Creative Car Badging

I always wince when automakers engage in badge engineering, when a car is given new badges and maybe a few exterior pieces to make a different "model." As much as I would like to say that only automakers engage in badge engineering, unfortunately some car owners do the same thing.

Why do people put some wishful badges on their car? You know, like the Honda Civic owners in the United States who slap a "Type-R" badge on the trunk lid. Is it that these people think the badge will add horsepower or trick everyone into thinking their car is something it's not?

The other day I ran across one of the most creative badging jobs I've seen on a car in a while. It was on an old Dodge SRT-4, a car that posts some respectable output figures but in stock form is lacking in handling characteristics. Apparently the owner of this SRT-4 felt inclined to slap a Viper badge on this car's nose. Was it a joke? It made me laugh, but sadly I doubt it. Does the guy think the average person would think his car was a Viper? Most people know that a Viper looks like but sadly probably wouldn't recognize its badge. Or maybe the guy tries to claim he crammed a Viper's engine under the hood.

Whatever the reason, like I said it made me laugh, and hopefully it makes you laugh as well.