New Lion Emblem For Peugeot

I've got a bit of a soft spot for French cars (and it's right between my ears and above my shoulders). And I also appreciate a good design in general, so when the news came out today that Peugeot has revamped their familiar lion emblem, it piqued my interest.

The Lion emblem was first conceived in 1847 by Julien Blazer, a jeweler and engraver, when he was asked by Jules and Emile Peugeot, founder of Peugeot Frères, to produce a logo for identifying all Peugeot products. The Peugeot lion could be found on such diverse products as saw blades, coffee grinders in 1881, bicycles in 1882 and, from 1898, on motorcycles. In 1906 that the emblem first appeared on a production car.

But all this started 200 years ago and to commemorate the anniversary of a French concern that went from being cereal mill into a steel foundry and eventually, to a motorcycle and automobile manufacturer Peugeot announced a new look for its cars – such as the upcoming SR1 Concept that will be debuted at the Geneva Show - and a new reading of its well known Lion emblem.

Now appearing much more three dimensional, the updated Lion looks more forceful and sinuous. It will make its official unveiling on the upcoming Peugeot RCZ sports coupe that will be launched in the spring of 2010, and will be seen across the entire range after that.

There are worse emblems to choose than a lion, that's for sure. I remember reading back during the Group B era of the World Rally Championship that Peugeot went with the hollow lion logo, the one that was just an outline, because it would allow more airflow into the engine compartment, giving both better cooling and more air into the intake. Yeah, probably apocryphal, but it also shows you the lengths these guys will go to, to get just a little bit more.

Source: CarScoop