Getting Down and Dirty With a Classic Hood Deflector on Your Family Truckster

Ah yes - those WERE the days! Your grampa drove in to see you from Iowa in that boat of a car, complete with splash guards and hood deflector. Looking cool was not an issue for him, keeping his beast of a car safe from the bugs, sticks, and stones was what mattered. I was never quite sure how that all fit together. If keeping your car looking good, shiny, and new was so important, WHY would you dirty it all up with deflectors and mud flaps?

Well, I'm an old guy myself now, and I have learned that these bug deflector gizmos really have some aerodynamic merit, and thankfully, the folks that make these things have improved on their looks as well!!! But they still belong in another era. And perhaps another dimension!

If you ever make it to any of the great classic car shows, like the Dream Cruise on Woodward north of Detroit in August, or the MSRA Back To The 50's in June at the State Fairgrounds in St Paul - you rarely see any classic older cars there with bug deflectors. You don't see any new hot rods with them either. I can't help but wonder why that is.

I really believe, as Mr Old Guy, that these things DO serve a very useful purpose, and that they do a good job of redirecting those insane insects up and over the car windshield. Or at least higher up onto the windshield! I have ridden in some cars with the bug guards attached, and you wind up with a clear space up to about the midpoint of the windshield. From there up is an even larger congregation of dead insects, so you wind up looking through the bottom half of the windshield. The good news is that it is clean and clear. The bad news is you're looking so low that the bug deflector is now in your line of sight, and, of course, in the way!!

My hope remains with the automobile designers and manufacturers, who, I'm confident, will eventually figure out a way to mold this aerodynamic marvel right into the front end of the vehicle! With all of the videos and commercials you see of them testing their cars in the wind tunnels, seems like a no-brainer to me! But for now, you can find a lot of decent looking hood deflectors on line at the numerous aftermarket auto accessories web stores. The looking COOL part remains "iffy" at best. Perhaps if you put some flames on it......