Early 1930s Auburn Speedster—flowing grace sculpture from the hood mascot to the boat tail. Click on images to enlarge.
1934 Chevrolet eagle hood ornament, left; 1952 Dodge, right—what else but a ram?
1954 Studebaker 's European-inspired sleek front hood and grilles. The V8 logo is highly stylized, like the best of Raymond Loewy's work. Yes, that's me reflected in the chrome bumper.
Talk about inspired typography! The V-12 badge from Lincoln's 1937 K series.
What else could this Art Deco style hood ornament be on but a Duesenberg?
An early Thirties Pierce-Arrow hood ornament, left; Packard's late Twenties, right.
I am wondering if the Auburn Speedster was the same car used by the Graham family in Empire of the Sun (1987) during the Japanese occupation of China. The younger boy in the family which was the main star grew up in real life to be one of the finest actors of the day, Christian Bale.
ReplyDeleteI like that you picked mascots as the theme of Part 8. These, of course, have vanished with just the Mercedes star and the Flying Lady as remnants of a bygone age. What price pedestrian safety? The Ram hood ornament is such a part of my youth -- our 53 Dodge station wagon and Grandma's 51 Dodge Coronet are very vivid memories. I think that Dodge station wagon is my favorite of the cars of my childhood. I was just noticing in the Collector's Guild catalog that arrived yesterday, a whole page of classic hood ornaments -- Packard had several -- I wonder what the one you picture is called? The Pierce archer is very cool -- heck, they're all wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Paul, NYC
I love hood ornaments, I had a couple in the 50's(street finds) but never kept them. What great items to have hanging around today.
ReplyDeleteYour Pierce-Arrow/Packard combo looks like it would make a neat Valentine's Day card, with a very mature cupid taking his aim.
Oh and I love the grill on that Packard, it has a cane-seat pattern about it. Nice.
G'Morning!
ReplyDeleteWoody: not sure about the movie. There's an Auburn Speedster in my town though, lol.
Paul: I tried to find out the name of that particular mascot last night and couldn't Packard had so many and they're all works of art.
Annie:I like that Valentine's idea!
CASEY, I'LL SEND YOU MY ADDRESS FOR THAT VALENTINE. LOL I'LL PUT IT NEXT TO MY FLOWER PICTURE FRAMED.
ReplyDeleteGRANNY
My mistake, it wasn't that car it was a Packard Super Eight. Check out this site that shows the cars of every famous movie made.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imcdb.org/movie_92965-Empire-of-the-Sun.html
Thanks for the link Woody! I remember that site from a long time ago but hadn't thought of it recently. I think I might have to do some further exploration!
ReplyDeletePaul, NYC
I don't remember seeing very many hood ornaments on cars. Big loss for me! I'm 58, so I should have seen and remembered many of them. What a loss to today's cars not to have them. Thanks for all the neat pics of them, Casey. I especially like the V8! Well, I liked them ALL!
ReplyDeleteKatie
Paul, your certainly welcome, that's one really cool website and had no idea it existed until today,lol.
ReplyDeleteCasey,
ReplyDeleteYou should post your pictures of the '33 Continental I sent you to see. They are certainly better than any I've taken.
Whoa, those car ornaments are rarely seen nowadays! You have to love the flying sculpture in the first pic! Those are trademarks of ancient luxury cars! The archer in the last pic will make anyone think twice before hitting your bumper. LOL!
ReplyDelete