Auxiliary lights For 1960's Cars

[Andrew353w]

I'm not sure if this ought to be in the "Stupid Question Amnesty" thread really, although it's more specifically a car lighting question....

 

I remember when I was much younger (that puts it in the 1960's!) well before every car had front fog lights and extra spot lamps, you often saw cars with one or two extra lights at the front; one was a spot light & the other a fog lamp. Does any Autoshiter remember using a car with these lights and if so, were the lights any use and when were they used? Sometimes the fog lamp was yellow & the spot lamp had a sort of blueish tint to it.

 

In the 1960's TV series "The Baron" his assistant drove a Daf Daffodil, with 2 of these lights & I'd like my little Daf 33 (A.K.A. "Pooh") to have a set of these. I expect either E-Bay or Collectors Cars in Sipson, near Heathrow Airport would be able to supply these 2 lights. I also remember that Reliant 21E Regal cars had this arrangement too & that the spot & fog lamps were totally independently switched, without any requirement to have any other lights at all.

 

This still is from the TV series & is how I'd like my 33 to look...

 

 

If any Autoshiters know anything about these lights & how they worked I'd be interested!

[scooters]

yellow were usually for fog - blue for poor light driving - the theory was that the wider the frequency of the light the more effective the vision. usually individually wired but sometimes in series so both on at the same time - if you are fitting them you have to be aware of the MOT regulations which have changed over time and do not allow certain configurations unless manufacturer fitted. You might also want to consider converting your 33 from a 6v to a 12v car - nick a 44 spec dynamo or splash out on an aftermarket right sized alternator. I had a 6v circuit on my early 44 and you could see the lights throbbing at idle!

 

I fitted a new old stock yellow wipac fog lamp to the Sherpa and owned a Herald with blue and yellow auxiliary lamps -

 

ebay searches, autojumbles are your source - you might find summat in the 'flying jacket and stag' catalogues but posession of one of these could class you as a trouser ferret

[DSdriver]

Yep I only sold mine on ebay last year. It was nor necessary to have pairs of lights in those days so you had one fog lamp on the nearside and a spotlamp on the offside wired through accessory switches on the dashboard, usually without a fuse or relay. the name Raydot springs to mind, possibly made by Lucas. Then in the late sixties when rallying became the craze Cibie Oscars were the norm which were uprated to SuperOscars when they came on the market. Far too much power consumption for dynamos so we then had to change to alternators as the battery would go flat halfway through the night. We also had a thing called a Helphos that stuck to the inside of the windscreen. It was a searchlight for picking out signposts and stuff.

[trigger]

I have a pair of chrome lights in the garage i want to sell, they need a good polish and the reflector is worn and they aren't tested though, I'll check in a bit the make and condition properly if your interested.

[boobydoo]

I had a Vauxhall Viscount with two rectangular lamps at the front. One was a clear lens, the other patterned. To be honest, i never used them cos I didn't drive it at night or in fog.. I think they were a factory option, as you see a few press photos at the time with them on.

 

[autofive]

my zephyr has a pair of blue tipped spot/fog lamps, but they are not wired in

 

[Pete-M]

My P5 had the single spotlight set-up.