1930s Farm Trucks

[Guest p51douglas]

Hello, stumbled upon this forum while trying to find information. So question for old truck enthusiasts and/or historical buffs: When did interior cabin lighting become standard across trucks produced in the US? I specifically want to know if farm trucks or pickups made in the 1930s can interior lighting. Looking at Chevy if that matters. But I'll take any manufacturer info! Appreciate it much!

[Real Steel]

My late 1930 Ford pickup...no interior light.

My 1961 Chevy PU had one.

My late 1936 Chevy PU did not

[Real Steel]

I would check some Chevy truck supplier catalogs and see if they offer replacement parts for the interior lights.  After you check a few catalogs you should have a good idea of when the light option started.

[Guest p51douglas]

2 minutes ago, Real Steel said:

My late 1930 Ford pickup...no interior light.

My 1961 Chevy PU had one.

My late 1936 Chevy PU did not

 

Thanks Steel for the reply! Hopefully others may chime in so there's a larger sample size. And that catalog idea is fantastic, I'll go check the web right now!!

[Bhigdog]

!939 Chevy 1/2 ton JC pick up, no lite nor mention of one in options.................Bob

[Spinneyhill]

1937, '38, '39 Studebaker Coupe Express (1/2 ton p/u on car chassis) all had a dome light.

[Guest]

1932 and up Diamond T trucks had an interior light mounted on the back of the cab just above the rear window on the "Deluxe" models in all sizes.

[TerryB]

1937 dodge 1/2 ton pickup, no interior light.

Terry

[capngrog]

I would imagine that interior lights for farm trucks or any type of trucks, would have been an option back in the 1930s.  Insofar as standard equipment is concerned, I would imagine that different manufacturers would have made interior lights standard equipment at different times.  To further complicate matters, different truck lines of the same manufacturer would probably offer different levels of "standard" equipment.  After some searching around the old 'interweb', I have been unable to find any requirement for interior lighting on any type of motor vehicle.  The current NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) does not require interior lighting of any kind.  Here's a link to the standard:  https://icsw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/standards/conspicuity/TBMpstr.html

 

Good luck in your search for an answer to your question ... I suspect that there is not a single answer.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[junkyardjeff]

My 37 Chevy has no interior light,I picked up a light that was supposed to come from a 30s GM truck but I think its from a panel that had a rear light and I am going to see if I can make it work.