Is a car just a means of transportation, or is it something more: a statement, a totem? Cars started becoming popular just a hundred years or so ago. There were lots of competing companies, but how to distinguish one from another? Body styles were based on coaches, but these things had motors, motors needed cooling and as it is right up there in front, the radiator cap became the perfect place to differentiate the brand.

The engine on this highly modified Ford is obviously a replacement, but a useful and decorative radiator cap is part of the original beast.

And from there the practical gave way to the exuberant and symbolic. This is also from Ford and features a racing greyhound, to suggest that this car is fast (and it probably could go 50 mph at least).

The radiator is no longer exposed in slightly later cars, so now the signifier has transformed into a hood ornament. This stylized woman is taking a leap into the future.

But why let the ladies have all the fun? This hood ornament is a man (I think?), perhaps he is faster than a speeding bullet.

But there is no need to get completely literal, it’s hard to say just what this represents, but whatever it is, it’s fast.

But there is still room for the literal, this car boasts a rocket as it’s mascot (note to designers: this is an airplane), and one can “blast off” down the road.

But what caused the demise of these symbols? Why if one is struck by a car with a fixed hood ornament, one could be injured (yes, they are missing the obvious). So these were finally outlawed except for ornaments that are on an elastic tether so that they bend on impact (I’m looking at you Mercedes and Jaguar). But they still exist as testament to the art of automotive styling in these decorative details.

Cars are just a thing to get one from place to place for most people. But sometimes one develops an emotional attachment to a car; the first car, the car one had fun in with friends, your daddy’s car, the car one regrets selling. But selling the car is not the end, one can always buy the same model from somewhere and then the art begins.

This is the classic dream of many car aficionados, the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. This one is especially desirable as it is a convertible, a symbol of the freedom of the open road. In tomato red with those gorgeous fins it is a spectacular car. It was further customized to be a low rider and it has a trunk full of hydraulics.

Chrome details on many vintage cars are beautiful, but the custom work of plating and engraving on the tiniest details make these cars truly amazing.

This 1955 Bel Air (which is a desirable car, but not like the ’57) also boasts a fantastic paint job, they sure didn’t come off the assembly line like this. These two also show the hydraulics in action.

Even the mundane parts of the engine have been chromed, plated and engraved in a gorgeous way!

The places that these owners find to detail are amazing. The ordinary bumper, the thing that prevents other cars from dinging one another are engraved on these cars. The show was set at a local art museum and these certainly are works of art and love. (And these artists are much better than the artist whose work was a pile of clothes). I hope that this is an annual event, (and of course I want one for my very own).