   wiki 

The shield shaped Crosley emblem is the chrome plated red enamel Crosley hood emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Crosley hood emblem is scarce.

This is a Crosley hood emblem (1949-1953)    mjs
Size: 117mm high 92mm wide   MM: None

Export Crosley models were known as the Crosmobile and carried the red enamel Crosmobile hood emblem shown below. This Crosmobile hood emblem is rare.

This is a Crosmobile hood emblem (1940-1953)    mjs
Size: 117mm high 92mm wide    MM: None

The following is a red painted export Crosmobile trunk emblem. This Crosmobile trunk emblem is rare.

This is a Crosmobile trunk emblem (1949-1953)     ms
Size: Unknown    MM: Unknown

Automotive emblem collectors should beware as there are several painted, pressed metal emblems and nameplates displaying the "CROSLEY" name with a jagged line passing through the center, similar to the examples shown below, which are not from motor cars. These emblems are from Crosley refrigerators, radios or record players:

This is a Crosley refrigerator emblem      mjs

This is a Crosley radio emblem     mjs