Here's The Secret Hiding Under The Original Ford Mustang's Steering Wheel Cap
One of the most fascinating things about automotive engineering is the ways manufacturers go about reducing vehicle cost. Platform sharing, “badge engineering,” and strategic partnerships are some of the big cost-reduction schemes, but perhaps my favorite method is the jankiest one: Simply placing your badge over another one. I call it “coverup engineering,” and it’s been happening for decades.
I guess you could consider “coverup engineering” a version of “badge engineering,” except instead of removing another car’s badge and replacing it with a different one (and maybe tweaking the fascia a bit — see Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ, Mazda Tribute/Ford Escape, and a slew of others) an automaker doesn’t even remove the old badge. The carmaker leaves the whole component as-is, and simply hides the old emblem with another one.
My favorite example is one I learned about recently after a 1964.5 Ford Mustang owner posted to a Mustang Facebook group what he found when he removed his pony car’s steering wheel center cap …
(photo credit: David Tracy - Jalopnik)
