David EilersMarch 26, 2021

"Powered By The Famous Hurricane Engine" Emblem

UPDATE: The mystery is solved. These badges were used on mid-1905s Mercury Kiedhaefer outboard motors (and possibly other models). Thanks to Mike for greatly helping solve this issue.

This example is a 1955 MERCURY KIEKHAEFER 18 HP, MARK 28 HURRICANE with the "Powered by the Famous Hurricane Engine" emblem/badge:

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Originally Posted March 24, 2021: I'd hoped to explore this topic a little more, but life had other plans in store last night ... Hopefully, someone can shed some light on this topic .....

A truck listed here has an unfamiliar emblem that reads 'Powered By The Famous Hurricane Engine'. I'm not familiar with this emblem.

The first reference I found to that phrase was from a Willys-Overland 50th Anniversary Ad, which included an image of a Willys Aero-Eagle and, underneath, a reference to that phrase as seen here. In 1953, the Aero-Eagle was powered by the F-161 Hurricane Engine:

powered-by-the-famous-hurricane-engine-emblem5

From this 1953 ad showing the Willys-Overland models:

Next, I found the phrase in this newspaper Ad:

1953-05-07-heppner-gazette-times-cj3b-ad

My theory is that maybe it was a emblem that was added to some Hurricane engines of the era?? But, I just can't get any research traction on the issue.

OTHER EMBLEMS:

Here are pics of two other similar emblems. This dark blue one was sold at some auction:

powered-by-the-famous-hurricane-engine-emblem1

powered-by-the-famous-hurricane-engine-emblem2

And this one was on eBay at some point:

powered-by-the-famous-hurricane-engine-emblem3

17 Comments

Barney GoodwinMarch 24, 2021 at 11:40 AM
We have the red one at the top. I believe (without citation) that these were on the cars not the Jeeps (including Utility). I've never seen one on a Jeep vehicle nor evidence of one having been on one (holes) from the factory. I did an extensive search a couple years ago in the factory parts books for the Willys Jeep products and could find no entry or reference for them.
vernonMarch 24, 2021 at 5:30 PM
hola , the back shows mounting studs like other old willys emblems and a part number -- i have every willys part book made , let me try to spot it -- part number 22122 -- that doesnt sound like a typical willys part number ? -- maybe a number from an independant supplier ? -- looks like they came in at least 3 different colors ? -- light blue , blue , red -- kind of like the early warn summer hub boxes , several colors -- willys was really trying to push sales of the aeros , maybe this was part of the effort ? ( didnt work )
vernonMarch 24, 2021 at 5:50 PM
hmmm , the cj-3b angle sounds plausible ? -- the big sales point of the cj-3b was the F-134 hurricane engine -- they had to engineer a new hood and grill for it !! -- massive improvement over the anemic L-134 flatty ..
Dan B.March 24, 2021 at 8:14 PM
Thanks Barney. Those are awesome. I'd buy one - or a T-shirt.
David EilersMarch 24, 2021 at 8:45 PM
Vernon, good idea on the part number.
Barney GoodwinMarch 25, 2021 at 11:30 AM
I checked my parts books including Aero for that part # with no results. Also checked by alphabetical index under badge, emblem, plate and name with no results matching this item. Note, these have a slight radius at one end as if mounted on the starting radius of a hood or other body part. ie: they start to curve in at the start of the lettering ever so slightly.
Marlin PerkinsMarch 25, 2021 at 6:03 PM
Hola~ , all my manuals and parts books are still in boxes , i just moved to a wilderness area , this internet signal is being beamed back and forth off a 5000 foot peak above me , microwaved , scrambled , decoded , whatever -- i'm waiting for the new elon musk STARLINK global internet system -- Barney above probably has a lot more manuals than me anyways -- heres what i do have , snow all over my WILLYS fleet and PRONGHORN ANTELOPE !! I COUNTED 27 IN THE HERD THIS MORNING AT 8:45 AM !! -- looks like MUTUAL OF OMAHA *** DAMN WILD KINGDOM !! or the SERENGETI PLAINS IN TANZANIA , AFRICA !! -- i do have tons of lizards also -- i'll stay in the van as JIM goes out and rounds up the PRONGHORNS -- manana ~
Mike S.March 25, 2021 at 9:21 PM
Cant tell how big they are, but sure look like the same emblem used on mid 50s Mercury outboard motors. They had hurricanes and thunderbolt engines among others Emblem I have is appx. 4 1/2 by 1 inch. They fasten through lower pan with tinnermann nut. Mike
Mike SMarch 26, 2021 at 2:04 AM
Did some more checking on those emblems shown and they appear to be the same as used on Mercury Mark 25 outboard built around 1956. The script and layout is identical and the colors are in line with Mercurys offerings in those years The dimensions I gave in the previous post are for a super thunderbolt emblems that may not be exactly the same size, but are identical in script and layout. My guess is its more likely these started off installed on boat motors, but who knows? Mike
vernonMarch 26, 2021 at 2:11 AM
BINGO !! MIKE S. IS THE MAN !! -- I JUST LOOKED AT SOME PICTURES OF OLD MERCURY OUTBOARD ENGINES ONLINE -- BINGO !! -- I SPOTTED ONE THAT HAD THE NAME " HURRICANE " ON THE ENGINE LABEL PLATE , THE SAME EXACT HURRICANE SCRIPT AS THE EMBLEMS ABOVE !! -- SO THESE EMBLEMS WERENT WILLYS AT ALL !! -- THEY WERE OFF FREAKIN MOTORBOAT ENGINES !! --BWAHAHAHA !!
MOTORBOAT MANIAMarch 26, 2021 at 3:48 AM
BWAHAHAHAHA !! ===== MERCURY MOTORBOAT ENGINE EMBLEM == I JUST LOOKED AT ANOTHER ONE ON EBAY == THE MOTORBOAT RATS USED THE NAME " SUPER-HURRICANE " ALSO == WHAT CAME 1ST ?? THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG ?? -- I THINK KIEKHAEFER / MERCURY WAS 1ST !!
David EilersMarch 26, 2021 at 4:09 AM
Mike, that's some great sleuthing! I'll see if I can find a specific example. - Dave
Mike SMarch 26, 2021 at 12:04 PM
I think the emblem was used on the tiller steered engine to cover the opening where the remote controls would hook up if the engine had cable operated controls. Don't know if remote control engines left factory with that plate installed. Maybe a Mercury guy out there can clarify, but it would explain why examples of these show up from time to time. Mike
art and garnerMarch 26, 2021 at 7:24 PM
i saw a kiekheafer / mercury parts book online -- the numbers look similar to whats on the back of this emblem ... NOT WILLYS !!
neal jungMarch 26, 2021 at 7:34 PM
carl kiekhaefer was the founder of KIEKHAEFER / MERCURY -- they used the name SUPER-HURRICANE before WILLYS , 1950
Barney GoodwinMarch 27, 2021 at 3:38 PM
Awesome job everyone! Guess I can market my badge now.
Barney GoodwinMarch 27, 2021 at 4:22 PM
Enter 154391996438 in your ebay search block. Hope someone can use it.