When I was a teenager, an uncle had a ’68 Firebird that sat near his garage for several years, and it may have subconsciously (along with my watching too many reruns of The Rockford Files) have led to my being a Firebird owner. The “arrowhead” side marker lights were one of many reasons for my still loving the ’68 model; that light is a detail that seems insignificant until you realize that most brands didn’t do it that way.
On the other hand, an obvious choice for “best side marker” illuminates the flanks of myriad 1968 Chrysler products. Those little round lights on the quarters and fenders might win the “beginner’s luck” award, at least aesthetically, considering that these lights were first required on American cars for this model year.
Side marker lights are far down my list of reasons for falling in love with a car, but these are my two favorites. Today’s question: Did anybody do it better? Please discuss below.
I have one – the 1969 big Pontiac. I remember this little detail from the one my Grandma owned.
The car employed a front-to-back trim strip that had (as I recall) a black vinyl/plastic insert. The marker lights were incorporated into the strip with a white plastic arrow-tip up front (lit by an amber bulb) and a little red light at the tail end of the strip.
The lights may have been small, but they were the most cleverly integrated marker lights I can ever recall seeing.
It is hard to get good detail on a reasonably sized photo. Here is the front.
And the rear.
Those are so small and inconspicuous that I might have never even noticed them at night.
Oh, it’s at night that these shine… and you can definitely see ’em.
My impressions are pretty subjective, but there were still a few full size 1969 Pontiacs roaming the streets when I was a kid. I do remember the side markers being quite visible at night, even from oblique angles… I’ma guess that their lens area is pretty similar to 1968 Mopar side markers. Biggest downside that pops into my head was that the orange coating often blistered and peeled off of the original 194A bulbs used in the front ones long before they burned out, rendering the emitted light white. This was an issue on all amber painted bulbs, though the smaller ones seemed more prone to flaking their color off. That problem was alleviated with 194NA bulbs, which utilized colored glass instead of paint or coating… and the problem cropped up again circa 2002 or 2003 when manufacturers stopped using cadmium glass (which was responsible for the amber color) per a RoHS directive and went back to flakey coatings. It does seem that amber bulbs are back to staying amber again… not sure how that’s achieved these days. I digress.
And while I’m rambling about 1969 Pontiacs, I’ll give a shoutout to the front side markers on the Firebird and LeMans… they are a simple round device with a clear lens and amber bulb. Mounted a bit low on the car in both applications, but I like their appearance. If they had been available in red, too, they probably would be a go to for applications where I need simple marker lamp without a reflector.
Gold medal for concealment. All it needs is a reflective insert in the trim strip to link the two.
There were lots of great rear side marker lights introduced in 1968. My favorite till today is the one that Buick used on it’s full sized cars. The round light with the tri shield emblem looked so cool. I also like that ones used on the full sized Oldsmobile’s as well. Funny thing is the Buick and Olds models had nicer read side marker lights then the ’68 Caddy’s did !
Regarding front side marker lights which incorporate cornering lights, my choice would be the ones used by Cadillac in ’69 and ’70 on their Deville and Fleetwood models. I like the way that are in perfect shape and size for the front fenders. To me, the ones used in ’70 have an art deco look to them.
You also might consider the Ford side marker for ’68-’72. It was a simple design rectangular lens. Very classic.
Speaking of which I assume you are talking this one?
Yet my Cougar, built late in the model here has this other one which just looks like it was plastered onto the outside of the panel instead of recessed.
The crest with vertical wings on the 1970’s fender tips first appeared in the center of the ’41 model. Before that, the wings were horizontal for several years.
My great aunt across the street had a white 70 Electra 2-door hardtop with a black vinyl roof with those lights and I always liked those. The rust that started forming on the lower body after 3 years, no so much.
Those small, simple, round Mopar side marker lights from 1968 are easily my favorites.
They look upscale, elegant and “look like they grew there” on ANY car they are installed on.
