Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.

DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-) - perhaps car
manufacturers felt that they would not be able to make a product that
wasn't actually even worse?

In article , Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in
the 50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights
in those days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had
the usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-) - perhaps car
manufacturers felt that they would not be able to make a product that
wasn't actually even worse?

Much more likely that the car "designers" were told to buy "off the shelf"
items. Specials would be more expensive.
Reliability: My 1971 Cortina had a headlamp relay (a Lucas part) fail quite
early in the cars' life.. So that I could get home safely on the next
night, I repaired it but bought a spare which turned out to be Bosch. The
spare stayed in my garage until I sold the car some 10 years later!

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On Mon, 05 Sep 2016 10:37:32 +0100, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:

DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in
the 50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights
in those days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had
the usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-) - perhaps car
manufacturers felt that they would not be able to make a product that
wasn't actually even worse?

"Lucas - Prince of Darkness"

I had fun relaying the whole Lucas unreliability saga to a friend
recently; she is too young to know.

Her headlamps had failed completely.

Her surname is Lucas.




--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Monday, 5 September 2016 10:37:34 UTC+1, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-) - perhaps car
manufacturers felt that they would not be able to make a product that
wasn't actually even worse?

More likely the problem was in quality control as the demand for any old tat under British management was out of control in the sixties and early seventies. Then planned obsolescence turned and bit most British engineering sheds. Even Rolls Royce was hit mainly due to Japanese imports (but they were using frozen chickens to test jet engine blades at the time so that didn't help. :~)

It would be interesting to compare specs and prices for Japanese cars vss British and European made ones from those days. Anyone got some old mags in the shed?

Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Monday, 5 September 2016 10:37:34 UTC+1, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-) - perhaps car
manufacturers felt that they would not be able to make a product that
wasn't actually even worse?

More likely the problem was in quality control as the demand for any old tat under British management was out of control in the sixties and early seventies. Then planned obsolescence turned and bit most British engineering sheds. Even Rolls Royce was hit mainly due to Japanese imports (but they were using frozen chickens to test jet engine blades at the time so that didn't help. :~)

It would be interesting to compare specs and prices for Japanese cars vss British and European made ones from those days. Anyone got some old mags in the shed?


There is a very old Jeremy Clarkson video called 'Who Killed The British
Car Industry', which is quite amusing. It might be on YouTube (if
you're in the 50% who like him, and if you have a spare half-hour, that is).

The story of Japanese vs. British bikes is well-known. I've never been
much interested in car history, but I wouldn't be suprised if there was
a similar tale to tell.

On Monday, 5 September 2016 12:22:04 UTC+1, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Monday, 5 September 2016 10:37:34 UTC+1, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-) - perhaps car
manufacturers felt that they would not be able to make a product that
wasn't actually even worse?

More likely the problem was in quality control as the demand for any old tat under British management was out of control in the sixties and early seventies. Then planned obsolescence turned and bit most British engineering sheds. Even Rolls Royce was hit mainly due to Japanese imports (but they were using frozen chickens to test jet engine blades at the time so that didn't help. :~)

It would be interesting to compare specs and prices for Japanese cars vss British and European made ones from those days. Anyone got some old mags in the shed?


There is a very old Jeremy Clarkson video called 'Who Killed The British
Car Industry', which is quite amusing. It might be on YouTube (if
you're in the 50% who like him, and if you have a spare half-hour, that is).

The story of Japanese vs. British bikes is well-known. I've never been
much interested in car history, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was
a similar tale to tell.

Very similar except that Japanese electrics were over complex and tended to fail in their own version of planned obsolescence. Japanese factories made crankcases that were better matched and tighter fitter with air tools (fairly novel in the late 60's.) All British bikes were going abroad at the time as the country was bent on getting dollars in to pay for nuclear reactors, as the empire crumpled.

Even as late as the 1980's British cars had an oil leak problem. Eventually Leyland partnered with Honda (IIRC) to develop an engine for the Montego/Maestro?

