BREA, California – Automobiles once had hood ornaments such as the Rolls Royce Flying Lady (“Spirit of Ecstasy”) shown above. I do mean every car had a hood ornament. It was as essential as a steering wheel. Of course, times change and they were sacrificed on the altar of aerodynamics. Now, almost no automobiles have what could be called a hood ornament. Even the famous Mercedes three-point star has retreated from the top of the hood to the grill. Too bad. I think hood ornaments added a bit of character and in some cases a bit of whimsy.
A few trucks continue to have them. Mack Trucks still have their bulldog hood ornaments.
Automobile customizers have taken advantage of this dearth of ornamentation and created some unusual forms. Let’s take a look at a couple.
People in Quebec have this one:
Sometimes hood ornaments can be a political statement such as this one on Justin Trudeau’s car that sends a message to western Canada.
This one is for Albertans to reply to Trudeau:
So there you have it. We here are 2P News would love to see the proper hood ornament make a comeback. Auto-manufacturers… are you listening?