# What's the word for...? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [May 28, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036 "2011-05-28T19:04:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![oscarplato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@oscarplato](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oscarplato)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036/1 "2011-05-28T19:04:43Z")
I’m betting that the car industry has a word for those chrome-outlined stabs of gold that were on the sides of cars in the fifties and sixties. On Impalas they looked like checkmarks. On the 1958 Ford Fairlane it was more like a long pointing finger. What do you call them - lightning bolts, blazes? ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036/2 "2011-05-28T19:42:35Z")
Buicks had Cruisaline Ventaports, a tradition that remains to this day… ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036/3 "2011-05-28T19:47:25Z")
I’ve seen them called ‘spears’. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036/4 "2011-05-28T19:47:30Z")
I recall people referring to the chrome side trim of '50s & '60s cars as “side spears”. ---
**Author:** ![oscarplato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@oscarplato](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oscarplato)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036/5 "2011-05-28T19:49:54Z")
I’ve been looking at ford and chevy related websites and the closest I’ve gotten is “side trim.” sort of generic. ---
**Author:** ![bscar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bscar/32/34_2.png) [@bscar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bscar)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036/6 "2011-05-29T01:05:44Z")
any pictures for reference? ---
**Author:** ![meaneyedcatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meaneyedcatz/32/692_2.png) [@meaneyedcatz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meaneyedcatz)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036/7 "2011-05-29T03:48:26Z")
The corrrect term for the chrome strips that extend the length of the body is sweep spears. ---
**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036/8 "2011-05-29T12:43:24Z")
When the added "trim"molding began to be an unnecessary expense in peoples eyes, it was replaced by those things called decals and side molding that actually protected doors. Same “look at me” intent for decals. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-the-word-for/65036/9 "2011-06-01T23:22:25Z")
Technically they’re called “trim moldings”. They’ll typically consist of the “rear quarter trim molding”, the “door trim molding”, and the “front side trim molding”.