Meanwhile British bikes vibrant as ever leaked their way to the back of the garage every winter, as usual. Management had still not learned that a little bit of rubbish goes a very long way -especially with a better engine. Once Yokohama rubbers were improved and tuned two strokes replaced the Francis Barnetts the buying public was phased out with the occasional chopped Tribsa/Triton parked in hedges while their owners walked to the nearest parts supplier looking for Lucas plug caps/HT leads.

In article ,
Weatherlawyer wrote:
Even as late as the 1980's British cars had an oil leak problem.
Eventually Leyland partnered with Honda (IIRC) to develop an engine for
the Montego/Maestro?

Don't think so. BL did buy in some Honda engines, though. Including the
rubbish V6 they replaced the Rover V8 with on the 800. ;-)

It was pretty well a one way collaboration, design wise, and more to do
with shared platforms. But BL did build some bodies for Honda.

--
*Upon the advice of my attorney, my shirt bears no message at this time

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Weatherlawyer wrote:

Meanwhile British bikes vibrant as ever leaked their way to the back of
the garage every winter, as usual.

Was that an intentional pun (of sorts) or did you mean vibrating? :-)

--
Chris Green
·

In message ,
Weatherlawyer writes
On Monday, 5 September 2016 10:37:34 UTC+1, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-) - perhaps car
manufacturers felt that they would not be able to make a product that
wasn't actually even worse?

More likely the problem was in quality control as the demand for any
old tat under British management was out of control in the sixties and
early seventies. Then planned obsolescence turned and bit most British
engineering sheds. Even Rolls Royce was hit mainly due to Japanese
imports (but they were using frozen chickens to test jet engine blades
at the time so that didn't help. :~)

It would be interesting to compare specs and prices for Japanese cars
vss British and European made ones from those days. Anyone got some old
mags in the shed?

I think my series 2 Morgan was around £550 in 1956. No, I didn't buy it
new. Still on the road, somewhere around Ipswich according to the DVLA.

--
Tim Lamb

In article ,
Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-)

Bit of an urban myth which originated in the US. They were no less
reliable than other similar foreign makers - and better than some. But of
course had a near monopoly of UK cars. Rolls Royce used them to make their
electrics too. So more of a case of Lucas making products to the standard
the makers were willing to pay for.

You hear the same sort of attitude in the US etc to 'Chinese junk'. As if
there was a US maker with competitive prices that was better.

--
*I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-)

Bit of an urban myth which originated in the US. They were no less
reliable than other similar foreign makers - and better than some. But of
course had a near monopoly of UK cars. Rolls Royce used them to make their
electrics too. So more of a case of Lucas making products to the standard
the makers were willing to pay for.

You hear the same sort of attitude in the US etc to 'Chinese junk'. As if
there was a US maker with competitive prices that was better.


I don't know much about the cars, but the electrics on my old british
bikes were pretty awful. There didn't seem to have been any attempt to
make them waterproof at all. I was reluctantly jealous of my traitor
friends who had japanese bikes :-)

On Mon, 5 Sep 2016 10:37:32 +0100, "Dan S. MacAbre"
wrote:

DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-) - perhaps car
manufacturers felt that they would not be able to make a product that
wasn't actually even worse?

I remember an American automotive magazine c.1990:

Q: Why do the British drink warm beer?
A: Because they have Lucas refrigerators.

The Ford RAC Rally support vehicles c.1975 were reputed to carry
something like 1 gearbox, 4 wheels, 2 exhausts, 8 windscreen wiper
blades and 20 Lucas alternators.

When I was keen on rallying in the 70s I bought a Lucas fuse box for
extra protection on my headlights. It came fitted with two 35A fuses.
The headlamps ran around 25 amps, which of course didn't blow the
fuse, but the plastic box overheated and melted due to the poor design
of the claws which held the ends of the fuses.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On 23/09/16 23:25, Graham C wrote:
On Mon, 5 Sep 2016 10:37:32 +0100, "Dan S. MacAbre"
wrote:

DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


Maybe it took a long time for them to not be regarded as an accessory?
ISTR that Lucas stuff was not particularly reliable :-) - perhaps car
manufacturers felt that they would not be able to make a product that
wasn't actually even worse?

