Racing Alpine Taillights

[Jay Laifman]

My 11 year old son is obsessed with racing Alpines. Not a bad thing of course. He is constantly talking about buying one when he is older to race (better keep Steve's number handy). He is also obsessed with racing Triumph Spitifires and Ginetta G4s - but we'll ignore those for here. Anyway, he wants to know about those individual round brake and tail lights that some of the racing Alpines had. Anyone have the information on exactly what lenses those are? I presume they were not unique to Sunbeams. Also, which Sunbeams actually had those special lights?

Thanks,
Jay

 

[Series3Scott]

The '62 Sebring Alpines had those separate round tail lights units, as well as the Le Mans Alpines. I'm sure they were shared with other Brit cars, but don't have any information readily at hand to give you a specific part number.

 

[mikephillips]

I don't recall if they're the flat or pointed lense but they may be either the Lucas L488 flat or L594 pointed lamps. I personally perfer the look of the pointed lense.

 

[agmason54]

racin' tail lights

Jay,
'Alpine -the Classic Sunbeam' by Chris McGovern shows them on page 120. They are pointy with a chrome base. Cool looking and may be a cheap alternative to plain old plain lenses.They almost look like front turn signals with red lenses.I might do that myself.....
Agm

 

[Andrew]

A cool photo

Here is a cool photo.
Also printed in the Invasion VII Club Magazine.

I hope this is of some help.
Regards,
Andrew

 

[AndrewM]

For the 1962 Sebring Alpines, the Works replaced the rear stock taillights with a Lucas L642 (body) with two 539 lights/lenses mounted over a blanking plate to allow for external access to lamps.

Andrew Martin

 

[SIVAllan]

Here's a pic from Al Mason (who had upload trouble and relayed it through here).

 

[Andrew]

A few mor photos

A few more photos for you to look at.

 

[tony perrett]

Racing Alpine Taillights.

Lucas L539 lenses as used as front side/turn lamps on the Rapiers.

 

[64beam]

Was the tail lamp modification done purely for weight saving or just for a different look for the race cars?

 

[Jay Laifman]

Thanks!!! From Eric (Jay's son)

 

[Andrew]

Was the tail lamp modification done purely for weight saving or just for a different look for the race cars?

I think it was to allow quick access to the bulb from the outside/front of the lamp.
I would think there would be a little less weight.

Andrew

 

[Armand4]

Was the tail lamp modification done purely for weight saving or just for a different look for the race cars?

A lot of the racers of the '60s and '70s had taillights like this for weight saving-- look at old Porsche 911R and Carrera RS lightweights for a good example. However, I can't think that the glass lenses used on the lights on these racing Alpines would be much lighter than the stock plastic lenses. Maybe external access was the only reason for the different taillights. Of course, you can't deny that they look awesome.

Oh, and Jay-- keep your son interested in Alpines! I don't know if you read Classic Motorsports, but they're currently running a series of articles about the publisher's son rebuilding a $200 Spitfire. I think exposing kids to vintage cars is a Good Thing in general, and it'll keep our hobby from dying out. I'll turn 24 in a couple months, which means most of the gearheads my age are wrapped up in Hondas and BMWs. I pity them, as they'll never learn the intricacies of a Weber DGV or the agony of a Lucas electrical system.

 

[AndrewM]

The Sebring cars also had the rear of the headlight bucket cut out to access the headlight lamp, so I would guess that lamp access was a necessity in distance races. The difference in weight between the stock rear lamp assembly and the alternate is negligible, so I am pretty sure that access to the lamps was the only reason for the change.

Andrew Martin