Had a old timer auto-parts guy just ask me if I needed a "bull nose" for my car and all I could say was "What the...?"

Hmmm??? Bull Nose,what could it possibly be,And the answer is___________!!!!!!!

As my feeble old mind remembers it.......

Picture the thin strip of metal that divides the two hood halves........remove the hood ornament and replace it with a piece of that thin piece of metal that divides the hood halves.
Some were painted and some were chrome.

Right, wrong or indifferent....that's how I remember it.

I know what you are fishing for....To me that was one of the starts in the process of destroying wonderful old cars in the effort to be "COOL". The start of taking the hot rod era to the next step, the so called "Custom cars", So the next generation (1940's-1950's ) of cars could be destroyed in the name of individuality.

To me it was the old guy who lived in the house next to ours,When he talked to you he got in your face with his huge bulbous nose,,,quite scary when you are a child.
His wife we called "Nosey Nooser" because she had her nose in other places were it did not belong...ED

Actually, he was referring to was the stock hood ornament...It's just that I haven't ever heard that term used for a hood thingy before...Perhaps he was at a loss for words...? The plastic "fin" was nicely aged with no cracks or whatnot, and I liked it over my fillingstation repo...
He has always struck me as a pretty knowledgeable fellow...although I think he works there for nothing...Go figure

A "bull nose" does not refer to a hood ornament. A "bull nose" is the moulding that covers the joint between the two halves of the hood in the center, and the moulding is one continuous piece that goes down the center of the hood replacing the stock hood ornament. Ken48 described it correctly.

Correct Mr. Junkyard Dog, the "Bull Nose" was popular in our early days.

You guys are really dating yourselves.

Wow...I learned something else new today...! But he was trying to convince me it was a hood ornament...

Here is one on my old 52:

Same old deal.....a picture is worth a 1000 words. Good on you for posting it Mac.

That is the way I remember it.

We're "vintage", just like our Chevrolets

You have that right. Well anyway for some of us.

I remember my grandfather use to call something a turtle,what was he referring to.any one want to take a stab,might be easy to guess.

We called the trunk the turtle or turtle shell.

It was also called a "turtle back".

Yea,it's kinda fun to remember back in the day when times were less stressful. Maybe thats why we call them, The Good Old Days......

Turtle lid?

yaaaauuuup,TURTLE was correct when he told me that as a kid I just looked at him.Da turtle what's that.

That is the name I remember. Turtle Back.

Yep...."Turtle Back" is what we called it in California.