Spot lights

Pedro

Guest
Supporter
Anyone out there has a contact for the small teardrop shaped spot lights
Used on the gt40’s for the 24 hour races; I mean the ones usually attached
To the doors or to the rear deck.
 
G

Guest

Guest
MK1V,
They are not spot lights but are number plate lamps from the rear of MGB,s.
Used for illuminating the roundels for night racing recognition.
GTA/Gulf Racing.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Similar number plate lights (although not teardrop shaped) were used on a variety of British cars from the 60s & 70s. e.g. The Austin/Morris 1100/1300s, Allegros, Triumph Toledo and Dolomite etc, etc. They appear to have been used as number plate lights on some to the MK I GT40s and the MK IIIs too.
 
MkIv
I have the correct NOS meatball/ roundell lights that you are looking for,
they were made by ford. I sent you some pictures and prices via email


Regards Ted Baird
smile.gif
 
G

Guest

Guest
Mk1V, There were variants on some American and privateer 40s, so be sure what you want. My Gulf backed 40 uses the most commonly used lights(and not just on 40s) which were from the old chrome bumpered rear number plate lights, usually without using the angled spacer, from MGB,s.
Trust me.
GTA.
 

Pedro

Guest
Supporter
This is what is so great about this forum (thank Ron) I started by asking a question about spot lights and they turned out to be identification lights, the only purpose for them was to illuminated the ID numbers on the car, and now we are on to driving lights; Looking at some of my Gt40 books it looks like the same driving lights were use on the three JW Mirage Gt40’s.
 
Illumination of the roundels were not the same on the MkI as on the MkIIs..
Registration plate lights on the MkIs were not the same as the illumintaion of the roundels.....
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Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
While the MGB type of lamp was used, most of the race cars used a "teardrop" shaped lamp to illuminate the numbers. These are chrome/glass number plate lamps used on several cars, station wagons (estates) and truck bumpers. The Ford factory cars used these. I have seen them advertised for sale on eBay as "NOS GT40 parts" when in reality the are "NOS station wagon parts!"

Still available at NAPA and other auto parts stores, they may not be exact but are close.

Rick
 
Teardrops were not used on the majority of the racers, i.e the MkIs..(one offs might occur of course..)
But used on MkIIs etc..
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G

Guest

Guest
Rubbish !!
Basically, if you night raced a Mk1 you were probably of UK/European based team and used the common, easily obtained and good illuminating MGB number plate lamp.
MkIIs and MkIVs, and you were probably American in build and racing and the more streamlined and commonly available Ford lamp was fitted.There were a few other variants used as well but basically thats the truth of it.Holman and Moody probably had shares in the lamp factory because they lit some of their "le Mans" cars like christmas trees and works teams often fitted two teardrop lamps to the door roundels in order to illuminate the numbers sufficiently to satisfy the French racing officials at Le Mans (teardrops were not as bright).
Same thing applied to the body construction material colour coding as well but most used single colour truck lamps in the rear offside wheel archs.
Night racing in those days was colourfull and spectacular and nothing comes close to it now. The difference in the whole Le Mans 24hour race from the 1960s/early 70s, from the fairground to the racing, to what it is now is as different as black is to white.
GTA.
 
Rubbish ??
The majority of the Gt40ies are MKIs or ?

Just what i wrote...

The rear arch lights were used to identify the individual cars at night and most were not truck lights !
And they were also used on both sides of the cars as well, depending on were you were racing !
And MkIIs etc used colour coded paint work at the front on many cars to do the same thing.
As well as they also mostly got material construction small colour dots on the cars...

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G

Guest

Guest
Marco,
If you read what i said properly you will see that most of my reference was directed towards Le Man raced cars and that references were made to the colour identification markings on some cars that DID NOT use coloured lamps BUT used teardrop lamps to illuminate coloured squares, diamonds,circles etc, etc.
Most of the marker lamps i have come across were shallow bodied rear truck lights.
The previous postings were too loose in their content and i wanted to be more overview accurate for MkIV(not MarkIV) and others who do not understand the reasons for the lighting.( see first question)
GTA.
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
GTA
I think the magic of Le Mans is undiminished
and the night racing is absolutely fabulous.
I always go up to the top of the grandstands
above the pits and while away an hour or two around 2 to 3 o'clock just soaking it up (unless it's raining then I have to work). There is no other event that comes near and every year is so different. Everybody harks back to good old days - aren't these the good old days for tomorrow. A Russian saying:
"Today is yesterday's tomorrow. Because"
Dave M
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G

Guest

Guest
David,
I hear what you say and it is easy to look back with with "rose tinted glasses"
I have been to Le Mans many times so i do not say these things for the sake of it.
The sheer variety, volume,visible rivalry, colour,noise and closeness has completely been lost to this modern sanitized era of motorsport.
I stand by what i said in the first place.
GTA.
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
GTA,
Its OK, I wasn't making an issue as it's all
very subjective anyway. I've been going there
only in recent years (since 1997 with Schnitzer then Audi Joest)and I am very priviliged with the facilities provided to me. If I make a comparison with F1 and WRC events, there is no comparison and to be part of the winning teams each time is just amazing. Endurance racing is undoubtedly the pinnacle of motor racing and I don't care what the F1 guys say about their sport(is it a sport?) and being at the front of technology. An engine and a car that is lifed for 24 hours is just as difficult to engineer as one that only lasts for 70 laps or so of an autodrome. This is digressing from front/spot lights but I hope to see you there one day.
Dave M
 
While we're off topic...

David, I agree whole-heartedly about it being just as difficult (if not more so) to build an engine that lasts long. I was quite bemused by the comments coming out of the F1 camps after the change of rules that suggested extending the life of the engine was somehow dumbing down the sport.

Just, another point. Did I interpret it correctly? Did you question whether F1 was a sport?? In my opinion, I would go one step further and say that it is the ultimate sport.

F1 drivers are true athletes. Consider Mark Webber trains on a bicycle. During a training stint, he managed a time on a Tour de France section that would have had him on the podium, and he isn't the fittest driver in the paddock. He brushed it off by saying that he would only do these times over one day, as opposed to a whole event, but still...

Also, F1 drivers experience the highest heart rates ever measured, perform their knife-edge skills with both hands and feet, in G-force levels that cause their vision to blur, and do so in a situation that is life threatening.

To put this into perspective, it would be the equivalent of a footballer kicking a ball through the goals while passing another ball by hand to a teammate while being tackled... and if he was not pinpoint accurate in all these things, would risk serious injury.

Incidentally, I hold endurance racing in similar esteem for different reasons.
 
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