Car design is undoubtedly some of the most influential art in the world. The way a car can look directly influences how we feel about a car and can be one of the key factors in buying decisions. But modern car makers have forgotten one of the most influential parts of car design, the hood ornament.
Hood ornaments were once seen on every luxury or limited-edition car from Cadillacs to Plymouths. Unlike the rest of car design that has to have some function, hood ornaments could be pure artistic creations that convey classiness or some part of the car’s mythos. Today, only the most luxurious cars continue the tradition of hood ornaments. Here are some of the most iconic hood ornaments throughout time.
10 Rolls-Royce, Spirit of Ecstasy
Perhaps the most famous hood ornament of all time is the Spirit of Ecstasy found on Rolls-Royce the king of luxury. In the early 1900s, mascots and ornaments were all the rage leading to many Rolls Royce owners attaching custom-made ornaments. Rolls Royce feared some of the owners were using inappropriate ornaments so they decided to create an official ornament for their cars.
The iconic forward-leaning woman with billowing clothes that we know today was sculpted in the early 1900s by Charles Robinson Sykes, a British sculptor under a noble’s patronage. There were only four castings of the original sculpture that were ever made and only two currently survive. Throughout the years there have been variations on the iconic ornament such as the kneeling version or a crystal/gold plated version. But perhaps the most impressive version is the current ornament which can be retracted into the car itself to prevent damage or theft.
9 Mercedes-Benz, Three-Pointed Star
Mercedes-Benz has been known for quality vehicles land, air, and sea for over a hundred years. The company was originally called Daimer-Benz after the two founders Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. The three-pointed star that is now closely associated with Mercedes-Benz was actually a Daimler family symbol.
Gottlieb Daimler and his two sons, Paul and Adolf Daimler, would frequently use a golden three-pointed star to mark family postcards. Eventually, the golden three-pointed star became a silver star at the center of a circular border. Today, the three-pointed star is only found on the most expensive models the S Class and the GLS SUVs. The three-pointed star also appears on Mercedes-Benz’s ultra-luxurious and exclusive sub-brand, Maybach version of the S Class sedan.
8 Maybach, Double M
Even though the current Maybach features the three-pointed star from Mercedes-Benz as its hood ornament, Maybach used to have its own legendary icon. Maybach was started by Wilhelm Maybach and his son as a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH, a German aircraft manufacturer. Wilhelm Maybach was the technical director prior to starting his own car company.
Eventually, Maybach cars were handcrafted to compete directly with ultra-luxury cars like Rolls-Royce. Post-WWII, the company primarily made special edition cars for Mercedes-Benz and featured Mercedes badges and serial numbers. Mercedes-Benz acquired Maybach ensuring the double M hood ornament was never used again. Despite the disappearance of the double M, it continues to be used in various parts of the interior of the Maybach versions of the S Class like in pillows and other amenities.
7 Jaguar, Leaping Jaguar
It’s easy for new drivers to forget Jaguar had one of the most iconic hood ornaments in the last hundred years since it discontinued it in favor of the “Roaring Jaguar” badge that is on all current models. But Jaguar’s Leaping Jaguar which is still used at Jaguar’s company logo was a sleek silver Jaguar in mid-leap. The ornament certainly conveyed a ferocity found in many Jaguar models.
Curiously, the original Jaguar logo was Jaguar text surrounded by the wings and tail of a bird. The design was changed in 1945 to the classic leaping Jaguar we all know and was unchanged until the early 2000s. In 2005, the European Union created new safety regulations that mandated hood ornaments must be able to collapse or fold away in a frontal collision. Most European car manufacturers decided to do away with the hood ornament altogether to simplify production including Jaguar.
6 Bugatti, Dancing Elephant
Bugatti is known as a world-class hypercar maker, most famous for breaking the fastest production car world record multiple times and holding it for many years. Even in the early years, Bugatti created high-performance cars including the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic," and the Type 55 sports car.
The founder of Bugatti, Ettore Bugatti, had a brother known as a highly-skilled wildlife sculptor. Rembrandt Bugatti was known for entering animal enclosures in the Parisian Antwerp Zoo to get as close as possible to his subjects. Ettore used Rembrandt’s most famous sculpture as the Bugatti’s iconic hood ornament, the Dancing Elephant. First used on the Type 41 car, the playful elephant was used in almost all subsequent cars.
