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