anybody familiar with these Lucas headlamps?

they came off a Swedish S type that was brought to and parted out in the USA.

The lamps have huge light bulbs inside, I had never seen any like these.

 

The bulbs (from what I can tell), look a lot what is (was) in my 51 Bentley.

 

I'm guessing they are Lucas 7" H4 (halogen) European headlamps. They were an upgrade and they were made for both RHD & LHD vehicles.


Stu

 

They are definitely a standard Lucas H4 as Stu says.

 

yes, the glass has the following scripted: Lucas 700 European. They are 7" in diameter, came off a '66 S type which was brought to US from Sweden.

The bulbs are replaceable, something I like very much. These are the most elegant headlamps I've ever seen.

 

I might be wrong but these look more like pre-focus bulbs than H4's? My early MK2 has pre focus bulbs but I don't know much about them.

 

The bulbs are definitely H4, the pre focus bulbs didn't have the spade connectors as far as I know. they were a bayonet type with the 2 solder type connections on the back (like a stop/tail lamp but with a bigger skirt)

However, the Lucas 700 series included pre-focus lights (P700 and PL700), but they had a tripod fitted internally that held the focusing shield in place, this is a pre focus lamp, and below a replica P700, but this takes an H4 lamp.

 

this is what they have inside, they read: "410", "Made in Germany".

I've never seen such a huge bulb. Are they still available?

 

Many thousands of British cars had these headlamps and they were fitted on the XJ saloons right to the end. Quartz-halogen bulbs are now normally fitted and are a straight swap. Sometimes there was a small hole in the side to take a small side-light bulb and holder that was a push-in fit.

Later on, a sealed all-glass 7" unit came along which was, in effect, a huge bulb and if the filament failed, you threw it away.

 

thanks Mitchell, I think I am going to use these in my XJ-6, all I need are the chromed vented bezels. I have everything else, and since everyone here has the 7" headlamp fever, I've become infected too.

 

I have to apologize, they are not H4 bulbs, they are P45t bulbs, I hadn't spotted the 410 marking on the rear of the lamp.

They were 45/40 Watt non halogen, and have a slightly different base to the H4 which has tags on the side, still not a pre-focus bulb, they are not a straight swap for H4, but there is a halogen equivalent which is an HB12 these are 60/55 watt.

Both the 410 and HB12 are available, but generally not from the standard auto stores off the shelf.

 

I contacted the new Lucas and they say the bulbs are still available and referred me to a US supplier.

 

Who did you contact ? They don't really exist any longer as far as I know.

 

TilleyJon,

I wrote to them here: sales@lucaselectrical.co.uk

the website I found is this: Lucas Electrical | Automotive Aftermarket Components

 

Ah right, that is owned by a 30 yr old Polish guy, not sure he sells anything at all, he just has the website, not sure how he generates revenue, the company is registered as "small" so no full accounts are filed.

Lucas Industries were merged with American Varirty Corp in 1996 to form LucasVarity, this was bought out by TRW which are part of the ZF group. The brand name Lucas was licensed to Elta Lighting who manufacture automotive components and brand some of them as "Lucas", the actual trademark is held by the ZF group.

Elta Lighting are a basically family owned firm with a turnover of £8 million per year and started in 1993.

So as you can see Lucas do not actually exist, it is only the brand name that was licensed for it's brand equity (value of the name), so everything that is marked as Lucas is aftermarket reproduction, this is the reason that the quality etc is no longer the same.

The Lucas name is also licensed across the globe to many other manufacturers, which keep the Lucas brand going, but by no means the Lucas quality as we knew it.

So there you have a potted history of Lucas.

 

yes I noticed it wasn't Lucas anymore when he referred me.

I did find the bulbs elsewhere. New.

 

I did part of my toolmaking apprenticship at a Lucas plant near Cannock in the UK, they made the headlight surrounds and other items. We generally did a 6 month stint at various plants that were diverse from our ‘home’ (mine was Elliot Lucas- no affiliation with the electrical company we made spanners and pliers)

 

everybody always making jokes about Lucas when in fact they made very high quality parts and components that are still being used 60 years later.

 

I have what I believe are the exact same headlamps in post #1 that were on the left hand drive 1961 DB4 when I bought it. I replaced them and now trying to sell these headlamps. But how do I determine if these are intended for left hand drive versus a right hand drive car?

 

Why would there be a difference ?