Sort of a 'leading' question, eh John????

Bill.

Now be nice Bill!

Well John, like you queried, ain't she pretty.

Yup!!

Radials tires, huh?? How does "she" 'drive' ??

Bill.

Hey Bill,

With the 16" Radials it drives very smooth. On the interstate I can stay with traffic - no problem. The drive train was professionally done.
Everything has been balanced and engineered for ride. A roll bar is hidden behind the seats for safety and shoulder strap seat belts are attached to the roll bar. The top insert came from a 450SE which has the same contours as the 31 sport coupe. The body is rock solid while still retaining the original look of a beautiful car.

Your car sounds great!!! Performance and safety. It sure is amazing how the radials 'work' on the old cars!! I'll never forget the 'difference' when I first put the 15" radials on my '54 hardtop some years ago. Basically just unbelievable compared to the 'old' bias ply polys!!

Interesting about the 450SE top insert.

Bill.

Hello All,

Ya know, I can't give up on this ROMAN SIGNIFER. If I'm wrong I want to know from the experts. I want to be shown why I'm wrong and be put in my place by the experts!

Reading through this old thread and thought I might post a comment on how times, and the currency rates, change.

The American Arrow website now advertised the Viking caps for USD$620 for the screw on and USD$660 for the flip top.

With the Aussie dollar currently at about 1.04 to the US it would still cost about the same to land one here... even though they have gone up by $200!

Not sure about whether it was styled on a Roman or not... but here in Australia it was espoused by Chevrolet to be a Viking and wearing a bearskin helmet, not a lion skin.

I have never before seen a reference to the 29-31 winged cap as "Roman". The literature I have seen refers to it as a "Viking" cap.

Same here......all of the literature that I have refers to the cap as a "Viking".

Mr Gill asked about 6 years ago for a debate on the Viking ornament, suggesting it was a Roman Signifer instead! Here goes:
I am not sure entirely where the original designer got his inspiration for the '31 Viking Rad Cap, but most likely if he did even rudimentary research he would have found some guidance.
Plutarch, an ancient Greco-Roman writer wrote about the Cimbri, ancestors of the Vikings as "wearing Helmets made to resemble the heads of wild beasts".
Further, Siculus, another contemporary writer wrote of the Gauls, another Celtic people tied to the Vikings as wearing "winged helmets or helmets with whole animals attached". It has long been concluded that Vikings only wore the stereotypical "horned Helmet" in religious ceremonies.
So I agree with JunkYardDog, and all the other authorities on this subject that the "Viking" is certainly the appropriate name for this wonderful symbol, and the intention of the original creator (whose name escapes me at the moment). He no doubt would have provided GM with the language associated with this accessory as set out above. While the Roman Signifer wore animal headress as well, they may very well have followed the lead of the Vikings, who knows.

William Schnell-designer....