Original lights produced

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 20, 13 October 1987, Page 9 (Supplement)

Original lights produced

Lucas has come to the aid of classic car owners who want to restore their rare vehicles to original condition. Genuine semi-sealed beam headlight units and oldstyle auxiliary driving lights from the 1950s and 1960s are back in production in Britain and have just become available in New Zealand. The move was prompted by calls from owners of classic British motor vehicles worldwide who were finding it increasingly difficult to obtain replacement lights for their vehicles. Fortunately Lucas had not discarded the patterns for many of its famous styles of lights, which went into models like the Austin Healey, MG Magnette, Lagonda 3-litre, Daimler Conquest, Triumph TR-se-ries, E-type Jaguar and many more. An initial shipment which was ordered by Lucas to test the New Zealand market was snapped up immediately by classic car enthusiasts and product manager (electrical) Jim Home believes there is an important market here for new '30-year-old' lights. He says: "The big market for these lights is with classic car owners who want to restore their cars to concourse conditions." "They are very fastidious about their vehicles and only the best will do. In the case of lighting, our classic range is the original piece of equipment, except that it is brand new and unblemished." The re-introduction of the classic range now means that owners will not have to scour junk yards and car swap meets in order to fxnd the proper lights for their cars. Also included in the classic range are three styles of auxiliary fog lamps and a range of driving lamps, all in the traditional style, for bumper-mounting. Among the first customer for the Lucas classic lighting range was Unispares, the parts division of

NZMC. Pat Stringer, who helps run the Auckland Unispares branch, also owns a 1954 MC Magnette and had a personal interest in the lights. He says: "We haven't been able to get these lights new for years, so as

soon as we heard about it we got in quickly with an order. "There's been a lot of interest from classic car owners, particularly those with old Rovers, TRs and Jags. And now I know I've got spare lights for my MG, too."