#car mascots

[bookloversofbath]

Art Deco and Other Figures :: Bryan Catley

Art Deco and Other Figures :: Bryan Catley

View On WordPress

[marcusbriggshoodornaments]

Why I Started Putting My Hood Ornaments Online

I have been collecting hood ornaments for about fifteen years. Most of that time it was just me and a shelf in the garage. Nobody saw them except my wife and whoever happened to come over for a barbecue. That was fine. I did not collect them for attention. I collected them because I think they are beautiful.

But a couple of years ago I started wondering if there were other people out there who cared about these things as much as I did. Not vintage car people necessarily. Just people who appreciated the craftsmanship. The detail in a 1950s Pontiac Indian head. The elegance of a Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy. The strange ones from manufacturers that do not even exist any more.

So I made a website. Nothing fancy. I am not a web designer. I just wanted somewhere to put photographs and a few descriptions so people could see the collection without having to come to my garage. It is basic but it does the job.

marcusbriggs.autos

That is the site if you want to have a look. Like I said it is not going to win any awards for design. But the ornaments are the point not the website.

What surprised me is that people actually found it. Not thousands of people. But enough. I get the occasional email from someone who recognises a piece or has one they want to identify. A man in Stuttgart sent me a photograph of an ornament from a 1930s Horch and asked if I knew the model. I did not but I spent a weekend figuring it out and we have been emailing back and forth ever since.

That is what I wanted really. Just to connect with a few people who share the same interest. Hood ornaments are not exactly a mainstream hobby. You cannot walk into a pub and start talking about pre-war mascots without getting some strange looks. But online there are people who understand.

I have been trying to get the collection in front of more of those people. Nothing crazy. Just a few places here and there where car enthusiasts or collectors might stumble across it. This is one of those places.

If you collect hood ornaments or vintage car parts or even if you just think they look interesting, have a look at the site. I am always happy to hear from people who appreciate this stuff. It is nice to know the garage shelf is not just for me any more.

[interiordesignfactory]

Automotive Mascots Are An Enjoyable Art Form

Automotive Mascots Are An Enjoyable Art Form

Vintage car or automobile mascots, also called hood ornaments, are a fascinating piece of automotive history. Except for the Mercedes emblem atop the S-Class Mercedes-Benz or Spirit of Ecstasy which raises and lowers at the push of a button on the modern Rolls-Royce, these brand distinctive or once highly personalized symbols mounted atop the hood of the car are for the most part a relic of…

View On WordPress

[stateofglass2-blog]

René Jules Lalique

Car Mascots

(X)

[antiquesnewsandfairs]

LALIQUE EXHIBITION AT CHELSEA ART FAIR

The Lalique Mascot Collectors' Club and will  celebrate the 151st anniversary of René Jules Lalique's birth at The Chelsea Antiques Fair organised by Penman Fairs at Chelsea Old Town Hall, King’s Road, London SW3 21-25 September 2011, with a superb collection of Lalique car mascots dating from the 1920s and 1930s.  This image is "The Siren" or "Small Mermaid".  The mascots will not be for sale but it will be worth a trip to see a rare collection at the fair.