Re: Aussie headlamps

["Sasha Nackovski" <snackov@domain.elided>]

In the land of Down-Under, Like NZ and the UK, we drive on the wrong side of
the road, so the main beam has to dip to the left (as opposed to the right
in the US), to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. So we have to use lamps made
specifically for RHD cars. On quad headlight setup (as on most pre Milano/75
Alfa's) the high beam lamp is usually not a problem, as they are
non-directional H1 beams. The main beams, however, cause a few headaches for
RHD Alfa owners.

Graham Hilder was spot on with his assessment of RHD Carello lamps. Unlike
the US, which uses a standard sealed beam mounting system, the RHD cars use
a weird-ass mounting system, a "problem" that aflicts most RHD
105/Alfetta/Sud cars (with some exceptions). It would not be a problem if
Carello were still mass producing these unique lamps, but they are not.
Given that a majority of Alfa's made went to LHD markets, Carello see's no
economic sense in reproducing lamps for the small RHD market. When these
lamps do become available, their extremely high price reflects the fact that
they are a low volume manufacture.

Another RHD only curiosity is that the 105 GTV 1750/2000 series uses a H1
main beam. There is not a headlamp manufacturer in the world (apart from
Carello) that still makes a 7inch main beam- all manufacturers nowadays make
only a 7in H4 lamp, which requires wiring modification also to fit on a 105
series car.

The expense wouldn't be so bad if the Carello lamps were good quality. But
they are not- the lens is weak, and the reflector corrodes very easily. They
look good however, and suit their respective models perfectly. However this
is not enough to justify their high price. For my money, you cannot go past
Cibie's for good quality lamps, with the added bonus that the concave lamps
look vintage while incorporating modern technology.

Anyway, for the original poster there a few options. As Graham mentions, you
can get a US vendor to send the US spec headlamp mounting brackets, which
allow mounting of most normal headlamps. There is another trick that
involves a hammer, destruction of an old Carrello lamp and a tube of
Sikaflex. Finally, I know of some NOS original lamps here in Australia, but
be prepared for some serious wallet emptying.

Regards,

Sasha Nackovski- Melbourne, Australia.

>Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 13:17:09 -0500
>From: Joe Elliott <jee@domain.elided>
>Subject: re: Aussie headlamps
>
>Dare I ask why Down-Under-spec headlamps are different than those
>used in the rest of the world (excluding the USA)?

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