Unfortunately, all the Bugatti family members passed away with no heir to look after the company which eventually closed due to poor business. The Volkswagen Group purchased rights to the Bugatti marque in 1998 and is responsible for the modern hypercars, though they never revived the Dancing Elephant.
5 Pontiac, Chief Of The Sixes
Europeans weren’t the only ones that had stunning hood ornaments. The Pontiac Chief of the Sixes is perhaps one of the most well known American hood ornaments leaning heavily on the Pontiac namesake. In Native American culture, the Pontiac or Obwandiyag was a well-known war chief of the Odawa tribe. He was so well known, the 1763 to 1766 war between a coalition of Native American tribes against British soldiers was named after him, Pontiac’s War.
General Motors took the lore and imagery and created the Pontiac marque as a more upscale brand that sold the Oakland line of vehicles. The unmistakable hood ornament had two parts, one was the Native American head representing the Pontiac persona and two joined brass coins also depicting a Native American head and reading “Pontiac – Chief of the Sixes” directly under the hood ornament. Chief of the Sixes referring to being the best six-cylinder car offered to that point in time.
4 Mack, Bulldog
Cars weren’t the only vehicles to get iconic hood ornaments. The Legendary Mack Trucks have been used for everything from long hauls to military vehicles since 1900. The Mack truck’s bulldog logo turned hood ornament was designed in 1932 by Chief Engineer Alfred Fellows Masury.
During WWI, the British military was said to call for Mack Bulldogs whenever they needed help referring to Mack vehicles' blunt-nosed hood, tenacious performance, and abnormally high durability similar to the British Bulldog. Some special bulldogs were gold plated indicating the truck came with an all Mack drivetrain including motor, transmission, and axles. Today, Mack trucks have foregone the hood ornament in favor of large Mack text across the hood.
3 Buick, Goddess
Buick is famous for their triple-shield design and that design adorns some hoods as an ornament but the far more famous and beautiful hood ornament is the Goddess or the flying woman design. The silver woman jumping almost flying through the air has a classic scarf that is fluttering in the wind. The history of the flying woman goes back to some of the oldest car manufacturers, Buick, General Motors, and McLaughlin.
McLaughlin was one of the oldest automobile manufacturers creating coaches in Canada, founded in 1869. In the early 1900s, McLaughlin offered automobiles with Buick engines. This alliance eventually led to McLaughlin being acquired by General Motors. The years where McLaughlin partnered with Buick were some of the most iconic cars ever produced and all featured the iconic flying woman.
2 Lincoln, Greyhound
The beautiful leaping greyhound was created in partnership with Ford and Lincoln. Henry Ford purchased Lincoln during its bankruptcy back in 1922. As a way to reinvigorate interest in Lincoln, the partnership created the leaping greyhound to associate the speed and high-class sport with Lincoln vehicles. The hood ornament was created using the same technique Rolls-Royce used to create the Spirit of Ecstasy, which is now lost.
The hood ornament was retired in the late 1930s meaning the greyhound was only in production for roughly a decade making it exceedingly rare. Vehicles like the Model 48 and DeLuxe Fordor are highly sought after as classic cars. The Leaping Greyhound inspired many other animal-inspired hood ornaments like Jaguar’s Leaping Jaguar and Dodge’s Ram.
1 Dodge, Ram
One of Dodge’s most popular products have been Ram trucks. But Dodge’s connection with rams goes far deeper than the latest competitive trucks. From 1932 until it was discontinued in the 1950s, every Dodge car and truck used the leaping ram as a hood ornament. Compared to other iconic hood ornaments of the time Dodge’s ram went through the most frequent and dramatic changes. Starting as a more traditional depiction of a ram in mid-jump, the hood ornament would become more streamlined in 1940 and would become just the iconic ram’s head in 1950.
The iconography of the ram eventually died out as Dodge shifted its focus to create more mainstream and youth-oriented products. Eventually, Ram Trucks were revived and spun off into their own separate marque in the 1980s and the iconic ram made a comeback as a silver crest. The ram head crest can now be found on every truck and transportation vehicle under the Ram brand and is now synonymous with dependability and quality. So much so that Ram trucks have won MotorTrend’s Truck of the Year award three years in a row.