Chrome Jewels
BOASTFUL OR BEAUTIFUL (OR BOTH), HOOD ORNAMENTS ADORNED EARLY PICKUPS— AND THEN WERE DROPPED AS UNSAFE
1. 1927 FORD MODEL T ROADSTER PICKUP The simple radiator cap began sprouting elaborate temperature gauges like this Boyce MotoMeter.
2. 1934 DODGE KC The charging ram ornament was muscular and definitely headstrong. Today the stubborn mascot drives Ram trucks.
3. 1934 DIAMOND T MODEL 201 The company built the last of this model in 1949. The hood ornament was as brawny as a man’s signet ring.
4. 1936 REO SPEEDWAGON The flying wedge epitomized Art Deco design and embodied the pioneering truck- and carmaker’s fast thinking.
5. 1937 MACK JR. Nothing says tenacity like a bulldog, and though the pup still adorns company big rigs, only 5,000 pickups were ever produced.
6. 1939 WILLYS SERIES 38 The sleek winged goddess shows a loftier side of the manufacturer that, with Ford, would turn out 650,000 Jeeps in WWII.
7. 1949 STUDEBAKER 2R-5 Aeronautical motifs dominated postwar transportation design, rocketing even everyday work vehicles into a new age.
8. 1954 GMC 100 General Motors trucks were marketed as no-frills haulers. This sleek jet ornament was not standard issue but a dealer accessory.