"Harry Bloomfield"; "Esq." wrote in
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Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.

Were they mostly a pair of main beam and a pair of dipped?

Or were they main/dip in each unit?

Sealed beam units, one pair had dip, one main. Another car had one pair of
combined with a separate pair of mains. Dips were always switched off when
mains were on.

I think when I saw twin-headlight cars in the 70s with their main beams on,
all four headlights were lit, so I presume one pair of lights had twin
filament dip/main and the other pair had just main. I don't remember seeing
cars where one pair of lights went out when the other came on.

My present car is a four headlight xenon job, but the dips remain on with
mains.

I think most of the cars that I've owned in the last 20 years have kept the
dipped filament on when the beam is on.



What was the main reason that cars changed from sealed beam to replaceable
bulb in fixed reflector? My mum's Renault 6s and my dad's later Citroen GS
in the 1970s used bulbs, but his Hillman Hunters and his Ford Sierra used
sealed beam. Maybe bulbs started out as a French (or other European) thing,
and British cars carried on for longer with sealed beam.