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Iconic Chevy Hood Ornaments: The Golden Age of Autos

In the early days of the automotive industry, cars needed hood ornaments – even though they were more utilitarian and ornamental. Early cars had radiator caps that had meters that drivers could see from the interior. Once auto manufacturers moved the radiator meters into the interior, exterior radiator caps became ornamental and car designers used the hood ornament as a decorative status symbol.

Even though hood ornaments were originally designed to show the differences between each car maker, the hood ornaments, especially on American cars, were quite alike. The streamlined look of the hood ornaments existed from the late 1920s through the 1950s. Once the muscle cars came into popularity, the hood ornament became a luxury item and they detracted from the toughness of the hot rods.

Most of the American hood ornaments followed the popular trends of the day. The earliest hood ornaments tended to be female and then evolved into sleek and streamlined birds (or bird-women), and especially eagles. The Chevy Master was first decorated with a female eagle that transformed into a more streamlined eagle through the years. Many Chevy Master owners take special care to put the appropriate eagle, locomotive, or combination ornament and to make sure it has an homage to the Art Deco period that defined the glory days of the early Chevy.

Along with the Master, the Chevy Impala was known for its exquisitely designed hood ornament. While most other Chevys especially those built in the 30s and 40s had eagles, locomotives or airplanes, the Impala had an impala.

Watching the evolution of the hood ornament is a lesson in aerodynamics. The earliest hood ornaments were tall and rather bulky, but as cars became sleek and streamlined, so went the hood ornaments. It was only natural that the locomotives became a common site on Chevys and other cars that were designed to be swift and stylish.

The final years of the decorative Chevy hood ornaments were gun sights that were found on the iconic 1957 Belair and Delray. Instead of one big ornament in the middle of the hood, the 1957 models had two on both sides of the hood. In the post-1957 years, the Chevy Caprice was one of the last models to have a hood ornament, but it was not overly artistic; it was just the blue bowtie Chevy logo.

The post Iconic Chevy Hood Ornaments: The Golden Age of Autos appeared first on Fossil Cars Blog.

Photos by the author, except where noted.

It could be argued that the muscle car era drew much of its inspiration and style from the American West. Try this on for size: The cowboy hat exudes the same freedom and power and, well, American-ness that a “Z/28” badge on a Camaro does. Feel that? And to take that theory a step further, think of some of the classic names exclusive to the Muscle Car Era: Mustang, Ranchero, El Camino, Camaro, Maverick, Road Runner, Cougar…they just paint a picture of the western states in ways only imaginable deep inside Detroit’s design studios in the Sixties and Seventies – and that couldn’t have been just a coincidence.

So, when we got together with the folks at Stetson Hats and started talking about cowboy hats and muscle cars, it all just made so much natural sense. Stetson was planning to produce its Fall 2015 catalog and we asked, “Muscle cars and cowboy hats go together like Smokey and The Bandit – wouldn’t it be the perfect chance to get a few great cars together and roadtrip across California and shoot your catalog?” Done. We plotted a course from the San Francisco Bay Area east to the Sierra Foothills and a western ghost town resurrected by Jen Lee and renamed Bandit Town.

The plans were made: we tapped a few friends with some great muscle cars and found a neat early-Malaise pickup truck to round out 1) the late-60s/early-70s look Stetson was going for, 2) an accurate portrayal of the types of cars that are actually attainable right now and 3) a self-sustaining caravan that could handle a real road trip.

To say Steve Pardini is a Camaro guy is akin to saying Ted Nugent likes to hunt: The guy lives and breathes Chevy’s most popular muscle car and can recite weird part numbers and block I.D. stuff. And, as owner of Steve’s Camaros, we knew he owned the quintessential road trip muscle car – a Hugger Orange ’69 Camaro Z/28 running a hot 327 and a set of MiniLite-style wheels, as seen above. His Z is pretty much completely original, except for those wheels and a set of headers. It’s the kind of car that, he admits, if he ever sold, he’d have a hard time replacing. And when we saw that original paint and the bone-stock black vinyl interior, we simultaneously wanted to ride with him and didn’t want to get close to that black vinyl in 100-degree-plus Central Valley heat. But the MiniLites made the car look like it was daring anyone to drive it cross-country, so we were more than sold. Steve thought the whole thing sounded like a hoot and would there be dinner when we got there? Check.

Matt Sumpter is not only a young photographer and prop designer, but his daily driver is a lowered Polar White 1969 Buick Gran Sport, packing the Buick 400 with a pair of headers and a Holley 650 double-pumper. Matt drives this GS every. single. day. And with those hoodpins and the amber secondary lamps, it’s the kind of mild custom that just screams “I work on this thing myself and I’ve got a three-drawer toolbox in the trunk to prove it.” He’s got well over 100,000 miles on that 46-year-old tank and it’s got just the right stance for roadtripping. Lowered with a killer set of American Racing Daisies and a roll bar framing another stock black vinyl GM interior, we knew Matt and his daily were up for an epic road trip and could he bring his camera along? Absolutely.

