Ross, I think you might be referring to "Trafficators", an early form of
directional signals that popped out from the door pillars. later ones had
lights. I've seen one set where the tips and lenses were shaped like a
hand, though one's eyesight would have to be a lot better than mine to make
out the shape from any reasonable following distance. In any event, these
trafficators, while better than no signals at all, and lots more convenient
than rolling down the window at every turn, were totally useless if they
got iced up. As the auto industry became larger, traffic heavier and fewer
cars lived in cozy garages, weather accomodations became much more important.
For instance, I own a 1938 Cadillac Town Car, model 7553. It was a true
luxury car for its time, selling new for a little over $5,000, 40% more
than the fully enclosed standard limosine body. This car has been in
Massachusetts since new. It has a heater in the front compartment but none
in the rear. It does have a ducted defroster. There are no turn signals and
it has the tiniest of mirrors above the windshield and a small round one
mounted on the driver's door. The rear opera window is a 9" oval. Backing
up with any degree of confidence or even changing lanes to the right
requires a cooperative passenger with their head out the window.
Trafficators would have been a welcome addition!
As regards the overseas buyers for the cars at Hershey, just wait till the
exchange rates swing the other way.
Jerry Murphy
At 03:47 AM 10/10/99 -0400, Ross Jones wrote:
>Have to say the Pierce Arrow was the most beautiful car I saw at the show.
>There was a '29 or '30 Bentley 6-cylinder that was also gorgeous, but not
>fully restored. Another stand-out was a grey Rolls Royce two-door Landau
>from the '30's. It had dual vertical rectangular thingies about a half inch
>thick and 6 in. high behind each door. It appeared these things either
>popped out or had some other function, but nobody in the spectator crowd
>could figure it out.
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