Vehicle hood with hinge

A hinge for a hood, the hinge having at least one hinge arm, the at least one hinge arm having one end pivotally coupled to the vehicle body and having another end pivotally coupled to the hood, characterized by:

• a reversing plate pivotally coupled to the vehicle body by a first pivot pin and pivotally coupled to the at least one hinge arm by said first pivot pin means on, the reversing plate permitting relative pivotal motion between said reversing plate and said at least one hinge arm about said first pivot pin through a limited range from a neutral position to an open position and to a closed position;
• an energy storage device coupled to the vehicle body and coupled to the reversing plate by a second pivot pin spaced apart from the first pivot pin, the energy storage device being biased to hold the reversing plate in the open position when an axis of the energy storage device is on one side of the first pivot pin and in the closed position when an axis of the energy storage device is on another side of the first pivot pin, movement of the reversing plate to its open position causing the at least one hinge arm and the hood to move to an open position, and movement of the reversing plate to its closed position causing the at least one hinge arm and the hood to move to a closed position;
• and
• a manually-operated lever mechanism coupled to the reversing plate, the lever mechanism being operable to rotate the reversing plate about the first pivot pin to the neutral position against the bias of the energy storage device.