Peter van der Linden wrote :
>
> I want to take a close look at Lucas quality.
> The questions that I could use ideas/suggestions on are:
> 1. is the Lucas reputation justified or not?
Do they deserve all the abuse we heap on them ? Probably not.
Were they noticeably below American standards at the time ? IMO, Yes.
Of course, I should add that my knowledge, and interest, ends some 20-30
years ago. Lucas is certainly a far different company today, and I don't
know that their modern day parts aren't as good as anyone's. But much of
their current reputation, at least in the USA, was earned back in the 50s
and 60s when British sports cars were in a class by themselves.
Of course, at least some of the blame lies with the various car makers, not
Lucas themselves, for choosing to do things like not include fuses for
various circuits and not provide secure grounds for most devices. There was
also considerable pressure to make things as cheaply as possible, especially
after about 1960 when the entire British car industry was sinking into the
mire. Lucas did actually make some quality components, but few of them
found their way into cars.
> 2. if it is justified, why does a second rate company continue being
> second rate for year after year? Is it really as simple as "because
> they can"?
I believe so, yes.
> 3. Why wasn't Lucas driven out of the auto-electrics business years ago?
> Is it as simple as "there will always be a market for goods built down
> to a cost"?
I'll let someone else go into details, but I believe much of the problem
fell with the British government at the time, which was extremely
protectionist. Car makers were effectively forbidden to either make their
own electrical parts (as almost all major manufacturers do today) or to buy
from outside the UK. So, Lucas had a captive market.
> Lucas war stories are most welcome, too.
Just one isolated example : I've owned a 1971 Triumph Stag for a little over
a year now. During that time, I've had occasion to take several switches
apart, only to find that they use simple copper-on-copper contacts. This is
not good, as copper quickly tarnishes to copper oxide when exposed to air
and copper oxide is not a good conductor. American automotive switches of
the same era almost always used silver or some alloy that provided much
better performance than copper. Of course, silver is expensive ...
Randall
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