The right hood ornament on a car can produce a spirit of ecstasy in the viewer, creating in them the desire to immediately mount the car it's mounted on. With your help, we've identified these ten awesome hood ornaments.
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Photo Credit: Bruce_M_Walker
10.) Packard Flying Ladies
Suggested By: Pres
It's The Spirit Of ______: Donut chasing. These beautiful flying ladies are iconic and wonderful, but the winged figures are known for ever chasing rubber donuts.
Photo Credit: gsamx
9.) 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Jet Bird
Suggested By: Alexander_The_Car_Salesman
It's The Spirit Of ______: A V8 Engine. The second-generation Bel Air was the hot rod Chevy an entire generation saw in their dreams. And a fantasy car, jet age-inspired car needs an equally sleek and futuristic ornament. In this case, it's a soaring eagle-cum-B52.
Photo Credit: Myoldpostcards
8.) Mercedes Three-Pointed Star
Suggested By: AMG_OMG
It's The Spirit Of ______: German Precision. Meant to symbolize the Mercedes ambition of "on land, on water and in the air," Gottlieb Daimler believed a star would one day shine over his factory and symbolize the prosperity he saw in his future. It worked.
Photo Credit: Ericejohnson
7.) GAZ Volga Leaping Deer
Suggested By: Rocking A Turbodiesel
It's The Spirit Of ______: Russians. The deer is the symbol of Nizhny Novgorod, the city where all GAZ vehicles were built. It's also pure awesome. So much so that people kept stealing and re-selling them.
Photo Credit: Wgrabar
6.) Bentley "Winged B"
Suggested By: Furlined
It's The Spirit Of ______: Audacity. Rolls-Royce's always been known for their Spirit of Ecstasy, an over-the-top silver lady representative of a hidden passion. Bentley, on the hand, had no use for such trivial things and thought their initial was enough to move people to fits of pleasure.
Photo Credit: Furlined
5.) Toyota Century Phoenix
Suggested By: Cesariojpn
It's The Spirit Of ______: Japanese weirdness. The car's been the Japanese version of a state car since the 1960s and has remained basically the same ever since. As has the hood ornament, which is a stylized version of the Chinese Phoenix. Where other ornaments have modernized, the Japanese Century's remained wonderfully the same.
4.) Delahaye Venus
Suggested By: SteveCorey
It's The Spirit Of ______: Breasts. The Delahaye version of a flying woman (a venus, perhaps?) from the 1947 135 MS has more of everything. More wings. More hair. And, fairly clearly, a lot more going on upstairs. It's the Monica Bellucci of hood ornaments.
Photo Credit: SteveCorey
3.) 1957 DeSoto Fireflite Sportsman
Suggested By: Luftman129
It's The Spirit Of ______: Simplicity. There are few ornaments cleaner than the smooth spaceship from the '57 DeSoto Fireflite Sportsman. If only real spaceships looks this yacht-like.
Photo Credit: Braintoad
2.) 1929 Packard Reclining Woman
Suggested By: Buickboy92
It's The Spirit Of ______: Variety. There's a Packard hood ornament for every year and every season. Some companies do the same year-after-year. Packard changes ornaments like most people change their oil. The 1929 Packards featured a version of the Greek nymph Daphne sitting at the well., sure to be chased by some auto-obsessed Apollos.
Photo Credit: Packardinfo
1.) Luigi Colani Horch Mega Roadster
Suggested By: SynthOno
It's The Spirit Of ______: Ridiculousness. We love the insane work of Italian futurist/new-communist Luigi Colani, who added this touch to his 1996 Horch Mega Roadster, which has a nude woman attempting to stay pinned to the car via the grille while still managing to hold on to the Horch logo. Awesome.
Photo Credit: Tom Vack