This week's Top Ten list is going to be another departure from the usual. This week's list contains a vanishing icon: The hood ornament... This list will be done with pictures, like the tailfins list a while back. So here goes!
1. Rolls Royce. The Spirit of Ecstasy is probably one of the most copied, parodied, and prestigious emblem out there.
2. Cadillac crest & wreath. What Guido would be caught dead in Brooklyn without a shiny new wreath on the front of his DeVille? The ducks got lost sometime in the 1990s.
3. Mercedes. For a period in the 1980s, no one with a Mercedes was safe from folks stealing the hood ornament for their proto-rap bling. Why? We have no idea...
4. Mack Bulldog. What differentiates a Mack from a Kenworth? Well, besides the obvious engine, transmission, frame, etc.
5. Dodge Ram. Sadly, my truck doesn't have an actual Ram ornament (they phased them out in the 1980s), but the first Ram I owned did...
6. Jaguar. Even though Ford didn't acquire Jaguar until the 1980s, the Jaguar emblem bears more than a passing resemblance to the Ford Greyhound of the 1940s.
7. Oldsmobile Rocket. The Rocket was a theme for Oldsmobile - the Rocket engines were among the fastest of their class, and were a feature to look for in "your father's Oldsmobile"...
8. Ford Greyhound. For a long time, the Greyhound was the symbol for Ford and Lincoln's top-of-the-line models.
9. Packard. Who's going to argue with an amethyst-tone Indian on the front of your car?
10. Chrysler Imperial. It looks like some sort of falcon. If the object of having a hood ornament is to make your car look faster, mission accomplished.
Thus concludes another Top Ten automotive list. If there is a hood ornament that you like, please leave it in comments - with pics, natch!
That is all.
*Thanks to Scotaku for the correction. Boy, is my face red! I think I concatenated "Figurehead" and "Masthead" there. Oopsie.
Friday, March 27, 2009
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9 comments:
Jay, you might want to check the post title. "Maidenhead" is an old term for "hymen." "Figurehead" is what you're showing pictures of, thankfully.
[ob Homer] D'OH!!!
You forgot the Pontiac; I remember these from when I was a kid.
Sorry, cant find a pic right now, but in the 80s-90s higher end Chryslers had a crystal pentastar hood ornament. For a while, they even came with ignition keys that had a crystal pentastar insert.
BobG beat me to it. Being a Pontiac guy, that was the first thing I thought of.
I once could have acquired a 1948 Pontiac Chieftan with one of those backlit Indians on it.
Oooohhh, I feel a post coming on...
tweaker
I gave my wife a Mack Bulldog paperweight for her desk. It's the same bulldog that goes on every Mack truck. Everyone who sees it always has a favorable comment!
The Pontiac Indian head!
Jay,
Harking back to a prior time . . . the "archer" from the Pierce Arrow.
you forgot the bentley
http://www.paulbaukephotos.com/carsBentley58SilverCloud51808-048.JPG
course it looks the best on say a 1932 stretch convertible... whitewalls with white paint and a red leather interior...
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