Many of us grew up watching hood ornaments bob somewhere near the horizon on the fronts of our parents’ cars. The winged motometer on my dad’s Model T and chrome star on my grandma’s Mercedes were two ...

American automobiles of the 1950s had more elegant chrome that included the hood ornament, as well as more glass and more horsepower. The chrome was called “brightwork.” So if you would ever forget ...

In the early days of automobiles, hood ornaments were not merely decorative; they served a functional purpose that might surprise modern car enthusiasts. Originally designed to indicate the status of ...

Is it called a hood ornament or a mascot? Actually, they are somewhat the same. The term "mascot" appears to be favored more in Great Britain and Europe, while in the United States, "hood ornament" is ...

As far back as the 1920s, certain models of car have had distinctive hood ornaments. In the olden days, hood ornaments were used to cover up the jutting point of a car's radiator cap with something a ...