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RssBy Tony Dokoupil | an excerpt from Newsweek Web Exclusive
Inside the Mercedes Benz dealership on New York’s posh Park Avenue, cars shimmer, leather seats invite, and hubcaps gleam—just like you’d expect. But there’s also something missing: the distinctive three-point Mercedes star atop the hood. A feature of nearly every Mercedes made since 1923, the trademark raised-ornament adorns less than a third of the 2009 models, and earlier this year the company stopped offering the ornament on its standard C-Class line. “As we’ve become more aggressive design-wise,” says spokesperson Robert Moran, “we’ve been bumping it down to the grill.”
It’s a similar story over at Jaguar, which last year quietly reversed eight decades of tradition when it discontinued offering its springing cat figurines called “leapers,” as a standard feature. Cadillac, Chrysler and Mercury have also ditched its chrome-plated tradition in the last decade. “Hood ornaments are just kind of out style,” says John Wolkonowicz, a senior automotive analyst at Global Insight.
The sleek beasts, winged ladies and mythic figures that once adorned the hood of nearly every car in America have been dwindling for decades, becoming the preserve of ultra-luxury coupes and dictator-style sedans. Now even those are on the wane, as ornaments are relocated to the grill or removed entirely. Given the option, most Mercedes and Jaguar customers have declined to spring for the hood ornament, according to the companies. “I didn’t even notice it was gone,” says Ilya Mikhailevich, a 52-year-old Russian travel agent, shopping for a new Jag in New York recently. Adding the bling costs $250 for a Jaguar and upwards of several thousand on the Mercedes C-Class, which requires a series of upgrades first.
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Tags: car ornaments going out of style, mercedez ornament, why car ornaments are going out of style
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