1963-1967 Chevrolet Corvette Badge Spotter's Guide

The second-generation Corvettes, beginning with the '63 model year, brought a new styling direction. The cars' badges were updated in the process, but many of the classic design elements established on the first-generation Vettes were retained.

'63-'64 Nose Badge The nose badge for the '63-'64 Sting Ray used a stylized "V" design, combined with the traditional Corvette crossed flags and the red, white, and blue bars from the '62 hood badge. As nice as the design was, the only thing Corvette fans noticed was the awesome new Sting Ray itself.	'63-'64 Fuel Injection Badge Mounted on the front fenders, this small "Fuel Injection" badge was the only visual indication that something special was under the hood. In fact, it wasn't until the '65 that Chevrolet included a specialized hood design to differentiate C2s with higher-performance engines.	'63-'65 Rear-deck Badge The rear-deck badges were the only place on the C2 that branded the car as a "Sting Ray." The actual design of the script lettering was typical of the Bill Mitchell style-elegant and classy. By 1963, script-style lettering was being used on most Chevrolet cars.
'63 Gas-cap Badge The '63 Sting Ray featured a racing-inspired gas-cap door located in the center of the rear deck on the roadster or just behind the rear glass on the coupe. The new door provided an opportunity to dress up the car with a circular Corvette badge. Since that model, every Corvette has used a rear-mounted, decorated gas-cap door.	'64 Gas-cap Badge For the '64, designers kept the crossed flags but reduced the size by more than half and added concentric circles around the flags themselves. While the layout wasn't as bold as the '63 design, it did little to diminish the cars' stunning good looks.	'65 Fuel Injection Badge The fuelie models had been Kings of the Corvette Hill since 1957. When Chevrolet engineers discovered they could make more power by simply offering a larger engine, the era of fuel-injected Corvettes temporarily drew to a close. The car would not wear a "Fuel Injection" badge again until the '82 was released.
'65 Gas-cap Badge The gas-cap badge design for the '65 was similar to the one used for the '64. The crossed flags were about the same size, but a fluted border surrounding a single black inner and two smaller circles was new. Even though it somewhat resembled a hubcap, the design was very nice.	'65-'66 Nose Badge For the front of the '65-'66 models, designers went simple-very simple. This crossed-flags-only motif graced the nose of every Corvette until the '73 model, though the design's shape was changed for the '67 and the '68-'72 models.	'65 396 Turbo-Jet Badge The C2 was a beauty from the start. The 396ci model showed that this beauty could also flex major muscle. The new engine was taller than a small-block, so a bulged hood had to be designed for clearance. Add in side-mounted exhausts, knock-off wheels, and telltale "Turbo-Jet" badges, and you had a serious-looking car with performance to match.
'66 Turbo-Jet Badge Before 1966, GM observed an engine-size limit of 400 ci for all passenger cars. When it was removed, the 396 Turbo-Jet grew into the legendary 427. Horsepower was rated at 450 initially but was ultimately revised to a less-plausible 425, exactly the same as the previous year's Turbo-Jet.	'66-'67 Rear-deck Badge Compared with the sleek style of the '63-'65 deck badge, the stand-up lettering of the '66-'67 design looks, well, happy. As with all of GM's script-style lettering, the execution was flawless. Those were the days when typographers drew the designs by hand, and die-cast pattern molds were created without the aid of CAD software or CNC-machine tools.	'66 Gas-cap Badge This was the first time a burst design was used for a Corvette badge. Although the look continued to resemble a hubcap, the '66 version was distinctive and crisp, and it drew the eye to the crossed flags. The burst-design element would appear again on the nose badge in 1973.
'67 Nose Badge Another version of the crossed flags was designed for the '67 Vette. This version shows the flags compressed about 30 percent from the straight-up design used in the '65-'66 models. The crossed flags would be redesigned again in '68 and run through '72.	'67 427 Hood Badge Chevrolet designers decided to drop the "Turbo-Jet" announcement for the '67. The simple "427" was added to the sides of the big-block hood, which was redesigned for an even more aggressive look.	'67 Gas-cap Badge To finish off the C2 era, designers decided to take the crossed-flags layout and use it in the center of the gas-cap badge. There were no circles or bursts, just a clean layout. Like the nose badge, the gas cap would bear the crossed flags until '73.