Every Rolls Royce is chock full o’ cool features. With everything from power side-window curtains to power closing doors to the pop-out umbrellas in the doors themselves, Rollers can make car nerds faint from nerdery overload. However, the coolest feature on every Rolls since the first BMW-back Phantom has been the retractable hood ornament. Not only is the hood ornament the most beautiful in the industry but it can actually hide away under the hood and pop back out. It’s awesome. So awesome that Bentley is copying it.
For the upcoming 2020 Bentley Flying Spur, the other British luxury brand will be using a retractable hood ornament as well. While not as pretty as Rolls’ Spirit of Ecstasy, it’s actually quite cool looking. It’s a ‘Flying B’ and its wings seem to have a cool pearl effect in them that makes the ornament look pretty and expensive. Just like a Roller, though, it can retract under the hood and rise back up.
I have to say, the Bentley’s does so with a bit more grace than the Rolls’ Spirit of Ecstasy. Rather than the Roller’s, which sort of flips out, the Bentley’s just rises gracefully straight up out of the hood. It also does so a slower, making it a bit more dramatic.
While it’s cool to see Bentley doing it, I’m actually surprised it did. No one in the know is going to see that and not think it’s a Rolls Royce copy-cat. Rolls Royce was the only one to do it up until now so every brand to do it after will always be a copy-cat. Still, it’s cool to see and to see a bit more friendly rival elbow-nudging between both brands. Both Bentley and Rolls Royce make exceptional luxury cars with fantastic features. Rolls is still the original, though.
