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Rolls-Royce retracting hood emblem. I guess this was originally a safety feature, but is now enshrined as an anti-theft feature?
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...yce_emblem.gif
Reminiscent of the Simpsons scene in which superintendent Chalmers's Honda emblem is stolen. 11-second video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n8L07Q0iR0
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/
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...
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/f...e/100543-1.jpg
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/f...e/100543-2.jpg
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
I miss hood ornaments! Sadly the safety police have it so all we will see is emblems.
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
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.
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/
Rolls-Royce Cullinan. This is Rolls-Royce's first SUV. This isn't an awful feature, it's just unusual for a $300K+ car.
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Looks like a throw back to the 1930's luxury coaches
1926 Rolls Royce Phantom Brougham De Ville interior.
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...e_interior.jpg
I think I know that car...long time ago...but part of that deal with the Stutz... Same year as the one he had and wonder where the coach was made??
OH COME ON! We were just looking at electric windows in cars that have divided reason's of being practical, now this in a Rolls? Notice He still had to physically set up the wine bottle and glass's!
Not the same one I think, but same year 1926...just can't remember where his coach was made and his was similar outlandish turn of the 20's. It needed some work, windshield and the left stanchion was cracked and interior was a bit worse for worn, plus a going through the drive train. His went to Southby's SF in ~82'-83' IIRC.
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/23598/lot/9/
Only $3/4 mil back in 2016.
I don't know where or how you find this stuff Jon...but I like it and the rust it shakes loose. :p
Thanks,
PJ
More modern version of the Phantom Brougham De Ville. I think I prefer the 1926 version, although I must admire the tightly unified theme of mechanisms that flip open and closed. I get that this movement is well suited to automotive interiors, but I believe that's seven total, starting with that pushbutton suicide door.
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With that many I can't understand why they didn't add automatic dispensing systems! Guess they just needed the cut crystal with the RR engraved stopper to limit choices of beverages. Talk about comfort of high order Creatures. Note the joy stick controls for the vents in the center at :35...wonder if they are servo driven?
Me too on the 26!
Thanks Jon!
Haha! So funny! I distinctly remember seeing my first Pommy 'layby' morning tea stop(1985); complete with folding table and chairs, tea & scones w/jam and cream....and the traffic whizzing by on the motorway...
Jim
Bentley Continental GT 2019 rotating dashboard.
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Cool Idea but you would think that for the price of a 2019 Continental GT (Starting at $225,000) they could get the trim to line up when it settles and stops at :03 and :07! That would drive me nuts as an installer or an Owner!!
Yep PJs, the gauges must be wired OR are they bloooooootooth also. It looked better in Thunderball. Was there one with Burt Reynolds ? White Lightning ==too long ago for my grey matter.