Another of the many products made “in-house” here at Vintage and Classic Spares is this beautiful reproduction of the iconic pre-war Owl-Eye rear lamp. Made by Lucas as the Type 312 rear lamp and also branded as CAV these rear light units were becoming almost impossible to find in good condition.
We have developed our own tooling to have the bodies pressed from brass and then deep chrome plated. The internal components have been revised to make the lamps more reliable. A sturdy cast alloy bracket supports the modern, easily replaceable bulb-holders, with a curved stainless steel plate above. The number plate downlight window is now clear polycarbonate. These lamps are built to last.
The lenses are made from acrylic sheet (perspex) and can be supplied as Red & Amber, or Red & Clear according to how you plan to use the lamp. Lenses can be moved to suit R/H of L/H fitment to the car.
These units are now badged in line with our ever expanding Toby Lamp range. ‘Toby Mitchell – London NW1’ was the mark that John Mitchell used for his remanufactured CAV and Lucas pattern lamps which were branded ‘Toby’.
Lucas type 312 Owl-Eye lamp assembly
Softening the cut acrylic sheet so they can be formed and pressed into lenses.
Pressing the softened acrylic sheet into shape. You have to work quickly before it hardens again.
Raising the press reveals the newly formed lamp lens.
A batch of new red lenses ready for fitting
Lenses can be made in red, amber or as a clear lens
The newly made lenses are fitted into the chrome plated body and held in place with large circular clips. Our Toby brand badge is also fitted.
The beautiful final product!
Owl face plate with indicator lens fitted and showing clear reversing lens option.
Study cast alloy bulb holder bracket to update original internal design.
Internal components and bulb layout showing brake light, indicator bulb and tail/number plate bulb configuration.
Can I purchase 2 red lenses for my ORIGINAL unit and will they fit correctly?
Thank you in advance
Hi Joseph, sorry, but when we re-tooled for production of this lamp many years ago the lenses were made slightly smaller. Not enough to notice, but our new lenses will not fit correctly in your old unit. I can only suggest trying Genius of the Lamp in Birmingham, UK.