My favorite sidelights are the natural ones. In the ’50s most cars had protruding taillights that could be seen from the side. Chrysler made a special effort in this direction.
Sidelights were felt to be needed in the ’60s after most headlights and taillights were recessed inside grille surrounds or loop bumpers.
Love these “polls” My mind immediately went to the Pontiac’s. Didn’t didn’t they also have a bird head version 2? Regarding the Chrysler buttonstyle I could not agree more. A simple circle light might not sound special but isn’t special but they put more Chrome than was required it was required which in my mind transformed it into a great piece of accessory jewelry. Tasteful! Now somebody do a best steering wheel poll So I can put my favorite in
In the beginning, Chrysler and Ford had the most interesting side marker lights. Besides the aforementioned 1968 Mopars, Chrysler had discovered a loophole for 1969 and went with non-illuminated reflectors, except the Imperial, which got a combined marker/cornering light. The lighted side markers returned for on all 1970 cars, with the E-body getting a combined reflector/illuminated light strip.
As an aside, the 1968 Chryslers had square lights mounted directly in the front bumper. The rear lights were in the traditional location of the quarter panel but the 300 got a round light with a little ‘300’ center emblem.
Ford’s contribution was almost as goofy. For the 1968 Mustang, there were front marker lights, but the quarter panels had reflectors with not one, but ‘two’ different designs. I think the early 1968 Mustangs had a sort of elongated hexagon with chrome trim from the Cougar, but was changed midyear to a rectangle with body-color trim.
Other than the lighted Pontiac emblems, GM products were pretty ho-hum in the side marker light department.
Chrysler didn’t discover a loophole. The legal requirement from 1-1-68 was for front amber and red rear side marker lights and/or reflectors. From 1-1-70 the “or” was deleted. This was to give manufacturers maximum flexibility at minimum cost during the phase-in.
My first thought before even seeing the first pic was the red Poncho logo.
The 1968 Chrysler marker lights are my favorite too but there is odd applicationon, on the Dodge Dart. On the left quarter the combination of lettering and marker light makes the car look like its model name is “DARTO.”
I believe that was the version for Spanish speaking markets.
1954-55 Kaiser. Technically they are wrap around tail lights but with the finned extension riding on top of the fender I’d say that they qualify. From a manufacturing standpoint, the Chrysler round markers are pure brilliance. They are elegant and there is no way to mount them crooked because they’re round. Mid 70’s Imperial’s had a nifty rear marker light.
To me those 68 Mopar lights look like “oh crap we have to have something to be able to export these, go over to JC Whitney and grab whatever.” But that’s just me.
I nominate the Acura TL.
The Acura TL?! Honda deserve nothing but a rotten tomato for its lazy side marker design on this car. The reflector is fine, built into the wraparound portion of the front turn signal. But the “front” side marker light is that grey device behind the front wheel in what would be a fine side repeater location, but the car has repeaters on the sideview mirrors…really a thoughtless, sloppy mess.
(similarly mislocated “front” side markers include early Subaru Legacy and Toyota RAV4 models)
Huh, this whole time I thought that WAS the repeater. 🙂
I just like the way the character line incorporates the door handles and makes the rear side marker an actual design element as opposed to, say, hiding it in a wraparound lamp assembly.
I agree with you.
In a similar fashion the ’73-’79 Ford F-series had the side markers at the front and rear ends of the “scallop” or whatever that center groove is called.
Probably the only time those two are compared.
A cool one that comes to mind, is the 1969 Imperial’s front marker/cornering light. Sort of looks like shark gills.
Picture did not post.
The picture was probably too big. Reduce it to a maximum of 1,200 pixels in width and it should work.
last try
Like this.
Grabbed off a google search, shrunk in Irfanview.
Thanks.
This is off topic, but the good shot of the ’68 Charger R/T reminds me of something I once read about those bumblebee stripes. A Chrysler stylist was complaining that they had to go through years of art design school, only to have their nicely styled cars messed-up by marketing guys slapping stripes onto them. I can’t say the stylists were wrong.
