Golden Gazelle -- Chevrolet Hood Ornament at Paso Robles Classic Car Show, California Tote Bag

The Golden Gazelle hood ornament was an option offered by Chevrolet for the 1951 model year. A throwback to the decorative statuettes atop the radiator caps in the teens and twenties, when the radiators went under the hood the statuettes moved to the top of the hood where the larger space allowed for more elaborate designs. As the world moved into the streamliner age of the '30s hood ornaments took on styles modern locomotives, and in the jet age of the late '40s and '50s the statuettes evolved with the times to include wings and stylized airplane designs. Many manufacturers, however, stayed with tradition on some or all of their models and created new and stylized images of winged ladies or, as in this case, sleek animals.

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