Euro tail lights on a U.S 1971?

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V12StealthHunter
Posts: 141
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:31 am
Your car is a: 1971 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: San Jose, CA

Euro tail lights on a U.S 1971?

Post by V12StealthHunter »

Just wanted to gather some thoughts on using Euro (tri colour) tail lights on a U.S. spec 1971 spider ?

Would it detrimentally affect the originality of the car? I know on some cars it will and critics would moan about it but on some cars (e.g. 80s Mercedes), the Euro lights are quite sought after.

I've got to replace mine and I don't mind either type. So I thought I would look for something that would help improve the value of the car.

What do our Spider elitist crowd think?
1971 Fiat 124 Sport Spider
Daniel

Re: Euro tail lights on a U.S 1971?

Post by Daniel »

I'm not sure if it will effect the value of the car either way. In 2011 i purchased a pair of euro lens for the
rear of my mid 70s project car because I liked the way they looked.
njoconnor
Posts: 614
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:06 pm
Your car is a: 1972 124 Spider

Re: Euro tail lights on a U.S 1971?

Post by njoconnor »

Like Daniel, I prefer the look of the tri-color lights. Enough so that I'm fitting the bi-color front turn/park lenses on my 72/73 (depending on which wire one is following... :) . Go with what you like, IMO.

Neil
Neil O'Connor
Madison, WI
72 FIAT 124 Spider
12 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit
14 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn Eco-Diesel
ex-71 FIAT 124 Coupe
and a host of Audi's, Saabs, VW's, MOPAR's, Fords, and a Bimmer....
supplyguy

Re: Euro tail lights on a U.S 1971?

Post by supplyguy »

If you can find NOS let me know. Our 71's are hard to outfit with the originals.
vandor
Posts: 3996
Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 1:23 pm
Your car is a: 1971 124 Spider
Location: Texas, USA

Re: Euro tail lights on a U.S 1971?

Post by vandor »

The '71 taillight housings are ~1/2" wider on the outside that the 73-78 Housings that take the 3 lenses (and thus are available with amber turn signal lenses). Before I repainted my Spider I made the openings narrower by welding strips on the sides so I could use the later housings.
If you use new gasket behind the 73-78 taillights they maaaaaay be just wide enough to cover the wider hole in the body.

I don't think it would affect the value regardless of which lights you use.
Csaba
'71 124 Spider, much modified
'17 124 Abarth, silver
http://italiancarclub.com/csaba/
Co-owner of the best dang Fiat parts place in town
User avatar
V12StealthHunter
Posts: 141
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:31 am
Your car is a: 1971 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: San Jose, CA

Re: Euro tail lights on a U.S 1971?

Post by V12StealthHunter »

vandor wrote:The '71 taillight housings are ~1/2" wider on the outside that the 73-78 Housings that take the 3 lenses (and thus are available with amber turn signal lenses).
[snip]
If you use new gasket behind the 73-78 taillights they maaaaaay be just wide enough to cover the wider hole in the body.
I think you're right about the gasket trick. I have a mismatched set on my car, but it seems to work. Check this photo;
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JXfNVTV5iUQ/U ... 0001_t.JPG

Image
1971 Fiat 124 Sport Spider
Daniel

Re: Euro tail lights on a U.S 1971?

Post by Daniel »

vandor wrote:The '71 taillight housings are ~1/2" wider on the outside that the 73-78 Housings that take the 3 lenses (and thus are available with amber turn signal lenses). Before I repainted my Spider I made the openings narrower by welding strips on the sides so I could use the later housings.
If you use new gasket behind the 73-78 taillights they maaaaaay be just wide enough to cover the wider hole in the body.

I don't think it would affect the value regardless of which lights you use.
That's a good trick to know.
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