Automakers love to find new and creative ways to incorporate their logo into a new vehicle’s design—in the headlights, the front grille and even in windshield graphics. But a newly leaked patent shows Chevy might be preparing to go over-the-top in the logo-placement arms race.
According to a patent discovered by Car and Driver, Chevrolet is toying with the idea of producing a brake rotor with the Chevy bowtie logo drilled into it. The patent application "relates to a brake rotor having a decorative insert" and makes the case that such a design "is desirable to provide a method to effectively and lastingly mark components without adding prohibitive cost to the manufacturing process or compromising component quality.”
Chevrolet brake rotor
The design consists of five bowtie logos—four larger logos that are evenly spaced across the face of the brake disc and a fifth located on the brake rotor hat. That last one is an interesting placement since it would be covered by the wheel and therefore only visible during servicing.
Unfortunately, the patent didn’t shed any light on Chevy’s plans for the branded brake rotors. Such a design seems a little gimmicky for a production vehicle, but it might make sense as an aftermarket unit targeted at die-hard Chevy fans. Of course the brake design could just be a wild idea that Chevy decided to patent without any real plans to put it into production.
Has Chevy discovered the next hot, new industry trend? Or will the idea of branded brake discs be stopped dead in its tracks? We have our guesses.