Nothing says Outlaw Country like a dent-side Ford pickup truck – and one in faded Gold Glow Poly single-stage with a wicked stance? How ‘bout a ’74 Ford F350 Super Camper Special with a giant FE 460 that gets 4 MPG parked overnight? This thing is a San Francisco Bay Area native – built in the old San Jose Ford plant and most recently purchased from the original owner who used it as God and Henry Ford intended: with a giant slide-in camper in the back that made 40 years of family memories. As these things tend to go, the tailgate was removed and lost to the mists of time decades ago, so the only non-original part on this one-ton is the aftermarket tailgate. That and half-a-dozen driver-side mirror replacements. Still running its 16.5-inch wheels, it features a unique bed-side spare tire mount and an extended 140-inch wheelbase under the otherwise standard-length bed to accommodate the extra payload and 4.3 children assumed to be romping from side-to-side as Dad drove the clan to a campsite in Yosemite. These sixth-generation F-Series trucks are great because they’re 1) cool, 2) plentiful, 3) still affordable as collectibles and 4) hard to spend more than $100 for any single replacement part. We put air in the tires, filled the twin tanks and topped the radiator off. See you in the morning.

Photo by Andrew Saavedra.

It can also be said that nothing embodies real freedom like the custom boogie van craze of the mid-Seventies. So of course we called Dirty Donny – member of the Vandoleros van club and owner of “Vandalf:” a 1973 Dodge B100 shorty panel van with a set of period-correct Vector wheels, fully-customized interior, stock 318 mill and a mural scheme that he designed and painted. Donny rounded up Vandalf’s brethren: “Stabbin’ Cabin,” “Honky Tonk,” “California Dreamin” and the rest of the crew to meet us at Bandit Town. These guys are a living, breathing, rolling museum of authentic boogie van culture and their heavily customized Dodge, Chevy and Ford chariots never disappoint. Each member’s van is an exercise in reclaimed diamond-tuck vinyl, stained wood, stained glass, hell, just stains, black lights, secret compartments and analog stereo. It’s all wookie fur and chocolate fountains with the Vandoleros and they left Los Angeles for Bandit Town the night before we did so that the shag carpet glue wouldn’t melt in the desert heat of the day.

Grab your favorite Stetson, a cold beverage, pull up to the campfire and we’ll tell you the story of The Road To Bandit Town.

Cash flow. This may be a phrase you’ve heard many times in the financial world. The reason you’ve heard it over and over again is because it is key to the survival of every business. Cash flow is the net amount of cash moving in and out of a business. So why exactly is cash flow important, and how can learning more about it help your business?

Cash flow is more specific than a single number. Cash flow is made up of many variables, each contributing to the positive or negative cash flow of a business. A positive cash flow is a sign that a company’s assets are increasing, enabling the company to pay off debts, return money to shareholders, and provide a buffer against future challenges. Negative cash flow is a sign that a company’s assets are decreasing. Overall cash flow is a good sign of the quality of a company’s income, and is a good judge of how prepared a company is for the future.

Being able to manage your cash flow is perhaps more important than knowing what cash flow is. Cash flow management is the process of monitoring, analyzing, and adjusting the cash flow of your business. Many different businesses fail due to the poor management of cash flow. If your business consistently spends more than it earns, then this is a problem that needs to be addressed. There are several different ways to overcome a cash flow problem, including, a cash flow analysis, developing proper strategies, a cash injection, and other financing options.

Cash flow analysis is best performed by looking at your cash flow statement. The cash flow statement is one of the most important statements for your business. This document is a listing of cash flows that occurred during a specific accounting period. In addition to the cash flow statement, a cash flow forecast is a projection of future cash projections. When you look at your cash flow statement, you may find a need to create a cash flow forecast. This can help your business stay profitable and prepared for the future.

There is a lot more to cash flow and cash flow analysis, but the essentials remain. To be a profitable business, you must have a positive cash flow. If you are not positive, then don’t delay in looking for ways to solve this problem. This begins by looking at your cash flow statement, performing a cash flow analysis, and making plans for the future. Wherever your company is financially, it is important to look towards the future, free up cash to invest in growth, and be ready for any hard times that may come your way.

David Chase, Managing Partner at Advanced CFO Solutions, has experience in small to medium private companies and large public companies as a senior operational and financial leader. With 15 years in finance, a CFO of multiple entities and divisional EVP experience, Dave has a breadth of experience. Dave has led or been instrumental in raising multiple rounds of equity and debt in excess of $450 million.

Longtime reader Stephane Dumas suggested we take a look at the City of Toronto’s archives for a series of photos that Harvey Naylor took of Queen Street during the early 1980s, and indeed, plenty of great carspotting photos came up, showing a variety of streetscapes, from downtown congestion to tree-lined shopping streets. The exact locations of each image should be available by hovering over each. What do you see here?