November, 2015 Blog
Geoff and Andrea make an annual pilgrimage to the Land of British Cars to source unusual parts and accessories for our favorite cars and bicycles. As of this writing, most of the shipment has been unpacked and catalogued; here are pictures of some of what we have at the moment, with some highlights.
Foglamps & Spotlamps
5¾ and 7-inch Lucas 576, Ranger and 700 lamps, lenses, reflectors and parts. We have a good supply of beautifully-restored 576 and 700 lens-reflector units, in “as-new” condition. The 576 units sell for $105 each and the 700s are $125 each. If you have a broken one or a corroded reflector, these can make your lamps look great again. We also carry nuts, stems, screws, emblems and other parts for Lucas fog lamps. The following links will take you to our refurbished-original Lucas:
Headlamps
Bulb-type 700 headlamps, with or without pilot bulbs. A few are NOS, many decent used lamps, all RHD, which means the lamps dip towards the left on “low” beam.
Superb Flat-Glass P700 NOS Headlamps
We are really excited about these headlamps, which are NOS, very, very rare, and better still, they have FLAT GLASS! This is a really stunning set of lamps. Sold as a pair only, $750 includes the correct, hard-to-find large bulbholders and a pair of NOS Lucas BPF bulbs, in either LHD or RHD type. The lamps are good for either side of the road. They are so new to us we haven't listed them yet on the website; please call if you are interested.
Side, Tail and Flasher Lamps
As usual, there is a goodly selection of NOS and good used lamps and lenses for most popular British cars, MGs, Austin-Healeys, Land Rovers, Jaguar and Morris Minor. Of note is a pair of NOS L549 Morris Minor tail lamps, in perfect condition, $150 each. We have dozens of lenses for many applications, including some rare ones like AC 427 Cobras, Hillmans, Austin Cambridges, Ford Anglia, MG Magnette, well, it goes on and on.
Switches
Lots of toggle and push-pull switches, many NOS. We have white and black Lucas illuminated push-pull switches in good supply, great for an auxiliary lamp or pair of lamps. We also have several nice underdash switch panels in stock, some NOS. Check out the NOS white enameled panel; just gorgeous, and perfect for a Bristol, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, or anything else with an ivory knob theme. We like this one a lot. It’s $195 with a socket and plug for your inspection lamp or tea kettle. We have some of those, too!
Radios
We have some great old radios in this shipment, a Radiomobile or two, Motorolas, and several nice old (and VERY heavy!) Blaupunkts. Prices vary, but we’re still assessing and testing to see if any of them actually works. Often they do…
Books and Manuals
In addition to the England shipment, we recently acquired a huge collection of shop manuals, parts books, even books about collecting parts and automobilia. Lots of Jag books, an excellent paperback autobiography of Sir William Lyons for $25, how about a Morris Oxford pickup parts book for $40? To round out your collection of odd British books, we recommend a 1940 RAF propaganda book entitled Our Air Force. It makes for great reading and is a very rare item, yours for $75.
Tools
We love old car tools, and this year we have a good selection of jacks and lug wrenches, including a beautiful Austin A40 jack-and-tools set in excellent, patinaed condition, a jack ratchet for an XK Jaguar, and a really nice original Britool jack from a Jaguar Mark VII, VIII or IX. We also offer jacks for E-types, 3.4 and 3.8S and Mark I/II models, as well as some complete tool rolls, boxes and other Jag tools. As always, we brought some new Whitworth wrenches and sockets back. They’re not Snap-On quality, but they are quite usable and nicely-finished drop forgings. We also have genuine King Dick 3/8 socket sets, in stock and beautifully made, a nice King Dick 10-inch adjustable spanner, looking as though it has never been used, and the more usual 7-inch type, used on MGAs, Triumphs and Healeys. Plus lots of grease guns for Jaguars, MGs, Triumphs, Austin-Healeys, even AC Cobras.
Keys and Locks
We love original parts. New keys and locks for British cars are, in our opinion, not as nicely-made as original parts, so we buy original NOS Wilmot Breeden Union keys and associated locks whenever we can find them. This year we have a great selection of ignition and door locks, many of them rare MRN series from the 1940s and 1950s. Ignition locks and keys are on the website, but you’ll have to contact us for door and bootlid locks. We have lots!