Encyclopedia Hoonatica: Chrome-Free Cars

By Peter Tanshanomi Jun 29, 2015

Altitude Cherokee fr
A co-worker of mine has a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. We were discussing its appearance one day when he said, “The only thing I hate about it is the Jeep badge on the grille.” Why? I asked. “Because it’s the only thing chrome. It just looks out of place.” Now, I notice it immediately whenever I see a Jeep with chrome letters on the front. And that has led me to study other cars. In this age of body-colored bumpers and carbon accents, it seems that the allure of chrome is still very much alive. Nearly all vehicles have at least a tiny dose of polished or plated brightwork somewhere. Shiny emblems are especially important, it seems. It might be silver or gold, but a shiny metallic finish on the nameplate is virtually required. Perhaps it’s just a thin chrome oval around the outside of it, but it’s nearly always there. I did notice a Jeep Wrangler Polar Edition in a Walgreen’s parking lot a while back that had flat black J-E-E-P letters above the grille. Was this, at last, a truly chrome-less car? Nope, it had shiny chrome “Trail Rated” and “Polar Edition” badges on its flanks. Even the menacing matte black Ford RS500 that JayP posted in the comments the other day has a shiny chrome Ford badge on its face. But if you look at the black Jeep Cherokee Altitude shown above, it appears we finally have a something that’s truly chrome (nickle/polished alloy/mylar) free. (Interestingly, when ordered in white, it gets chrome window surrounds.)
So, your encyclopedic task for today is to help me out by naming all the vehicles you can find that are totally free of brightwork. And I do mean totally. [Before y’all holler “GNX,” Darth’s ride has five tiny chrome letters spelling out “B-U-I-C-K” on its grille.]
Here are the caveats (there are always caveats):

  • Stock, production vehicles only, please — stick to vehicles that anyone could walk into a dealership and buy.
  • Let’s concentrate on road vehicles marketed to the general public for personal use. That means no heavy-duty trucks, forklifts, tractors, mining equipment, tanks, trains, or spacecraft.
  • Post-war vehicles only. (For those of you who flunked History 101, that means 1946 model year and later.) If you go back any further, this gets absurdly easy.
  • Chrome lug nuts, machined alloy wheel rims and headlight reflector buckets get a pass. But bonus points and bragging rights if you can avoid these.

Difficulty: Harder than you’d think, if you really get nit-picky. And I’m feeling really nit-picky on this one.
How This Works: Read the comments first and don’t post duplicates. Bonus points for adding photos. Remember, you can simply paste in the raw image URL now, thanks to the magic of Disqus.
Image Source: Manufacturer’s press kit photo via uautoknow.net.

By Peter Tanshanomi

Tanshanomi is Japanese [単車のみ] for "motorcycle(s) only." Though primarily tasked with creating two-wheel oriented content for Hooniverse, Pete is a lover of all sorts of motorized vehicles.

51 thoughts on “Encyclopedia Hoonatica: Chrome-Free Cars”
  1. A few scant years after the switch to impact bumpers, Porsche opted for blacked-out trim as an inexpensive way to “modernize” the looks of the aging 911. Everyone else paid attention and throughout the 1980s you saw plenty of manufactures offering cars with this treatment. Porsche is a trendsetter even when they’re not trying.

      1. Huh? Porsche blacked out all of the trim in 1980. Four years earlier than the Celebrity. My statement stands.

          1. No worries. FYI, my band was *this* close to being named “Chevy Celebrity Rehab.”

  2. I seem to remember that the black bumper Mennonite cars had a factory option code in the 1940s and 1950s, but can’t seem to find any information on it.

    1. Maybe I’m in a nit picky mood… or more than likely this is a slow week at work, but I’ll have to quote the author of the article here: ” Perhaps it’s just a thin chrome oval around the outside of it, but it’s nearly always there. ”
      Is that brightwork around the Ford oval?

      1. Yep, and the F150 badge on the side is also shiny.
        Nitpicky is in the spirit of the thing. I didn’t post a 911 GT3 because for some unexplained reason every picture I could find before running off to work appeared to have chrome headlight washers.

  3. My car. The only chrome were the manufacturer’s logos. I had them removed and filled when the car was repainted.

  4. If those are chrome lug nuts on the Jeep then it doesn’t qualify for this category. Difficult to tell based on the photo. Shiny at the front, not so much at the rear.

      1. Well, if all you’re going to do is quote the rules at me I’m going to have to give you a thumbs-up.

  5. 2002 and up Mercury Mountaineer, all bright work was satin aluminum finish unless you sprung for, the only optional in a few years, chrome wheels.

  6. My 1998 Saturn was completely devoid of any bling. Hell, they didn’t even bother painting the bumpers.
    Not pictured: Mine, but mine was identical in color and trim level. SL, not SL1. Newest car I’ve ever driven that had fully manual steering and crank windows.
    Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The one time I took it to Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA, it tipped the scales at all of 2340 before my fat butt sat in it. I was down there to watch, not to race, but who can resist $20 to see what she’ll do? I couldn’t. Ran a 16.8 @ 82 with a narsty wheel-hopping launch. “Beat” my friend in his much-faster ’88 Camaro with a fire-spitting N/A 305 because he redlit (Yes, such a thing exists. He eventually got into high-11s before the entire bottom end spread itself all over one lane of the track).

  7. Thinking through all my possible nominees, it’s amazing how many (if not all) are disqualified by either headlight bezels or badge surrounds. These include a bunch of Toyotas (Mk1 MR2, early Celica, Celica Supra), and the Saab Sonett II and III.

  8. Opel had its J models in the seventies already. the blacked out trim (along with carpeting in front AND back, power brakes and laminated wind screen) was even the major point in advertising that el strippo for strapped-for-cash youth (Jugend).

    1. Early Canadian Intrepids didn’t have a hood badge, did they? Because the American Dodge Intrepids had a shiny Ram but here they were Chryslers and I seem to remember them going badgeless until that gold seal version was unveiled.

  9. The Mercedes Benz W201 and W124 were almost entirely chrome free apart from the polished stainless steel grille surround treatment. AMG fixed that on the Hammer and started a look that everyone copied. Or had they started it earlier with their 500V8 into C123 conversions with everything body coloured?
    http://www.nast-sonderfahrzeuge.de/MB-Exotenforum/img/uploaded/image1812.jpg
    http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Mercedes-W124-AMG-Hammer.jpg

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