Road & Track Has a New LogoIllustrations by Tom HodgkinsonThe ampersand has now been freed from its sarcophagus (upper right in the illustration).Illustrations by Tom HodgkinsonSometimes it's an assassin's bullet that changes the course of history. Other times it's freak weather that upends the world. Periodically, it's a meteor that does the trick in one hot second. But we all know that fundamental change is frequently the result of trying to stop the art department from complaining.This story originally appeared in Volume 36 of Road & Track.Hearst OwnedAnd so it was in early 1954 for Terry Galanoy, then editor of this magazine. Tired of hearing art director Danny Wilkins whine that he could not make the magazine's then name, Road and Track, fit across the top of the cover, Galanoy claimed that one day he finally snapped at Wilkins, "Well, use an 'and' sign instead." And Wilkins did. That's it. That is the whole story. No grand plan. No focus groups. No high-minded design theory. Just a moment's peace for Galanoy.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe thin red ampersand (a.k.a. the "and" sign) that appeared on the March 1954 issue was tiny, less than a half-inch square. Wilkins had his space. Both Road and Track and Road & Track were used interchangeably within the magazine for a time. But eventually, the ampersand won out for good.Get used to the new R&T logo. You'll be seeing it everywhere.Hearst OwnedFor 72 of the magazine's 79 years, it has been the literal icon of the brand. Over the decades, the ampersand has grown, morphed, been jammed into a roundel, taken on a three-dimensional look, and even had what appeared to be a red marble stuck in it. And it has been surrounded by countless different fonts that followed ever-changing typographical fashion. I tried to count the number of varying ampersands since that discreet first one, and, well, I gave up. There have been at least seven major changes and countless small modifications, some visible only to an art director's eye.The issue in your hands wears the newest iteration of the Road & Track logo, which is the work of design superstar Matt Willey of Pentagram and our creative director, Nathan Schroeder. Both are award-winning professionals who, contrary to my earlier assertion, are not complainers. For one, they didn't have time to complain, not necessarily because the deadline loomed. They were busy looking at all options for the text and every conceivable variation for every single one of the 38 distinct directions they could take. Racers talk of being in the zone, being fully immersed. This is the designer's version of that. It's quite a thing to behold and best done from a safe distance. And that was before they even considered the ampersand. This newest "and" sign is inspired by those used on the early-Sixties issues. Naturally, it's undergone a makeover with a little taken out here, a little added there, some stretching, etc. That's emblematic of the way I see this magazine, rooted in the past but always evolving.Baby ampersand was born in early 1954. It would grow into the magazine's icon.Hearst OwnedAnyway, what they arrived at is beautiful. Strong and modern, fresh but familiar, this is a logo that will live happily on all the various channels of modern media (our website, our social-media avatars, etc.). Plus, it can be used across the top of the magazine cover or stacked in two lines and look equally handsome either way. You're welcome, Danny Wilkins. - Dan Pund, Editor-in-ChiefIllustrations by Tom HodgkinsonEt Tu, History?Road & Track's copy chief details the ampersand's sordid past.AdvertisementAdvertisementTWO THOUSAND years ago, someone with a sharp tool or possibly a piece of charcoal unwittingly made language history by sketching a symbol onto a wall in Pompeii. The writer rendered the letters of et, Latin for "and," as a single character, purportedly to save space and time, or maybe it just looked cool. Either way, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius preserved what is the earliest known example of something found today on the cover of this magazine and keyboards the world over, the ampersand.Missing from this oft-cited milestone is additional context. Was the wall in a home, a bath, or a brothel? Are there clues to this primordial Banksy's identity? Was the ampersand linking the words of a love poem, a grocery list, or a political statement? Other Pompeian graffiti translate to such profundities as "Pittacius was here," "Take the reins and move it!" and "We peed in the bed. I admit it, we did wrong, host. If you were to ask 'Why?' There was no chamber pot." Further examples contained anatomical references too crude for reproduction here. It might be best not to know more about the ancestral ampersand.Over the next millennium, the linear ET combo sprouted frills and flourishes, looking increasingly like its present-day counterpart. During the Renaissance, when the ancient Roman Empire was trending, the et ligature's popularity soared.The ampersand arguably peaked in 19th-century Britain as the 27th letter of the alphabet. From the generations that recited "X, Y, Z, and per se and" (thus inspiring the term "ampersand") came the names behind Hooper & Co., H.J. Mulliner & Co., and Thrupp & Maberly. The ampersand imbued these coachbuilders with twee elegance despite its link to bawdy Pompeii.AdvertisementAdvertisementIn the 20th century, automobiles became a colossal industry, and manufacturers signified partnerships in sleeker ways. Benz & Cie surrendered its Et-Zeichen (et sign) upon merging with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. A hyphen also bonded Rolls-Royce, Austin-Healey, and Willys-Overland. Chrysler released the only ampersand production model, the Town & Country. Later, the company got more creative in conveying a sense of "and," crashing into DaimlerChrysler conglomeration for a bit and defying grammatical logic with its Stow 'n Go minivan seats.The ampersand's utility continues to evolve. A type-design darling, it often stars on wedding invitations. A wedding hashtag, however, cannot function with the character, nor is it permitted in domain names or many social-media handles (hence roadandtrack.com and @roadandtrack). Meanwhile, this glyph has been invisibly powering ECUs and vehicle software as a foundational element of programming languages.As for its role in the modern English language, the ampersand lives only on the very formal and informal ends of the spectrum. It's in the most proper of names and in dashed-off texts, yet not in the vast amount of prose between, where "and" has long dominated. Shakespeare didn't pen Caesar's line as "& tu, Brute?"But don't count out the ampersand. Behind its ornamentation is something simple to deploy. Language is evolving faster than ever, and efficiency rules. Road & Track readers can agree: Getting from one place to another quickly is a worthy pursuit, even if those places are mere spaces around a conjunction. - Adrienne Girard, Copy ChiefA car-lover's community for ultimate access & unrivaled experiences.JOIN NOW Hearst OwnedYou Might Also LikeIf You Can Only Own One Car, Make It One of TheseThese Are the Most Popular Cars by State