"Cornice" license-plate lights (was: "shelf" license plate lights)

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

On the discussion of when US GTVs and Berlinas transitioned from license
lights in the bumper to license lights in the "Cornice" (Alfa's term) above
the license plate, my copy of the 2000 Berlina parts books offers evidence to
support Andrew Watry's opinion that it was before the 1974 model year for at
least the Berlina and presumably for both cars.

The parts books of that era were loose-leaf, and pages would be revised or
added during or after a production run, and issued for dealers to update their
original books; an "Amendment (Index of Revised or Added Pages)" page would be
added from time to time at the front of the book, and each page has a space in
the upper right for "Data Ultimo Aggiornamento", date of last addition. Old
parts books in later circulation will differ widely according to how long a
particular dealership was in business and how conscientious the parts
department was in substituting the updated pages.

In my copy of the U.S.A. Version 2000 Berlina parts book the 1-1974 amendment
pages covering both the rear steel bumpers (p.157/1, tav.146/1) and rear
rubber bumpers (p.157/2, tav.146/2) show the tail of the car with cornice. The
1-1974 amendment pages covering the cornice and other external mouldings and
ornaments (p.159, tav.147) shows steel-bumpered cars both with and without the
cornice. The parts numbers for the cornice and its gasket are both 116
numbers; a 116.14 number for the cornice itself and a 116.08 number for the
rubber gasket. Both part numbers are followed by a diacritical mark, a plus in
a circle, which the front-of-book key-to-symbols page says indicates
"beginning with car 3001001". D'Amico & Tabucchi give serial number ranges for
the 1972 cars (presumably build-year, not model-year) from 3000001 to 3000800
and 3001001 to 3001250. It seems to me a reasonable assumption that those last
250 were 1973 model year cars. The 1973 build-year numbers continue from
3001251.

The borrowed 2000 GT Veloce parts books I have access to are un-amended first
edition. However, d'Amico & Tabucchi give number ranges for the U.S.A. 1972 GT
Veloces (again presumably build-year, not model-year) from 3020001 to 3020951
and 3021501 to 3021717. The proportions of the first and second serial number
blocks in the two models are close enough to assume that both the breaks come
at the split between nominal model years, and I wouldn't be at all surprised
to find that all 1973 model year US Berlinas and GT Veloces had the cornice
lights. The parts of course would differ.

One trivia puzzle, probably of no interest to anyone, is why the Berlina's
cornice and gasket have parts numbers beginning with 116.14 for the cornice
itself and 116.08 for the rubber gasket. The first production version of the
Alfetta Berlina (1.8 liter, 1972) was the 116.08, but it had no cornice and no
need for a cornice gasket; and there was no tipo 116.14.

John H.

Raleigh, N.C.
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