Headlamps

Maybe this has been beaten to death in other posts but I haven't seen the thread. The rules state that "headlights should be of the period and matching" Does "matching" mean ALL headlights or, on four headlight cars, only the two low/high beam ones and the two high beam ones need to match in pairs? The rule book doesn't mention four headlight cars.

I'd think that only the two need to match because at the factory the different headlights have different part numbers and therefore could have been different manufacturers or even if it was the same manufacturer, the light could have a different logo.

Is there another post about this?

Thanks,

Bill Krieger

Yes, this has been discussed extensively...

http://forums.aaca.org/f121/interesting-new-change-2013-judging-guidelines-348784.html

I would say that without any documentation, all headlights would need to be period correct and matching headlights. If you have documentation that the car originally was equipped with 2 pairs of different high beam and low beam headlights, that documentation would prevent you from receiving a deduction for non-matching headlights. Without documentation, they would all four need to match to avoid a deduction.

Just ran across a case of this at the Hershey Meet.

It was a four headlight vehicle. It had: 1 - GE, 2 - 101 (that was the only designation, no brand name, so they matched each other) and 1 - General Electric.

The vehicle got credit for having two matching headlights, the ones with 101 at the top of the lens. It received the maximum deduction (which is now the rule rather than the old rule of a 1 point deduction for any non-matching headlight) for the two that did not match.

Also, GE is one era and General Electric is another era....so they don't match each other.

I asked my Team Captain to discuss this with the owners because otherwise the car was amazing and I didn't want that max deduction to keep them from getting the next level of award, which they had said they want to take it to the next Grand National Meet. She went over to talk to them and I guess they wanted to hear it from me. So my T. C. called me over to explain in detail the situation.

My first comment to them was, "Please understand, Team Captains and judges are honestly not out to get owners. We are here to help and educate owners when we find issues like this." I wanted to put them at ease about what I was going to tell them. At first they were both a bit puzzled. But then I showed them each headlight and explained what I wrote above about how they don't match. Then they "got it" and said by the next Meet the headlights would match. I explained also that the pattern in the glass for high beams will match and the pattern in the glass for low beams will match in four headlight vehicles. The pattern dictates where the light will shine on the road as well as how they are adjusted.

Also, brand does not matter. I.E., If a vehicle came with T-3 headlights it no longer has to have T-3 headlights. As long as the brand and era within the brand matches there will not be a deduction.