As an owner of a WW2 MV, I have the usual problem of making sure no well
wishing motorist rear ends me at night. I have solved this in two ways:
1.) A temporary fix was two small triangular red lights, about 1.5 inches on
the base, that I found in the lighting department of my local Home Base
store. These are run by small batteries, found in hearing aids, and have a
steady, flashing or sequential very bright LED's at each corner of the
triangle I have glued the light to a heavy duty magnet found in most hardware
stores and then the lights can be mounted on any suitable metal surface at
the rear of the vehicle. The good news is that they are bright and
inexpensive. The lights that cyclists also use can be adapted for the task.
Another options is to go to Pep Boys, or similar, and buy a set of their
magnetic trailer lights for about $65.00 and connect them to the trailer
socket, (if you have one).
2.) My second, and considerably more expensive option has been to buy a new
wiring harness, which I needed anyway. I purchased this from Joe at Vintage
Wiring at Maine, (no connection, usual caveats apply, but it does look good),
and I had him add a set of turn signals and an additional rear light. I am
trying to keep the vehicle as original as possible but I personally feel that
(me and my family's) safety is an important point as well. I am replacing the
rear blackout light with the standard rear light, which gives me two rear
lights instead of the regular one. These lights also become rear turn
signals. At the front, I plan to use either the small convoy lights or
replace them with some bullet type hot rod lights, painted OD, as front turn
signals.
I know that some of the purists are probably going to flame me, but my
vehicle does not have Historic Plates, but regular plates. This is because we
use her most weekends and during the week when we get the opportunity, such
as going to the '50's night at Weinerschnitzel. I like the Ferret guys idea
of fixing a flashing light for safety, though I know this would not work with
every type of MV.
I believe that though we have MV's and a lot of them are 40, 50 or 60 years
old, we do not have a given right to be idle about the safety risks. How many
drivers today are only expecting to see only one brake or tail light,
especially when they are on the cell phone or have a SUV full of boisterous
kids? Our hobby is dependent on being good neighbors with our community. What
happens if someone gets rear-ended, T-boned and someone is killed? You can
see the headlines now: "Military Vehicle kills two!". The TV just loves to do
the so-called "in-depth" reporting that we all have seen. Typical tag line
"Do you know how many of these unsafe vehicles are on our roads!").
We have seen recently a lot of postings about proposed laws about MV's. It
would only take one incident for someone to get on the bandwagon. If you
don't believe me, look at the ban of guns in the UK. Even though the Dunblain
tragedy was awful and could have been avoided, it was carried out by one man,
who for the first time in recent British history, used a legally owned hand
gun. One person, I repeat, one person, started a campaign to ban guns. That
person worked hard at it until it was taken up by the media and the
politicians. Result, after a few short years, no more hand guns in the UK.
Could this happen to MV's? You bet it could. If you think I am paranoid about
this, I believe I have a right to be. I used to be a Firearms Dealer in the
UK and now they are like hen's teeth to find now. Remember, just because
you're paranoid, doesn't mean they are not out to get you!
Deryk Walker
1944 WC-56 Command Car "Baby"
Mission Viejo, CA
(Last outpost of the British Empire)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Sep 02 2000 - 09:32:27 PDT