The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks OEM fog lights / period correct aftermarket lights

Howdy folks...

I was wondering if there were any from the factory add on lights on the front of our trucks?

If not, were there any interesting and common aftermarket pieces being used back then... and if so, what were they?

I'm thinking some round lights might look kinda neat up front, but I don't really need 'em.

I've seem cars even older than my '65, with those big round yellow lensed lights and I think those are neat.

Just curious...

-W

Woog, I have to be honest here. I have some on my '45 and I love 'em. But I just don't like the looks of them on the 60-66 trucks. I have a 4x4 so they wouldn't be appropriate for my truck, so maybe that's the root of my bias against them. But the 60-66 trucks have a wide narrow grill and the fogs would not only clutter the lines but also affect cooling I think. JMHO

I was 12 years old in 1960 when these trucks came out, and I was a car guy since I was about 4. I knew the make and model of every car on the road from about 1936-1960 and was amazed my parents didn't know the same information. With that said, it was my observation that many/most cars from the late 40's-early 50's had accessory fog and spotlights added. I can't say whether they were factory/dealer installed or owner added.

In 1946 fog and spotlamps were virtually standard, since cars of all brands were on a priority list and they only way you could buy one was after the dealer loaded it with accessories to rake in a premium price. The buyer either paid the gouge charge or didn't get a car.

By the late 50's about the only thing that was common were the dummy teardrop spots, added to customized cars, and very few new vehicles installed fog lights. It was a sad day when the drive in theaters stopped showing "Spotty" during intermission. It was a short film played while people went to the snackbar, that had either a spot, or a small white character that bounced around the screen, and everyone with a spotlight would try to shine their beam on "Spotty" before it moved again.

Between 1960 and 1964 real spotlights almost disappeared. Muscle cars came along, customs were dead, and accessory lamps became passe. In the 70's only lowriders and a few die hards (like me) kept the accessory lamps. My 54 Chevy sedan and 46 Ford sedan had both fog and spotlights. I just like them.

When the 60-66 trucks were new, I do not ever recall seeing one with fog lights. In spite of all that, I have Unity foglamps on my 1960. They're probably not appropriate for the period, but I like the way the look and the truck can be seen for miles when approaching from the front. I used to commute 75 miles a day on 2 lane roads. At one point my truck was completely black in front and a few times people pulled out to pass coming toward me (way too close) even though I had my headlights on. I concluded they just didn't see my truck. Now, the grille/bumper is back to white, and when I pull the headlights on, the foglights and parking lamps also illuminate and it's impossible to miss. Whether they look good or not is a matter of personal taste.
[IMG]http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/8987/newpic01.jpg[/IMG]

The fog lights look "correct" on Markeb's truck, but I think it is because of the GMC grille. Not sure you can pull this same look with the 63-66 grille styles.

That being said I too am a big fan of fog lights, and the owner of a '65 C10.

Woog, prove us all wrong and make it work, based on your knowledge and skills I am betting you can do it!

John

Makreb,

that is kinda what I was thinking about there... what you have.

You truck looks great, by the way!

Thanks for the reply, folks.

If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free.

I don't really *need* fog lights... but every now and then, I think they might come in handy.

Also, I've been seeing a lot of pictures of those round yellow lensed lamps on various older cars and trucks and they look cool on there.

I'm sure some more modern and smaller lights would work even better... though I'm not sure if they'd look right or not.

-W

p.s. Hot Rod John, I don't know near as much about these trucks as people think I do. I just read a lot on here... and ask a lot of questions.

You could mount the fog lights to the bottom of the front bumper. I have seen this before, usually the square ones though. (Of course not OEM)

I thought about cutting holes in the bumper itself and mounting the lamps from behind, bolted to the lower bumper flange and facing right through the bumper cutouts. But to make it work would require some welding skills to blend a surround, or visor over or around the lamps to make them look like they belong. It could make an interesting custom touch that if done right and look period if not original.

Fyi, they're not at all blinding as shown in the attached photo, but they do attract a lot of attention.
[IMG]http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/6204/nightfog.jpg[/IMG]

Here is a link to a place that sells Unity lamps

http://www.rinto.com/unity/unity.html

I've had aftermarket fog lights on a couple different trucks, and I like what they do: illuminate the road directly in front, especially the edge/shoulder. When it's foggy, that's what you want to see.
First ones were large, round, yellow-lens...if I could find them again I'd buy several pairs.
Newer ones are much smaller, rectangular, and only the bulb is yellow...definitely not the same look, but they might work better (halogen bulbs).
I hesitate to put the rectangular ones on my '65 because, well, I can "see" the big round ones would match the style of the truck better. Uh, oh...here's that "personal taste" issue again!
Best to all.

cm

Check out the link in the post right before yours.... 5" and 6".

John

I've been following this topic with some interest, for several reasons. I was wanted to know if there were any OEM auxiliary lights. I "Time and Distanced" rallied sportcars in the early 70s, and auxiliary lights were considered necessary. I thought I'd comment from a different perspective.

Most of the aux lights the Rallyist ran were European, Cibi, Carello, Hella, and Lucas. The well equipped Rallyist would run three sets of lights. The primary set would be for straight ahead road visibility, and the most powerful that could be found, IIRC) Carello, "Flamethrowers", Cibi, "Oscar" were popular. The Cibi, "Oscar" was a 7' or 8' diameter light putting out 1 million candle power. The Carello "Flamethrowers" were a narrow beam, with a good top beam cut off, and threw the beam down the road almost as far as the Oscars. The second set of lights driving lights with a wide beam and not that much distance. The second set were mounted as wide as possible, and crossed. These lights were used for cornering visibility, therefore crossed, and not requiring distance brightness. The third set were the fog lights. Running this many lights, typically 2-3 sets at a time, put a real drain on the battery. Most rallyist had a larger amp alternator installed.

Most Rallyist were mindful of other motorist, one of the reason for a good top beam cut off. The lights were usually shut off when it appeared they were causing a problem for other motorist. If someone was too slow in the fast lane during the day the "Oscar" would get their attention.

That said, I had a set mounted under the bumper on my 63 C20, and even at stock height kept running into things with them.

Larry

some information about the Unity lights for the antique vehicles:

http://www.unityusa.com/

Antique Vehicles


They have the 5":

or...

... or the 6" roadlight:


Both sizes come in the clear or the amber lens.

To the left on each link is a link to the 'road light brackets'.


I wonder which of those funky brackets would work best with our trucks?


LGriffin - thanks for chiming in, interesting stuff.

-W

The only brackets that are really suitable (imho) for trucks of our style are the 9929 or 02F type. I'm using the ball mounts shown on the right in the 9929 photo, bolted directly to the top rear flange of the bumper. The brackets on the left can be used to lift and rotate the position of the light. The B bracket is made for vehicles from the teens to the 40's. They clamp directly to the bumper brackets. On 40's cars a hole is cut in the splash pan and only the upper half shows from above.