Experimental Lucas Rally Light

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 11, 11 August 1987, Page 2 (Supplement)

Experimental Lucas Rally Light

LUCAS has developed special driving lights for four-wheel-drive rally cars. The lights, still in the experimental stage, were fitted to Stig Blomqvist's Ford Sierra 4x4 and also to Tony Teesdale' s Mazda 323 4WD during the recent AWAClarion Rally of New Zealand. And they proved very effective, prompting Blomqvist to state, "They are superior to any other lights I have driven with in the past." The lights were so good that Teesdale only used four on his Mazda, in place of the six he usually carries. Because of the different cornering characteristics of four-wheel-drive cars, Lucas technicians in the UK felt they could considerably improve drivers' night vision by tailoring a light to suit these vehicles. The present Lucas 20/20 rally lamp throws a wider beam pattern, spreading the light. This provides vision for the drivers of rear-drive and front-drive cars when

they are swinging the vehicle's tail out in a corner. However, four-wheel-drive cars are not as "tail happy" when cornering and the driver doesn't need such a wide spread of light. The experimental Lucas lamp has a deeper body to throw a longer, narrower beam of light, which improves the driver's vision.

Lucas feels that with the trend towards four-wheel-drive in rallying, this is the light of the future. But while four-wheel-drive cars remain in the rallying minority, full production has been delayed and the lights are being handmade and machined. They are not even generally available to rally drivers in New

Zealand. . Russell Douglas, field saies manager for Lucas Industries New Zealand, says, "The feedback from Stig Blomqvist about the new lights was very good, however, we don't know when they will become generally available to drivers with four-wheel-drive rally cars in this CQuntry."