It goes back further than that. Ford oval and script was fords "logo mark" general motors had the big blue square with the GM on it. All ford, oincoln, mercury deakers had the ford logo nark displayed on their dealer signs. Every GM dealer had their logo mark displayed too. Chrysler wanted a logo mark like GM and ford had. This way joe average would see the pentastar on any imperial, chrysler, dodge, or plymouth dealership and know these were chrysler products. Marketing went further with the gold anodized pentastar on the fender. The hint of gold catches your eye, and you see the pentastar and say heeeyy thats a chrysler product.
I believe 1964 was the first year. From 1964 thru 1966. The pentastar fender logo mark was die cast, chrome plated, had a black relief painted on the edges and in the spaces between the triangles. It was also gold tone finished over the chrome. It had a barrel nut on the fender that held the stud.
The bean counters cheapened up the logo mark for cash savings and from 1967 thru 1972 the logo mark was then made of black plastic, and had a pressed aluminum insert that was gold anodized, with a black tampo relief pressed into it instead of the black paint. It also had a locking stud moulded in as part of the black plastic base. This made it easier for installation on the assembly line and eliminated 1 part. The barrel nut.
By 1973 the marketing had done well enough that the pentastar was no longer used from 1973 on. In the early 90s it made a brief resurgence on chrysler cars such as the acclaim, spirit, daytona, and portofino inspired LH cars intrepid, vision, LHS . This new pentastar roughly the same size as the original fender mount ones from 1964 to 1972 was now chromed plastic and was peel and stick and mounted to both front fenders in the lower corners.
As paul harvey used to say, and now you know the rest of the story.
