Rolls-Royce retracting anti-theft hood emblem - GIF

[Jon]

Rolls-Royce retracting hood emblem. I guess this was originally a safety feature, but is now enshrined as an anti-theft feature?



Reminiscent of the Simpsons scene in which superintendent Chalmers's Honda emblem is stolen. 11-second video:

[mklotz]

The ornament is known as the Spirit of Ecstasy and its story is fascinating...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_Ecstasy

If the Rolls itself is not enough conspicuous consumption, you can get a gold-plated version of the lady for a mere sixteen grand...

https://boutique.pomcltd.com/Gold-Pl...-7-184-056.htm

If you're cheap, a silver version will run about a quarter of that...

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16337/lot/4/

[Jon]

Here's the mechanism:

[mklotz]

If you're interested in hood ornaments the Nethercutt automotive collection here in Sylmar has over a thousand of them. Here just a peek of the enormous display case...

Of course, my favorite has always been the elegant stork that graced the radiator of the Hispano-Suiza...

Sadly, I can't afford to buy one...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4648643...RoCxdYQAvD_BwE

[Al8236]

I miss hood ornaments! Sadly the safety police have it so all we will see is emblems.

[Frank S]

Hood ornaments were among the few things about a vehicle that really set it apart from anyone else's Back in the day you could tell one make from another by the ornament alone Even during the 40's when many of the lower end cars shared a few of the same body lines. Then in the 50's and early 60's when some of the middle of the pac brands started sporting some really obnoxious sized ornaments the ornaments took on their own seance of self worth. By the mid 60's auto makers started shaving the ornaments down to size and even eliminating them altogether on some models. Then in the 80's when lower and mid range cars really needed an ornament to set them apart from the other melted Hersey bar look they were gone. Once nearly every car maker started making cars that looked almost identical to everyone else's the name badges even started to look alike. And now with every car maker owning part of or being owned by another maker there is almost no reason to buy one make or brand in favor of another. engines are shared Transmissions are shared, entire divisions of the maker's models have been dropped by the American automakers Oldsmobile Pontiac and Ply moth come to mind, while the Asian makers have created spin off brands by adding a few bling items to an otherwise mundane car. Lexis Infinity come to mind. Some of the European makers have been hold outs trying to maintain their status with hood ornaments even if highly diminished Rolls, Bentley Jaguar Austin Martin, Lamborghini & Ferrari to an even lessor extent theirs never being anything more than a tiny badge on or near the hoods anyway.
I say bring back the 50's look when every American car maker thought their ornaments had to have wings to look like a jet airplane a few even added lights to their's

[Jon]

They can argue that they've made generic rounded-shape vehicle bodies because they perform better in crashes. I don't like this, but I recognize it as a good argument.

Same deal with the ornaments I guess. Rolls-Royce's emblem retraction is also characterized as a safety device.

A tech at a Jeep dealership was telling me that the newer models have anti-wrenching technology in them that prevents people from building cars from parts at boneyards. For example, he was saying that the transmission and the engine communicate over a local wireless network, and if you try to install a different transmission than the exact one that came with the car, it won't run.

[Frank S]

Yes well I am of the opinion that anything a team of engineers can come up with to prevent someone from mix matching a group of back yard gear heads can circumvent and make it work even better than the factory could ever do.
For example it was long thought that when the 6.2 Hellcat motor was first produced it would be impossible to make it a standalone engine
This has been disproved
Secrets of Roadkill’s General Mayhem Hellcat Engine Swap - Hot Rod Network
https://tamrazs.wordpress.com/2016/0...-engine-swaps/

[Jon]

Rolls-Royce Cullinan. This is Rolls-Royce's first SUV. This isn't an awful feature, it's just unusual for a $300K+ car.

[Frank S]

Looks like a throw back to the 1930's luxury coaches