Our Two Cents: 7 of Our Favorite Pieces of Automobilia

As gearheads, we’re used to the unafflicted masses raising an eyebrow when we explain that we have more cars than drivers in our households, and that some don’t, erm, work right now. When we talk “collecting” in this sort of hobby, we’re generally referring to the vehicles themselves.

But the world of automobilia—the trinkets, the baubles, the brochures, the badges, the scale models, the list goes on—has a pull unto its own. We’d bet that if you looked around your computer, living room, or garage as you read this, your eyes could land on at least one car-related thing that is not a car itself. Lord knows our staff certainly can.

As such, we polled the folks you read day in and day out on this website to ask them to share their favorite piece of automobilia. Some are quirky, some are sentimental, some are just flat out cool, and there’s not much else to it. Without further delay: The non-car car things that turn the corners of our mouths skyward.

Desk Decor and a Brush with Greatness

I don’t know that I have a single favorite piece of automobilia, but I’ll count what’s behind my desk as one grouping, since it’s what my coworkers are forced to look at for every Zoom call.

The rainbow of Porsches comes from the first season of the International Race of Champions. Seems that more often than not, when people see that they think I’m a Porschephile, but my affinity lies more in the original intent of the series and Mark Donohue’s involvement.

The big photo is one I shot of an Alpine A110 through some trees at the Pittsburgh Grand Prix. I’m no Cameron Neveu with a lens, but it’s a fun hobby.

The cars: the Daytona Prototype that Tony Stewart nearly limped to victory after a suspension piece broke with 45 minutes to go in the 2004 24 Hours of Daytona. That drive made me fall in love with the 24, and I’ve been attending for more than 15 years. The other is a C5 Corvette given to me by our own Sajeev Mehta.

Last is the Senna art/photo. That’s ten-year-old me standing with him the day before the Canadian Grand Prix in 1990—plenty of moments set me on this path I’m on, but if I had to pick the most significant, this would be it. — Eddy Eckart

New Loophole Unlocked: One (1) Collection of Things

Like Eddy, I can’t point to one piece of automobilia that’s my favorite or even come close. Also, I’m not sure if books even count as automobilia, but I’ve built up a solid library of car books over the years and built some bookshelves to house them.

Something that does count as automobilia are posters, and I’ve got dozens, many of them not yet framed because framing is so damn expensive. I collect vintage posters in general, but car stuff probably makes up 50% of my purchases. Here are a bunch in my entryway.

(I should note that I just buy the stuff and enjoy it. My fiancée is the one who used to be an interior designer, which is why the presentation looks nice.) — Andrew Newton

Cadillac’s Masterpiece, Posterized

Apparently I don’t actually have much automobilia; I own a lot of car parts. While maybe a car part with a good enough story becomes automobilia, what I have is not that.

But one thing I do have that will likely never leave is a banner I saved from a dumpster over a decade ago that shows a simplified engineering draft of a Cadillac V-16 engine.  Simple black and white, but also interesting enough that I catch myself staring at it occasionally when I get lost in thought while trying to do math or solve a small problem on a project.

A perfect conversation piece that also rides up and down on the garage door. Maybe I’ll own more of a V-16 than a drawing one day, but for now, this will do just fine. — Kyle Smith

The Automobilia Ace Himself

I am having a hard time with this question, because I have been collecting automobilia for the ’70s–’90s era vehicles since many of them were new. But I have a feeling I should pick my ridiculous collection of “alternate history” memorabilia from the time Lincoln almost celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 1995.

It started with a hunt for restoration parts for my 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII, as it was getting a glass-out body re-spray. When looking for new emblems, I came across emblems, slide shows, clothing, and a book suggesting 1995 was the year to celebrate.

It wasn’t, because Ford celebrated that in 1996. But since they actually did sell their first cars in 1920, I was emboldened enough to turn my 1995 model into an alternate history Anniversary Edition, with emblems on my speaker grilles to prove the point. — Sajeev Mehta

Truly, Sajeev’s collection could supply a year’s worth of lists like this on its own. And we love him all the more because of that. — Ed.

Jewelry—But Not Like You’d Expect

I don’t really collect or own any automobilia, but Lalique hood ornaments have always stood out to me. In general, the variety of hood ornaments and personalized radiator caps of the 1920s and ’30s is fascinating, but tops among them are the glass creations of Frenchman René Lalique. He was a jeweler and maker of perfume bottles who also created about 30 different hood ornament styles for luxury cars over a two-decade period before WWII.

Mostly done in clear frosted or satin glass, and sometimes lightly colored in pink or blue, they represented themes such as speed (“Vitesse”), victory (“Victoire,” to commemorate the 10th anniversary of WWI Armistice), and seduction (“Chrysis”), but also came as more straightforward pieces, such as Tete de Paon, the head of a peacock, and Tete de Aigle, the head of an eagle. — Stefan Lombard

Apparel from a Bygone Era

One day in college, I went to study with one of my friends over at the house where she lived with several other girls, and one of them was wearing this Team Penske/Marlboro Racing sweatshirt. When I complimented it, she offered it to me—apparently, it had lost its luster.

In my ownership, it’s gained some holes in the cuffs, but it always makes me wish I had been alive for the period of IndyCar racing when cigarette sponsorships raised no eyebrows, in the early ’90s, when Team Penske dominated the Indy 500. It’s surreal to think that Roger Penske is still at it—now, with his eye on Le Mans. — Grace Jarvis

The Golf and Car Collab We Didn’t Know We Needed

History is littered with weird Venn diagrams where the worlds of golf and cars overlap in ways ranging from logical (hello, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance) to dismaying (Ben Hogan’s illustrious career was nearly brought to a terrible end in a car crash in 1949) to rather humorous. This one falls into that third category, but deserves a bit of context.

Behold: a badge from a Lincoln Town Car. Ah, but it’s not just any Lincoln Town Car; this is the special Jack Nicklaus Edition, paying a nod to, well, Jack Nicklaus, one of the greatest golfers in history, with 18 major championships to his name and scores of PGA Tour wins on top of that. The Nicklaus Edition Town Car was short-lived, arriving in 1991 and lasting through the conclusion of the 1992 model year.

Folks in the golfing space affectionately called him “The Golden Bear,” a nickname given to him by Australian sportswriter Don Ward—or so the most commonly cited tale for this title says. On top of his golfing success, Nicklaus fancied himself a bit of a businessman, happily leveraging his notoriety (and the now-famous golden bear logo) in the golfing space to help sell everything from apparel to wine to cars.

As a golfing fanatic myself, this little tie-in between my work world and one of the other, terribly expensive hobbies I’ve become hooked on never fails to make me crack a smile. (A special thanks to Sajeev, who generously sent me this badge after I mentioned the car’s existence in passing in a meeting. Is anyone surprised that he had a piece of Lincoln automobilia like this just lying around? What a treasure.) — Nate Petroelje