I put the hood up only high enough to be able to see in. The reason is I find it takes away from the lines of the car and the overall look of the vehicle. I don't like taking pictures of cars with the hood up as others have already stated. It depends on the car but a lot of times when I see a car with the hood all the way up it makes me picture it as something is wrong and waiting to be fixed. If that makes any sense.
Its something that has bled over from indoor shows and if your at a show where points/awards for engine compartments are awarded. When showing like in a ISCA show you need to have your doors, hood and trunk open enough for the judges to evaluate, but it does ruin the lines on alot of the show cars because it disrupts the body lines, so its a compromise between the two.
When I pull into a cruise night everybody wants to know what's under the hood of the obnoxious sounding truck. I think the truck looks the best with the tilt front closed, but I also like my blown 540 under it. I'm figuring out plexiglass hood sides so I can have the best of both worlds. .
At the GSTA show I was told that the judges won't open the hood, doors, etc... so entrants that wanted their interior or engine compartment judged should leave them open. That might be the reason that most judged show cars are displayed "opened up". As for the hood being partially up, I like to set it so an average height person can easily see the engine compartment and the rows of louvers going across the hood. Both are important features of the truck's style...
It is exactly the reason. Most judging (if ISCA) is done after hours of the show and beings usually the night before the show actually opens. For the Portland Roadster Show anyway, by Sunday some owners close the cars up for display and convertibles drop their tops. Though that can be an issue as if your car/truck is a close points situation with another car the judges will look the car over again on sunday to really look for tiny things to figure out the winner, so its best to leave the cars opened up all show long. For Taboo we made prop rods for the hood and doors to keep them at the lowest height but for full point potential at a show after talking with a few of the ISCA judges.
I don't care what other people do with their cars. None of my business. None of their business what I do with my cars, either.
Somebody asked me that question at a show once, so I slammed the hood on their hand. Joke was on them. Wasn't my car.....