# Is it legal to drive a car with no hood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 2, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-drive-a-car-with-no-hood/545301 "2010-07-02T13:10:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-drive-a-car-with-no-hood/545301/1 "2010-07-02T13:10:54Z")
Not that I plan to, but a saw it this morning, and got curious. I passed a nice 1960s-era Pontiac, then looked over to see a completely exposed engine and thought, “I doubt if that’s street-legal.” Is it? Tangential question for car buffs: Would somebody drive a car like that on purpose? Or is it more likely (as I suspect) that he was in the middle of a repair or restoration project? The rest of the car appeared fully intact and finished. ---
**Author:** ![LIONsob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@LIONsob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LIONsob)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-drive-a-car-with-no-hood/545301/2 "2010-07-02T13:28:33Z")
Legal in texas, I once drove a mercury capri for over a month without a hood, was waiting for the weather to clear so I could finish painting it. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-drive-a-car-with-no-hood/545301/3 "2010-07-02T13:31:06Z")
Legal every place I’ve ever lived. I don’t know anyone who’s ever removed a hood just for the sake of removing it, but people will, for example, install a tall intake manifold and carb that won’t fit under the stock hood, then take their sweet time either modifying the stock hood or replacing it. Gives them an excuse to show off their engine for a little while. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-drive-a-car-with-no-hood/545301/4 "2010-07-02T14:18:42Z")
No hood, yes. Fenders a different story in most places. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-drive-a-car-with-no-hood/545301/5 "2010-07-02T14:32:16Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > I don’t know anyone who’s ever removed a hood just for the sake of removing it, but people will, for example, install a tall intake manifold and carb that won’t fit under the stock hood, then take their sweet time either modifying the stock hood or replacing it. Gives them an excuse to show off their engine for a little while. Some street rod modifications dispense with the hood altogether. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-drive-a-car-with-no-hood/545301/6 "2010-07-02T14:36:48Z")
It’s illegal in Pennsylvania. It’s considered basically the same level of violation as driving around with your mirrors broken off. Our state is nit-picky. I believe it is illegal in Maryland as well, but (IIRC) legal in Virginia and West Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-drive-a-car-with-no-hood/545301/7 "2010-07-02T14:39:56Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Tangential question for car buffs: Would somebody drive a car like that on purpose? Eh, sorta. People put a bigger engine in the car, different carb, turbo, or whatever, and then the hood doesn’t fit. At some point they’ll modify the hood to make it fit, but some folks will drive around the car for quite a while before they get the hood fixed, and may even intentionally delay getting the hood fixed, just so that they can show off their new engine. ETA: There are also hot rods like T-buckets that have an exposed engine. Existing cars are generally ok, but getting a car like that legal in PA has fairly recently turned into a real hassle. ---
**Author:** ![JoeH2O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@JoeH2O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeH2O)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-drive-a-car-with-no-hood/545301/8 "2010-07-02T16:25:58Z")
In the UK it is definitely illegal, but then we have pretty strict rules on what is road legal regarding body damage and missing panels etc. A missing bonnet would likely earn you three points on your licence, at the very least it would attract a cop’s attention enough to make him force you to stop driving it immediately.