I remember an American automotive magazine c.1990:

Q: Why do the British drink warm beer?
A: Because they have Lucas refrigerators.

The Ford RAC Rally support vehicles c.1975 were reputed to carry
something like 1 gearbox, 4 wheels, 2 exhausts, 8 windscreen wiper
blades and 20 Lucas alternators.

When I was keen on rallying in the 70s I bought a Lucas fuse box for
extra protection on my headlights. It came fitted with two 35A fuses.
The headlamps ran around 25 amps, which of course didn't blow the
fuse, but the plastic box overheated and melted due to the poor design
of the claws which held the ends of the fuses.

Not just them - the worst IME was Fiat.

1976 Fiat 131, had those "bullet" ended fuses you don't see much now, if
at all. Ours burnt out something like 2-3 sets of contacts on something
high powered, probably the headlights. We had to take the box out
periodically and redirect the circuit to spare holders.

It was a pig to get apart - a crows nest of not very flexible wires
inside. It was also the main throughway to get wiring through the
bulkhead so it had more connections than necessary for its primary purpose.

In article ,
Graham C wrote:
When I was keen on rallying in the 70s I bought a Lucas fuse box for
extra protection on my headlights. It came fitted with two 35A fuses.
The headlamps ran around 25 amps, which of course didn't blow the
fuse, but the plastic box overheated and melted due to the poor design
of the claws which held the ends of the fuses.

A Lucas twin 35 amp fuse box (with places for spares) was fitted to
millions of '50s cars. Without melting.

--
*Work is for people who don't know how to fish.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Saturday, 24 September 2016 12:44:53 UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Graham C wrote:

When I was keen on rallying in the 70s I bought a Lucas fuse box for
extra protection on my headlights. It came fitted with two 35A fuses.
The headlamps ran around 25 amps, which of course didn't blow the
fuse, but the plastic box overheated and melted due to the poor design
of the claws which held the ends of the fuses.

A Lucas twin 35 amp fuse box (with places for spares) was fitted to
millions of '50s cars. Without melting.

Yup. Mine didn't melt because it wasn't connected Not a single fuse connected anywhere as far as I could tell.


NT

In article ,
wrote:
On Saturday, 24 September 2016 12:44:53 UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News)
wrote:
In article , Graham C
wrote:

When I was keen on rallying in the 70s I bought a Lucas fuse box for
extra protection on my headlights. It came fitted with two 35A
fuses. The headlamps ran around 25 amps, which of course didn't blow
the fuse, but the plastic box overheated and melted due to the poor
design of the claws which held the ends of the fuses.

A Lucas twin 35 amp fuse box (with places for spares) was fitted to
millions of '50s cars. Without melting.

Yup. Mine didn't melt because it wasn't connected Not a single fuse
connected anywhere as far as I could tell.

Standard Lucas wiring was one fuse for none switched accessories, and one
for ignition controlled. Lights usually none.

Take one of the spare fuses and fit it between the two, and the ignition
became live with no key. ;-)

--
*(on a baby-size shirt) "Party -- my crib -- two a.m

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Saturday, 24 September 2016 12:44:53 UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Graham C wrote:
When I was keen on rallying in the 70s I bought a Lucas fuse box for
extra protection on my headlights. It came fitted with two 35A fuses.
The headlamps ran around 25 amps, which of course didn't blow the
fuse, but the plastic box overheated and melted due to the poor design
of the claws which held the ends of the fuses.

A Lucas twin 35 amp fuse box (with places for spares) was fitted to
millions of '50s cars. Without melting.

Because they were using Lucas lights that weren't working. In the good old day we had railways that were and bicycles for the rest of us if it got too dark to use the car.

