Seen on a “64” Chevy Pickup in Liberty Hill a while back.

Quite a few years ago I had a fellow that worked for me. In fact he still works for me and has since he was just a kid, in the late 70s. Heck we were all kids back then.

Manual is of Mexican descent and he like many of those fellows, didn’t mind adding a bit of class to their vehicles. I guess in today’s terms, it would be called bling.

Manual had a fairly nice Chevy pickup and one day he showed up to work with a huge chrome stallion mounted on the hood. Well not exactly the look I would have gone for myself, but Manual has always had a certain flare for style. I think he has calmed down some in his elder years.

He isn’t a real big guy, but would wear some of the biggest cowboy hats you ever saw, making him seem much bigger than he is. He wasn’t afraid to break out with a rattlesnake hatband, with mouth open in a fixin to strike pose.

Some people would have been freaked out to walk around the Flea Market wearing such a getup on a Sunday afternoon, but not Manual.

Back in the day, away from work, he dressed in cowboy boots made from varying exotic skins. I think anaconda snake was probably his favorite.

He always came up with the wildest belt buckles ever known to man. Anything from a big wad of snakes to some gargoyle type of outfit, to satan himself. Anything bizarre would work for Manual.

I forgot to tell you he always has worn chin whiskers, very much reminding me of a Billy Goat. That alone may be why I’ve always had a certain affinity for Manual.

Any way, back to the hood ornament.
He was always quite proud of the mighty stallion. Oh, did I tell you the stallion is rearing up, with its front legs high in the air, in a pawing motion pose. The thing was like a foot tall.

He showed up on Monday morning, after a trip to Mexico. He had added more decoration. Yes the stallion had a companion. Now there was a slightly smaller mare added. Yes added to where she is right in front of the rearing stallion. Tucked up close. There was no mistaking the intent of this spectacle.

All this made even more grand at night, when he flipped a switch that illuminated the whole thing for the world to see. Traveling down the road, this could have been one of the most bizarre things you could have expected to see, especially at night.

If we were working on a job and I really wanted to impress a client I would ask Manual to park down the street a ways. Yes, we’ve always had that kind of a relationship.