And that might be your fault.  No?  Do you remember growing up how you used to love to rub your hand over the hood ornament on the Rolls Royce owned by that crazy rich lady who lived down the street? Then she screamed at you out the window to get away from her car and you ran away laughing. You probably thought how cool it would be when you get older to have a car of your own with a neat hood ornament like that. Then you grew up, looked all over for a car with a hood ornament, and learned to your chagrin that hood ornaments are now all but extinct.

Hood ornaments originally had a purpose and that was to disguise the temperature gauge on the radiator cap of old model cars. Eventually, the ornamentation evolved from being a functional object to simply a design modification. And they were definitely cool - winged ladies, leaping cats, robust canines. Maybe, too cool, because they were also regularly broken off and stolen. Designers and engineers believed that they created wind drag, and thus compromised fuel efficiency. And some zealots decried them as dangerous weapons.

Nowadays, you’ll be hard pressed to find a new model car with a hood ornament (but the crazy rich lady who lives down the block - she’s still there - she’s just a newer model). Understand it’s because of kids like you (were) - constantly fingering exclusive hood ornaments - that hood ornaments have become extinct. If you covet a hood ornament for your very own, or if one has been stolen from your vintage Mercedes Benz, you can still find a replacement. Of course, it will probably be around the neck of a wannabe rapper. Or for sale on eBay.