Sometimes you see an odd part on an old car. Parked in a restaurant lot was a (I think) 1954 Olds 88 in green and white paint. It’s a nice looking car and must be in good shape. (Its plates are from 1400 miles away.) I love “oddities” on old cars. Attached to the trim below the windshield was a sma…

Especially beneficial if car had an exterior sun shield/visor.[image]

Yeah, I could have it in one of my 90’s cars. The factory tint at the top of the windshield made all lights look about the same color. I’d just never seen one before.

I think a traffic signal viewer may have either been a factory option or at least a dealer installed option on certain GM makes in the early 1950s. There were after-market traffic light viewers as well. Some had a suction cup and were affixed to the windshield and cost less than $1.

Some traffic lights back then were in the middle of the intersection, hanging from a cable, high enough to avoid being struck by any normal vehicle. One rectangular hanging fixture had lights on all four sides. That was much cheaper to make and install than four separate light fixtures each on thei…

I suppose I have seen them but really never paid much attention to them. The thing you have to remember is that most cars had visors over the windshield that made it hard to look up to a traffic light. This was especially true before tinted glass became available. I think we had a tinted windshie…

That would have come in handy when I lived in Colorado. There, it was only one traffic light per intersection, high above. Here in San Jose, besides the one above, there are several add’l traffic lights placed 6 feet above ground level; seldom if ever is there a need to lean forward and look up.…

Never needed one in my home town it had one traffic light in was movable & was colored blue.

Evert 49-54 Hudson with a sun visor I ever saw Had a triangular prism on the dash. If you like unusual accessories on old cars, look up pass forward mirrors. My son in law has one on his 50 Chrysler. When I started driving, New York State had no standard pattern for traffic lights. Some localitie…

[image] oldtimer-11: New York’s law back then required you to go past the center of the intersection before beginning a left turn. We were taught that too and were supposed to look for the “man” hole cover. They are all over the place now so don’t look for the cover, just don’t cut the turn …

Traffic light viewer

General Discussion

Renegade July 14, 2019, 4:33am 2

Some of the older car’s had after market prizim’s that set on the dash so you did not lean forward so far to see when the light changed.

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Traffic light viewer

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