What was once hip is now just a symbol of "hipness"

  Travelling recently I noticed how some car manufacturers are still putting a symbol of "hipness" on their current cars.

   Why are these decorative ornaments on modern Fords and Buick's?  At one time sporty roadster cars owned by the wealthy had air intakes on their sides.

This functional feature was copied in a non functional way on car models that car manufacturers wanted to sell cars with this status symbol.  This has still been carried over to today's models even if a less notifiable way.  See how many cars you now notice with this past status symbol.