Hood ornament

Mercedes-Benz

1967 AMC Marlin

Ford Model 48

1949 Kaiser Virginian

Occasionally, people will create their own hood ornament, as this Texas pick-up truck driver has done.

A hood/bonnet ornament or car mascot is a specially crafted model of something which symbolizes a car company like a badge, located on the front center portion of the hood. Along with the grille, the hood ornament is often a distinctive styling element and many marques use it as their primary brand identifier.

Examples of hood ornaments include:

• Archer on Pierce-Arrow cars
• Crest and Wreath on Cadillac cars
• Leaping jaguar on Jaguar cars
• Lion rampant on Peugeot cars
• Ram's head on Dodge cars and trucks
• Rocket on Oldsmobile cars
• Spirit of Ecstasy on Rolls-Royce Motors cars
• Trishields on Buick cars
• Three-pointed star surrounded by a circle on most Mercedes-Benz sedans and wagons, (not on sport coupe models, which instead tend have a grille with horizontal bars and a large centre-mounted star)
• Three diamonds on cars by Mitsubishi (a Japanese word meaning, appropriately, "three diamonds")

Additionally, many vehicle models such as Buick's Regal, the Chevrolet Impala, or Chrysler's Cordoba had their own unique emblem and accompanying hood ornament.

In the early years automobiles had their radiator caps outside of the hood and on top of the grille. The hood ornament was born as a way of decorating the cap. Hood ornaments (or car mascots as they are known in the UK) were popular in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s with many automakers fitting them to their vehicles. Moreover, a healthy business was created in the supply of accessory mascots available to anyone who wanted to add a hood ornament or car mascot to their automobile. Most companies like Desmo and Smiths are now out of business with only Louis Lejeune in England surviving.

Hood ornaments are usually cast in brass, zinc, or bronze and finished in a chrome plated finish. In the years when chrome plate was unavailable, they were plated in either silver or nickel. Some also incorporated other materials, such as plastic, while others incorporated a light bulb for illumination at night.

There is now a strong collectors market for hood ornaments and car mascots. Sculptors such as Bazin, Paillet, Sykes, Renevey, and Lejeune all created finely detailed sculptures in miniature.

The best-known glass mascots were made by René Lalique^[1] in France, but other sellers or producers of glass mascots include Sabino in France, Red Ashay in England, and Persons Majestic in the U.S. The latter two had their products made in Czechoslovakia. The Lalique company, like Louis Lejeune, is one of the few survivors from this era of motoring.

Few current vehicles have hood ornaments for several reasons. This is because it has fallen out of style, especially on mass-market brands and also on newer luxury marques (i.e. Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti). More importantly, they pose a risk for injuries in collisions with pedestrians (although this hazard has been largely mitigated by mounting modern hood ornaments to springs so that they will fold down if struck by a pedestrian). Ornaments are also a target for vandals and thieves, with the Mercedes-Benz three-point star gaining some notoriety because it could be used as a weapon, Rolls-Royce has counteracted this with ornaments that can retract into the grill.

References

Inline

General

• Colwill, James R. (2004). The Automotive Mascot A Design in Motion Volume I The Early Years. Artanana Publishing. ISBN 978-0973886603. 
• Wagner, Rob Leicester (2001). Hood Ornaments. Metro Books. ISBN 978-1586630904. 
• Blake, Robert, Hood Ornaments AACA "The Rummage Box", http://www.stant.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=3045&location_id=119, retrieved 2008-04-18 
• Cooper, Dan (2004), [http:// www.suite101.com/article.cfm/vintage_classic_cars/106457 Hood ornaments and automotive mascots: An introduction], http:// www.suite101.com/article.cfm/vintage_classic_cars/106457, retrieved 2008-04-18 
• Rothenberg, Al (2001-06-28), Classics: Man and Mascots, http://www.thecarconnection.com/Enthusiasts/Classics_Corner/Classics_Man_and_Mascots.S215.A3778.html, retrieved 2008-04-18 
• Burgess-Wise, David; Automobile Quarterly Magazine (2003). Lejeune - Mascots in the Making. Automobile Heritage Publishing & Communications, LLC. p. 10. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=liUhz-3f7PYC&pg=PA32. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hood ornament

• "Flying Ladies" The Art of the Automobile Hood Ornaments and Car Mascots. Retrieved on April 18, 2008.
• "ArtOnWheels" Collector´s source for Car Mascots, Dashboard Badges & Fine Automobilia Collectibles. Retrieved on October 09, 2008.
• Pictures of hood ornaments