Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Hamlin
There are 4 variations of hood ornaments, Two for each year.
Standard and optional/accessory. in this case, '55 and '56 vary in detail greatly.
I don't know if the bolt patterns are the same but all four "jet age" ornaments look close in size.
Standards were full chrome whereas the accessory ornaments utilized acrylic/plastic.
I also don't know if either of the accessory ornaments were offered with illumination.
JM2C
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I cannot comment on the '55 but they had the standard chrome version and lucite version which I believe lit up, but yes, the '56 also had 2 hood ornaments. The basic/standard chrome version which you see on 98% of the cars, and the version with the lucite front section. It is a bolt on as I installed one on my '56 40 years ago that I pulled off a convertible in a junk yard. Yes, they do light up and one of the reasons I had to have one. A bulb fits under the ornament and shines it's light through the clear lucite. I can't recall how the light fit and if I had to drill a hole in my hood for the light socket fitment. Very cool at night going down the road. The picture is the 1956 ornament with its clear lucite front.
If you look at the many Pontiac hood ornaments with the amber lucite Indian Head, I am sure they are all illuminated from underneath. I have a 1951 ornament with the amber lucite Indian Head. The light was a single wire socket with the bulb and fitted into a hole in the hood under the ornamant so as to illuminate the amber head. The lucite often cracks or checks, but some reproduction pieces are made for replacement.