getting under 250,000 hoods?

[BenDover23]

It gives examples of some of Wheeler’s most successful sentences: ‘‘Is your oil at the proper level today?’’ for Texaco, a sentence for which Wheeler was paid $5,000—or $555.55 a word, as the profile’s author points out. 5 (You could buy a fine large house in 1938 for just $3,000!) Presumably Texaco felt that this was money well spent, since the company was able to get under 250,000 hoods in one week by having its filling station attendants ask this question.

what does it mean by getting under 250,000 hoods?

[Eugene2114]

Not hearing the name before, I think Mr Wheeler was a valuable commodity for Texaco. ‘Hood’ is the bonnet of a motor vehicle and the question let a filling station attendant, in an unobtrusive way, look under the hood and check the level of oil.
250,000 checks in one week— I see a large percentage increase in the sales of oil as a result.

[Beeesneees]

An excellent response from Eugene, though Mr Wheeler was valuable to more companies than just Texaco.
More information about him here:
newyorker.com/magazine/1938/04/16/the-sizzle