Reflectors on a BN2?

[mbrooks]

Anyone know when they started installing reflectors on the rear wings [sorry fenders!!]. My Jan '56 BN2 came without them. Riffling through the PO's paperwork I see he ordered two some years back but didn't fit them.

Thanks

Mike

 

[Dave Russell]

Hi Mike,
My production information show the reflectors being added to the BN1's around August 1954. Somewhere around car #159,802. Since the first BN2 was produced August 1955 at car #228,047 I don't know why yours doesn't have reflectors. It is possible that a few cars suffered from factory "mix & match" & yours was different. Or someone filled the holes, or you have a replacement rear shroud or ???
D

 

[Michael Oritt]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Mike,
My production information show the reflectors being added to the BN1's around August 1954. Somewhere around car #159,802. D

[/ QUOTE ]

Dave--

My car (222333)was produced in 12/54 and has them. However, I know of at least one later car, owned by one of the AHCA Concours mavens, that came without them. OTOH my car has what appears to be an original "Austin Of England" badge on the boot whereas it should say "Austin-Healey".

I think that many of the production change-dates were approximations, especially on 100's.

 

[Editor_Reid]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif Let us not overlook the very likely possibility that "some previous owner did it." In this case, the "it" is remove the rear reflector pods since the rear end of these cars looks better without them. It is not an uncommon decision to remove these pods during a restoration or even just a paint job.

My understanding is that these reflectors were added due to a new legal requirement in the UK. Therefore it is not likely that Austin would have been haphazard about installing them. I would doubt the proposition that they just skipped putting them on some cars because they happened to be out of stock or something. Much more likely, in my opinion, is that if they are not present on a car made after the date when they apparently started appearing, is that it is due to a previous owner removing them.

You have to be pretty careful about drawing conclusions from a sample of one car. For example, I'm currently in correspondence with a Bugeye owner who asserts that his Bugeye came with a boot lid. I would suggest that yes indeed it came TO HIM with the boot lid present, but it did not come from the factory that way.

The "DPO" (Dreaded Previous Owner) was/is capable of any number of atrocities (aka "modifications"). In my experience, anomolies are much more likely due to a DPO than to The Austin Motor Company.

 

[mbrooks]

Thanks everyone for your input. I had a look inside the shroud and there is evidence of holes being filled in. So the chances are that it had reflectors originally. Will probably leave it like it is since the paint job looks nice and I would have difficulty matching the paint for the pods.

Rgds

 

[satzman]

The previous owner of my BN2 restored the car in the UK. It has no reflectors. I'll check to see if holes were filled in.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[Michael Oritt]

[ QUOTE ]
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif Let us not overlook the very likely possibility that "some previous owner did it." In this case, the "it" is remove the rear reflector pods since the rear end of these cars looks better without them.

Reid--

That is always a possibility.
The car to which I refer is owned by Curt A_____, and you know that he is pretty savvy on issues of originality when it comes to 100's. I cannot swear that the rear badge on my car is original, nor have I gone so far as to remove the paint from under the boot lid to try and find different mounting holes that may have been filled, but the "Auistin Of England" badge has the customary pitting that only comes with many years of exposure to the environment, whereas my car was given a body-off in 1995 and that would have been an unusual "modification" for someone to have performed. I still maintain that there is a lot of range in what is correct, esp. in the older cars, and I know that you are familiar with the many exceptions in the Concours standards.

Missed seeing you at Conclave.
Best--Michael