In the old days, the hood ornament told you where the front of the car was. If you pulled into a parking space, you could tell how close or far your bumper was from the car ahead of you. With my 03 Saturn ION, the hood just slopes down and I have no visual reference to let me know how close I am to something. I thought of drilling a hole in the bumper and gluing a rod into the hole and have it stick up high enough so I can see it.
Anyone figured this out without just tapping the person in front?
Thanks,
Harold Hansen
Eugene, Oregon
Have a friend ride with you, or just come over while you sit in the car. Have them stand just in front of the bumper and try to gauge where you’re at by the looks of things. If you’re in a parking lot, or even just your driveway, have them guide you and tell you when to stop. I admit that even after 6 years of driving my civic, I can’t find the front end, so I just guess and am pretty close.
I just guess at it. After getting out, see how close you are to the car in front of you. If you have room to spare, pull in a little closer next time. Eventually, you will be able to judge how close you are just by looking at the hood of the car in front.
We have 2 cars like that and it took some getting used to after my Caprice with its proud hood ornament acting as a guide. In our garage we have two pieces of string with golf balls attached suspended for the ceiling. We just drive till the ball touches the windshield, and we have the car in the exact right place. Aircraft pull up to the gate the same way; a bar sticks out and the captain pulls right up to the bar to park the aircraft.
How long you been driving this thing? I mean, don’t you have an idea as to when you’re getting close to the car in front of you? There’ve never been hood ornaments on the back of cars, have there? Not that I remember. So,now (2007); when you’re trying to gauge how far it is to the car in front of you, just use whatever method you used in the good old days when you gauged the distance to the car in back of you ,
but apply it to the task of gauging the distance to the car in front of you! Oh, the hood slopes down, that’s right. O.K, just buy an Edsel at an antique car auction- Edsels are the same, front and rear. Wait I forgot, no hood ornament on the rear; but you could put one on. There you go- that’s your solution. (I have to say I really do admire you for not using “touch-parking”, though- seriously.)
Solution (maybe): run a bundle of fiber-optic cable through the firewall, the engine compartment, and out a grill opening. At the driver’s end, attach an eye piece. As you are parking, augment your over-the-hood parking maneuvers with checks to the eye piece.
Thanks to all of you with your thoughtful suggestions. I do use something like the ball hanging down technique in my garage and I do use the get out and check method too.
Karl’s helpful message did trigger a thought about applying what works for backing up to going forward. Backing up is easier because both old and new cars I have bought have rear view mirrors. I have noticed that some postal deliver trucks have a mirror mounted on the front bumper. Thank you Karl.
The fiber optic solution sounds interesting too.
I do appreciate your feedback.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all CarTalk fans.
My best,
Harold Hansen
1.) Open driver’s side door.
2.) Put your feet out the door and onto the ground.
3.) Get out of the car, stand up and look towards the front of the car.
I do it all the time. If you change step 3 slightly, this procedure will help you determine how far you are from cars behind you too.
Using lasers. Lasers can be used to measure distances (in feet, inches, or centi-(meters)). Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, have measuring lasers for finding distances from here to there. Carpenters, and such, use them. You want to measure the distance from your bumper to the bumper of the other car. This will tell you how near impact you are. First, measure the distance to your front bumper. To do so, hold the laser distance measuring device at the outside rear-view mirror (I don’t know if the laser would work through the windshield. It might.). Have someone stand at the front bumper of the car, holding a book with the flat side vertical, to reflect the laser. Aim the laser at the book and take a measurement. Write that distance measurement down. You could do the same thing to get the distance to your rear bumper. Add a foot, or two, to that figure as your “cushion”. Practice parking between cardboard boxes, using the laser. Place a box (as tall as a bumper) 3 to 5 feet in front of the front bumper, and a box 3 to 5 feet behind the rear bumper. Pull your car in towards the front box. Use the laser to get the distance to the box. Go forward until the laser measurement is the distance you measured previously plus the 1 to 2 foot “cushion”. Do the same towards the rear. When practicing with real cars to the front and to the rear, make sure the laser is reflecting from the very back part of the car ahead, and the front-most part of the car behind (cars are round in front). Be careful that the laser doesnt reflect from something else between the laser and the other car’s bumper…like your car body, a leaf, etc. (A mis-quote from the Bible, “And a laser shall guide them”).
I also like to drive cars where I can see all the corners from the driver’s seat. Newer (rental) cars tend to have high sills with bodies that slope away, a real PITA if you are not used to it and have to park on the street.
Thanks again to all of you for responding. As I mentioned, I do use the get out and look method. Also went out this morning and picked up a Black and Decker “Marksman Distance Measure” laser as hellokit suggested. I"m going to practice using my garage door as a target. I am also going to get a handheld mirror and try sticking it out the window and holding it in different positions.
Thanks again all who posted.
My best,
Harold Hansen
My dad had a 1947 DeSoto and it had a lighted hood ornament. However, the hood ornament only lit up when the parking lights were on and not when the headlights were on. Your post has suggested the reason for this: “if you pulled into a parking place, you could tell how close or far your bumper was from the car ahead of you”. This must have been the reason for the parking lights and lighted hood ornament–these were aids in night parking. The DeSoto was replaced with a Buick with a bomb-sight hood ornament. I assumed that the Buick hood ornament was to assist the driver in bagging pedestrians.
In my high school years, my classmates who bought cars wasted no time in removing the hood ornaments and leading in the holes that remained. The automobile manufacturers seem to have picked up this trend and eliminated the hood ornaments. Perhaps you have started a new trend and the hood ornament will be revived.
The automobile manufacturers seem to have picked up this trend and eliminated the hood ornaments. Perhaps you have started a new trend and the hood ornament will be revived.
Well, as the name implies, a hood ornament is strictly ornamental. It adds to the manufacturing cost, it adds a smidgen of weight, it adds a bit of drag, and it’s a hazard to that pedestrian you just ran into and is sliding up the hood over that decorative chunk of metal. In other words, I can see why automobile manufacturers have chosen to eliminate it.
For my home garage parking, a dropped a couple of short lengths of 2x4s on the floor. I ease in and when I feel the front tires bump into the wood, I know I’m done. I might try that aircraft gate style ball hanging on a thread. As for parking elsewhere, you just have to learn where your bumper is. Sit in the front seat and notice something on the ground that you can just see over the hood. Get out and measure the distance from that marker to your bumper. Now you know that when something on the ground disappears, you have, say, four feet to go. Maybe you can look out the side window and gauge how much of that you’ve used up as you slowly pull forward. It can be done.
P.S. I have to say I did a double-take when I saw the subject line!
“Well, as the name implies, a hood ornament is strictly ornamental. It adds to the manufacturing cost, it adds a smidgen of weight, it adds a bit of drag, and it’s a hazard to that pedestrian you just ran into and is sliding up the hood over that decorative chunk of metal. In other words, I can see why automobile manufacturers have chosen to eliminate it.”
Yup, as the bean counters take over the world…
my friend went to a MACK truck dearler and got a bull dog from truck and had it bolted to center of hood.