Parked sidelight usage

[JeeExEll]

Some / (all?) Cortina Mk3 and Mk4s had one-side parking lights. My uncle who served in WW2 had a new 74 2000E which had them and it was normal for him to use them on the street he lived on. Seems to be a thing from another time. My dad also had a new-ish 2000E and never used them. As said above they were operated by the indicator stalk being up or down, depending on which side you wanted lit. Don't know if it was carried on to Mk5s or any other Fords.

[JeeExEll]

Maybe the parking lights were first used in the blackouts of WW2 when streetlights weren't lit. Don't know, but they used to be used by people of a certain age

 

[wuvvum]

18 hours ago, PhilA said:

Fiat had a button by the ignition switch that would allow the key to turn past off and bring on just the parking lights. 

Thought that was pretty smart

It is, except on the Mk2 Fiat Ducato (and possibly some others), the key fob is so chunky that you can't actually press the button in with the key in the ignition as the fob blocks it.  Cracking bit of design.

[DSdriver]

27 minutes ago, JeeExEll said:

Maybe the parking lights were first used in the blackouts of WW2 when streetlights weren't lit. Don't know, but they used to be used by people of a certain age

 

You didn't think that through, the idea of the blackout was to eliminate all sources of light so that aircraft could not identify their location.

[JeeExEll]

 

32 minutes ago, DSdriver said:

You didn't think that through, the idea of the blackout was to eliminate all sources of light so that aircraft could not identify their location.

Car sidelights did not put out much light during WW2 but could be effective at ground level for safety reasons for other drivers on blacked-out roads. I remember seeing pics of cars with hooded lights which could still be of use. I doubt if an enemy plane would spot relatively dim lit 6V or 12V dc lightbulbs.

The alternative would have been cars crashing into parked cars which they didn't see.

[Surface Rust]

I believe they painted bumpers and / or the edges of car wings with white paint to aid their visibility under black out conditions during WW2.

The light output from the blackout cowls for headlights is pretty minimal (I have one).

[RayMK]

On 12/03/2025 at 22:22, PhilA said:

I think it's still law in some parts of Europe. 

My old man has one of those red and white lamps that hooks over the top of the door glass and you plug it into the cigarette lighter. 

Apparently law to have a light like that when parked up on the side of a road at the time (seventies).

So for him, just habit I guess. Worked. You saw it.

I've kept my dad's parking light, same as in your photo.  He used it when we visited relatives and had to park on poorly lit roads.  Presumably one bulb instead of four.  I think his '66 Taunus had the one side, stalk controlled parking light feature but can't remember if my BMW 520i (E28) had it, or my other European manufactured cars for that matter.     

[PhilA]

Yeah, one bulb lit instead of them all. 

 

My father's Audis both had the indicator stalk parking light thing.

Their Peugeot didn't, but that is because it was a Toyota underneath.

[Missy Charm]

On 13/03/2025 at 06:07, uk_senator said:

He parked at the other end of that "block" last night, next to another driveway further up, & sure enough, he's done it again:

I know German cars do it on the indicator stalk, I've had quite a few, & I know some people leave the indicators on when they turn the car off & do it accidentally, I also understand the logic in some circumstances, like on an unlit road in the countryside, in a well lit street in urban London, that generally has less than 15 cars going past on an average night, it doesn't really make sense.. + it's a £1500 E46 that's got quite a lot of damage around it anyway, so yeah, I'm not getting it, unless he's from a country where it's law & it's completely ingrained in his head.

I mean, it's doesn't bother me, it's his battery at the end of the day, it's just odd.

If memory serves, switching on the parking lights in a BMW requires one to click the indicator stalk to the 'on' position for the desired side and then push it further, up or down, beyond the stop.  I think, then, the dashboard warning chime sounds and the parking lights come on.  It's been a long time since I've had a BMW and all mine have been older (!) than that one, so it's possible things have changed.

In a Ford, at least older ones, parking lights are switched on by pushing in the headlight-control rotary switch and turning it one click left, i.e. beyond the 'off' position.  My Focus has got offside illumination only, which I assume is reversed in cars with left-hand steering.  

[uk_senator]

On 13/03/2025 at 18:17, JeeExEll said:

Some / (all?) Cortina Mk3 and Mk4s had one-side parking lights. My uncle who served in WW2 had a new 74 2000E which had them and it was normal for him to use them on the street he lived on. Seems to be a thing from another time. My dad also had a new-ish 2000E and never used them. As said above they were operated by the indicator stalk being up or down, depending on which side you wanted lit. Don't know if it was carried on to Mk5s or any other Fords.

I had a Mk3 & a Mk5 Tina`s, cant remember how the sidelights operated now, or the other Fords I`ve had (Sierra`s Escorts, Scorpio).. Thinking about it, I`ve had numerous German cars & cant remember the sidelight setup on them apart from the BM`s which did the indicator stalk thing, & maybe the old skool Porsches? Its just not a feature I`ve ever really needed or used.. 

On 13/03/2025 at 18:26, JeeExEll said:

Maybe the parking lights were first used in the blackouts of WW2 when streetlights weren't lit. Don't know, but they used to be used by people of a certain age

This guy looks like he`s in his 30`s, which is whats making me think its a thing in his homeland, I guess if he is Eastern European, it could be a thing, in a rural Eastern European villages, if there's no street lighting? I might ask him at some point..

 

On 13/03/2025 at 18:52, wuvvum said:

It is, except on the Mk2 Fiat Ducato (and possibly some others), the key fob is so chunky that you can't actually press the button in with the key in the ignition as the fob blocks it.  Cracking bit of design.

Not touched any modern Ducato, so cant comment, usually you press the button when you`ve turned it back to the off position, to then get the extra click anti-clockwise for the sidelights? I think that system came in with the Panda & Uno, on my 131 you clicked the headlight rocker switch backwards for sidelights, I think my Argenta, X1/9, 126`s or 127 were the same as the 131, being on the switch rather than the ignition switch?
 

16 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

In a Ford, at least older ones, parking lights are switched on by pushing in the headlight-control rotary switch and turning it one click left, i.e. beyond the 'off' position.  My Focus has got offside illumination only, which I assume is reversed in cars with left-hand steering.  

It only operates on the offside on the Focus? That's a bit weird.. The newest Ford I`ve had is a Mk1 Ka, & I cant remember how they worked now.

[beko1987]

My xsara had this. I only know because I turned it on accidentally and spent a few minutes wondering how to turn it off 😂 Just need to be indicating and have the lights on, turn the engine and lights off and the side you were indicating stayed lit.

I remember my dad doing it decades ago too,it's nothing new.

I'd never trust my battery enough to do it for over a few hours though 😭 

[DSdriver]

Not a problem with my Citroens. The four speed DS had the capability to hand crank to start but you had to remove the front number plate. The extra cogs needed for the five speed box blocked the end of the shaft that the handle connected too though. BVH cars have a little lever under the dash to disengage the clutch. The cranking handle was also used on the wheel nuts when changing a wheel.

Some French numberplate manufacturers did plates with a hole in the middle, I suppose there was more demand (cars) for them over there

/citronerd