FRATZ(bl)OG

(Image via CarType)

Old car, new registration: now that I’ve moved to my new state, my red Dart GT ragtop now proudly wears license plates that read “Fratzog.”

Those of us who know old cars know that a fratzog is a made-up name for the three arrowheads that form a triangle, often seen on trim, hubcaps and horn centers on this era of Dodge automobile. Why someone felt it needed a name is beyond me, though it was possibly for trademark reasons (the swooshy trademarked underline on every can of Coca-Cola is known as a Dynamic Ribbon Device, for example). The Fratzog was in use from ’62 to ’76, on most cars that Dodge built. There is no reasonable expectation that anyone sane should know what a fratzog is, and surely this is why the plate had not been taken up until this point.

I can see the questions and comments now at the stoplights:

“What’s a Fraztog?”
“What language is that?”
“Wait, where did you rush?”
“Is that Klingon?”
“I never heard of a Fratzog … it looks like a Dart to me!”
“Oh, yeah? Same to you, pal!”

Let’s see how it all works out.

In other news, I was embarrassed to discover that I’ve driven the Dart exactly 600 miles in the last 3 1/2 years, since purchase … and more than half of them were to and from shops getting various mechanical issues sussed out. There’s still a slow draw on the battery and I either need to buy a trickle charger or drive the thing more. Probably both.