Wasn't there some sort of restructuring of the wiring circuit design in the late 1960's. I recall trying to change the polarity of a dynamo but can't recall why or what on, nor how successful it was.

In message ,
Weatherlawyer writes
On Saturday, 24 September 2016 12:44:53 UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Graham C wrote:
When I was keen on rallying in the 70s I bought a Lucas fuse box for
extra protection on my headlights. It came fitted with two 35A fuses.
The headlamps ran around 25 amps, which of course didn't blow the
fuse, but the plastic box overheated and melted due to the poor design
of the claws which held the ends of the fuses.

A Lucas twin 35 amp fuse box (with places for spares) was fitted to
millions of '50s cars. Without melting.

Because they were using Lucas lights that weren't working. In the good
old day we had railways that were and bicycles for the rest of us if it
got too dark to use the car.

Wasn't there some sort of restructuring of the wiring circuit design in
the late 1960's. I recall trying to change the polarity of a dynamo but
can't recall why or what on, nor how successful it was.

I remember that! Choice of rotting the bodywork or corroding the wiring
loom?

--
Tim Lamb

Wasn't there some sort of restructuring of the wiring circuit design
in the late 1960's. I recall trying to change the polarity of a dynamo
but can't recall why or what on, nor how successful it was.


It involved "flashing" one of the terminals. Never understood how it
worked. Heard of it being done on a huge exciter on a massive motor - using
a fork lift truck battery.

In article ,
Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Saturday, 24 September 2016 12:44:53 UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Graham C wrote:
When I was keen on rallying in the 70s I bought a Lucas fuse box for
extra protection on my headlights. It came fitted with two 35A
fuses. The headlamps ran around 25 amps, which of course didn't blow
the fuse, but the plastic box overheated and melted due to the poor
design of the claws which held the ends of the fuses.

A Lucas twin 35 amp fuse box (with places for spares) was fitted to
millions of '50s cars. Without melting.

Because they were using Lucas lights that weren't working.

Really? I suppose a bulb failing comes under poor Lucas electrics. After
all you never see a US etc car with a light out...

In the good old day we had railways that were and bicycles for the rest
of us if it got too dark to use the car.

Why not just walk if it's that dark?

Wasn't there some sort of restructuring of the wiring circuit design in
the late 1960's. I recall trying to change the polarity of a dynamo but
can't recall why or what on, nor how successful it was.

When transistorized equipment became common - ie after NPN types arrived -
that was negative ground. And only really some UK cars were positive
ground anyway.

--
*The statement above is false

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Friday, 23 September 2016 23:25:48 UTC+1, Graham C wrote:

I remember an American automotive magazine c.1990:

Q: Why do the British drink warm beer?
A: Because they have Lucas refrigerators.

The Ford RAC Rally support vehicles c.1975 were reputed to carry
something like 1 gearbox, 4 wheels, 2 exhausts, 8 windscreen wiper
blades and 20 Lucas alternators.

so a joke and an obvious falsehood. I've run old Lucas electrics and they were fine, decades after they were made. Most things failed back when Lucas ruled, not just electrics.

There were lots of jokes about Ladas & Skodas too, they had equally little to do with reality.


When I was keen on rallying in the 70s I bought a Lucas fuse box for
extra protection on my headlights. It came fitted with two 35A fuses.
The headlamps ran around 25 amps, which of course didn't blow the
fuse, but the plastic box overheated and melted due to the poor design
of the claws which held the ends of the fuses.

Failures happen with every brand. Lucas had most failures because it had most bits installed. Thankfully cars are better engineered now.


NT

On 05/09/16 10:14, DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.

These days they all have the same gearboxes and engine management
systems, instead..

And buy tyres from places like Pirelli and Michelin.

I remember even big companies like GEC didn't make their own transistors
then either.

You fail to understand the modern world. The only thing companies design
is brand differentiation styling.

This year lights are part of that.



