GT40 rear taillights history

[Randy Folsom]

I have a question. When did the single taillights first appear? As far as I can tell the first gen Mk1s had the two smaller lights which were carried over to the Mk2. The earliest pictures of Mk1s with the single larger lights I can find are the 1968 cars fielded by JW Automotive. Cheers, Randy

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

The MK I stacked lamps are not the same as the MK II stacked lamps; the MK II are 1961-63 Corvair lamps that also carried over to the MK IV. The lamps on the MK I were Lucas units I believe and smaller diameter than the Corvair Guide units.

 

[Randy Folsom]

The MK I stacked lamps are not the same as the MK II stacked lamps; the MK II are 1961-63 Corvair lamps that also carried over to the MK IV. The lamps on the MK I were Lucas units I believe and smaller diameter than the Corvair Guide units.

thx for clarifying that the two lamp setup changed from Lucas to Corvair. My understanding is that when Shelby took over production of the race car program, his team went with a locally available solution, hence Corvair. It seems the single lamp solution originated in England around 1967 at either H&M or FAV. They probably did not have easy access to Corvair units and might have wanted to avoid Lucas. Or maybe a scrutineer said the lights need to be larger. It is curious to me that today it seems the single light is strongly associated with the MK1 and the double light is Mk2/4.

 

[Lee Patterson]

Let the search function be your friend Randy: https://www.gt40s.com/threads/gt40-rear-taillights-history.57356/

The dual tail light tail is referred to as an "early tail". Someone here or perhaps the Spain book will explain when it was updated to the single light tail. I don't think Shelby had anything to do with it.

 

[Randy Folsom]

Let the search function be your friend Randy: https://www.gt40s.com/threads/gt40-rear-taillights-history.57356/

The dual tail light tail is referred to as an "early tail". Someone here or perhaps the Spain book will explain when it was updated to the single light tail. I don't think Shelby had anything to do with it.

Brian, the link you provided is my thread. I am pretty sure you are correct that Shelby cars did not use the single light configuration. What I am trying to figure out is why/how did the single light come to define the MK1 so much so that the 2005 and 2017 Ford GTs use that same configuration. It appears that Ford’s own efforts in the 60’s always used the two light configuration. I am guessing the Alan Mann or H&M cars built in England are where the single light originated when they created the wide body variants.

This link provides from where they were sourced.
https://www.gt40s.com/threads/gt40-tail-lights.49868/
Assuming this is correct, then it is no surprise that the single light never made it to cars built in the U.S.

 

[JimmyMac]

Let's not forget the early GT40 light from the Mercury marque.

 

[Morten]

They used the lightest lights from the local shop

 

[Randy Folsom]

[

They used the lightest lights from the local shop

Morten, it is likely urban legend that they just bought what was available at a local parts store. At that time the Corvair was still in production, so the tail lights were likely only available from a GM dealer’s parts counter.
More about that here: https://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/threads/the-story-behind-the-rear-tail-lights-on-the-gt40.22626/
Weight saving was probably not a consideration for something like tail lights; the really aggressive weight reduction came later with the H&M cars.
Cheers, Randy

 

[Morten]

Quite possibly since I prefere the HM over CS ones

 

[Randy Folsom]

Quite possibly since I prefere the HM over CS ones

The HM cars had great paint, at least until before they added day glow identification to the nose and sides. My build will resemble a JW wide body, but with metallic paint like an HM. I like JW’s bubble fenders more than HM’s flares.

 

[Rod Dittmar]

I had RCR do the quad tail lights on my current MKI build. Wasn't sure about the look initially, but it's grown on me considerably. And, because it seems like the majority of these cars I see have the single light, I wanted something a little different than most of the cars I see.....
Anyway, the car has now passed it's Michigan safety inspection, insured through Hagerty, and today I received a temporary plate for it. While not quite roadworthy yet, it's very close.

 

[Randy Folsom]

Rod, that looks good. I think many of the MK2 dual taillight cars have larger holes in the tail to allow for more airflow which makes the lights look cramped. The way you have it looks well proportioned. I have been looking at every picture I can find, and I am pretty sure that every GT40 built in America had dual taillights regardless of MK1 or Mk2 designation. I am considering making the same modification as you since my car will built in America as well Cheers, Randy