Wheel Center Badges Part 2

Recently, Scott McClure and I were looking at some wheel center badges that Scott has collected over the last few years, and compared them with ones that I had purchased that were claimed to be correct center badges, and an NOS one that a mechanic contact of ours has. I have posted a few photos and I know that Scott will be posting some too.

All of the originals, and the better reproductions, have blue script (the ones with black script are completely wrong), with a silver outline surrounding the script. The silver outline on the originals appears to be slightly raised from the script.

The originals all have a pronounced "dome" on the top that gives the badge more depth (somewhat like a very small snow-globe effect) when viewed from a slight angle. Most of the newer replacements are quite a bit flatter, and the silver outline surrounding the script is also flat. The new reproduction also is about 1 or 2 mil smaller in diameter.

In the first photo below, our contact's apparent NOS stock wheel center badge is on the left, a presumed original is in the center, and one of the best current reproductions is on the right. Unfortunately, I cannot vouch for the color accuracy of the photo because when viewed outside, the current reproduction on the right appears to be a little more mustard in color than the two on the left.

Note that there is a difference in how the tail of the "o" appears. The wheel badge on the left has an "o" tail that is much narrower and is at a more acute angle, while the other two badges have much more rounded "o" tails.

Also, note that the dot above the "i" is a parallelogram in the NOS on the left, while the dots on the other two are rectangles.

Finally, the last two photos are of some supposed center badges from the Netherlands that were advertised on eBay as 246 Wheel Center Badges - they clearly are not. They are too large, and are pretty much useful only as paperweights or as, perhaps, belt buckles. (On the other hand, the color appears fairly accurate and there is some silver around the scipt that appears to be slightly raised - but you can't tell very well in the photo. And, whether right or wrong, the dot appears to be more of a parallelogram than a rectangle, and the "o" has a sharper tail).

Finally, please also note that the "n" is more angular in the NOS badge and in the paperweights from the Netherlands than in the supposed stock badge and the best currently available reproduction.

I don't think we can conclusively pick between the two on the left as to which is factory correct as it appears there may have been some supply variations during the course of the Dino's production life. Any thoughts?

Mark
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