--
Truth welcomes investigation because truth knows investigation will lead
to converts. It is deception that uses all the other techniques.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 05/09/16 10:14, DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in
the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in
those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had
the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.

These days they all have the same gearboxes and engine management
systems, instead..

And buy tyres from places like Pirelli and Michelin.

I remember even big companies like GEC didn't make their own
transistors then either.

You fail to understand the modern world. The only thing companies
design is brand differentiation styling.

This year lights are part of that.




GEC made transistors in the 60s. Hazel Mill.

On 05/09/16 11:48, Capitol wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 05/09/16 10:14, DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in
the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in
those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had
the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.

These days they all have the same gearboxes and engine management
systems, instead..

And buy tyres from places like Pirelli and Michelin.

I remember even big companies like GEC didn't make their own
transistors then either.

You fail to understand the modern world. The only thing companies
design is brand differentiation styling.

This year lights are part of that.




GEC made transistors in the 60s. Hazel Mill.

well we never used any of em when I worked for em in the early 70s'




--
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's
too dark to read.

Groucho Marx

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 05/09/16 11:48, Capitol wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 05/09/16 10:14, DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in
the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in
those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had
the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.

These days they all have the same gearboxes and engine management
systems, instead..

And buy tyres from places like Pirelli and Michelin.

I remember even big companies like GEC didn't make their own
transistors then either.

You fail to understand the modern world. The only thing companies
design is brand differentiation styling.

This year lights are part of that.




GEC made transistors in the 60s. Hazel Mill.

well we never used any of em when I worked for em in the early 70s'





By then discrete transistor production had moved to Taiwan and it
was uneconomic to produce anywhere else. The products had moved on by
the 70s to be a lot more integrated and the computer designed FET
products were coming in.

On 05-Sep-16 10:14 AM, DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in the
50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights in those
days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.


I used to have a 1960s Lucas accessories catalogue. It covered a huge
range of electrical parts. However, there were plenty of cars with
specially designed lights - the Y shaped Ford Cortina rear light cluster
and the Triumph Herald rear lights integrated into the overrider/rear
fin come to mind.

--
--

Colin Bignell

In article 6,
DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in
the 50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights
in those days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had
the usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.

More likely a small volume maker like Aston couldn't afford to have
special fittings made.

But yes, some makes did share fittings. And switchgear.

Remember too that many cars pre about 1950 will have been converted to
twin tail lights using standard Lucas bits.

--
*The beatings will continue until morale improves *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article 6,
DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in
the 50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights
in those days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had
the usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.

More likely a small volume maker like Aston couldn't afford to have
special fittings made.

But yes, some makes did share fittings. And switchgear.

The "new Anglia" and the Mini used the same starter motor. Replacements
were cheaper from a Ford dealer than from a BL one.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

In article ,
charles wrote:
In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article 6,
DerbyBorn wrote:
Watched a programme about old British cars and rememberd that back in
the 50's and 60's so many cars had very bog standard Lucas rear lights
in those days (The round ones).

Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had
the usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suppose this polocy extended to column switches and other items.

More likely a small volume maker like Aston couldn't afford to have
special fittings made.

But yes, some makes did share fittings. And switchgear.

The "new Anglia" and the Mini used the same starter motor. Replacements
were cheaper from a Ford dealer than from a BL one.

Yes. The same basic Lucas starter was used on a variety of cars. I'm not
sure how many different 'power' versions they made, though, to cover all
engine sizes. Obviously, the drive pinions could be different - but could
be swapped over.

--
*If you think nobody cares about you, try missing a couple of payments *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 05/09/2016 10:14, DerbyBorn wrote:
Was it too costly to get styled lights made? Even an Aston Martin had the
usual bland Lucas fittings.

I suspect it really was too expensive.

The ability of computers to be used as tools to design and model optical
systems is phenomenal. Doing that "by hand" and building
models/prototypes was a very much more expensive and slow process.

--
Rod