On Tue, 12 Sep 1995, dan parslow wrote:
> Greetings O Triumphanatics.
>
> When did front sidelights become a legal requirement in the You Ess of
> Ay?
>
> My 1965 Vitesse (titled as a 1966, unfortunately) had these obviously
> tacked-on sidelights when I got it. They were quite old, probably
> done by the dealer back in '66. They were hideous....
>
> The first thing I did was remove these ugly little buggers and stomp
> on them thoroughly, then patch and level the holes before painting.
It's OK, Dan, you did the right thing. ;-)
> Now unfortunately this car has never been registered in Arizona before,
> and will therefore have to undergo an inspection. Are they going
> to tell me that as an ostensibly 1966 car it will have to have
> sidelights?
No problem, Dan. They first appeared on U.S. cars (Big Three, etc.) for
the 1968 model year. I don't know exactly how the law worked, but
imports apparently had some extra time to meet the requirements. Most MGs,
Triumphs, etc. had only reflectors on the side for 1969 and real lamps
in 1970. Volvo had a particularly interesting approach. For 1968 they
screwed large, reflectorish lenses on the sides of the fenders, but by
1969 or 1970 these lenses suddenly had bulbs inside!
Some "furrin" cars brought over from, say, Germany also had some sort of
side "curb" lamps, and the Triumph 2000 had turn signal "repeater" lamps
on the B post, etc., etc. But what you described sounds more like a J.C.
Whitney special to me.
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