From ’72 to ’75 Imperials had a shield with the eagle rear marker light. Very classy.
I agree. I happened to come across an Imperial at a gas station last year — here’s a shot of its side marker light:
Those were great. Sort of picked up where the late 60s Electras left off.
Rear/early vintage; Pontiac arrowhead as seen in the top pic.
Front/more modern; 1999-2000 Honda Civic. This was the first time I remember the reflector being on a lens surface *inboard* from the forward-facing turn signal. This is fairly common now if only because Honda’s doing this opened the floodgates. Not bad for a midcycle facelift.
Make sure your picture is less than 1,200 pixels in its maximum dimension, then try again.
I think the front side markers on the ‘69 full-size Chevys deserve honorable mention because of the engine callout. Dad’s Impala Custom proudly displayed “350” like this one. I had fun spotting the other engine sizes.
+1, PRNDL…
Similarly, I like the ’68 Chevy’s as well.
My Dad’s Impala Custom displayed (not so proudly) “307”. 😉
On the other hand, I also like the ’68s for nostalgic reasons. My Dad’s Chevy II also proudly displayed its not having anything to write home about (it was a 230 6, after all could have been a 4 cylinder)
These changed from white to amber for ´69 (along with enough differences to be able to distinguis them at first sight)
I’ll add the high-end engine option on this ’69.
The Argentinian Chevy (same car, but called just a Chevy) had a callout for the engine size. IIRC the first models had a 194, so having a 230 or 250 deserved the label. As side markers were not mandatory there, sometimes the “250” would be in place of the light, some other times it would be just as an American model.
BTW, that ’69 396, probably a coupe, was about as different from my Dad’s 68 230 sedan as could be on the same platform…
Now that you mention it, one of my good friends in high school had a ‘68 Impala fastback with the mighty 307 and Powerglide. Not a fast car by any means, but reliable as an anvil.
Funny that you mention these because I was thinking of the 70 full size Chevy front markers. They are three light strips integrated into the bumper.
Linking the light’s chrome surround to the engine capacity badge was a sneaky way of drawing attention to your engine choice. 🙂
For the front side marker, I’ll go with my first car, a 1973 LTD. The light looks very nautical to me, which is appropriate for this land yacht. 😂
The rear marker however looks like they just phoned it in on this car.
For the rear side marker, I’ll go with my most recent car, a 2016 Civic Coupe. The side marker is integrated nicely into the taillight assembly.
In this case, it’s the front marker light that looks like it was simply phoned in.
In this case, it’s the front marker light that looks like it was simply phoned in.
This is a pretty solid peeve of mine, I don’t like it when things don’t match front to rear, either have both in the light wraparounds or neither. I have the same peeve with bumpers(body color front, chrome rear like 71 Mach 1s, or loop front, normal rear like 70 Chargers)
The 70 Chevelle would have my nomination for nice side marker lights if it chose one style or the other on both ends, ugh!
What’s the trouble with the front sidemarker on the ’16 Civic? It’s faired into the leading edge of the wheel arch, so it doesn’t disrupt any body lines or look added-on. It’s well placed for good visibility, and my only gripe with it is that Honda chose not to wire it to also flash with the turn signals—which, like the Saturn ones I’m about to bellyache about in a separate comment, would have added zero cost.
It is ok Daniel, and well integrated into the wheel arch as you say (I looked at it more closely out of my office window after I posted the above), but the flat amber plastic just looks out of place on a red car (to my eyes)… and +1 on the repeater idea for it! The Civic, although nice, is built to a price point and I suppose they had to cut corners somewhere…. Shades of GM here… a two filament bulb would’ve cost a few more pennies per car than the 1194 or whatever the little one filament side marker light bulb is for that car.
No 2-filament bulb is called for. It’s purely a matter of whether one of the side marker light’s wires connects to this other wire or to that other wire (which also makes this omission easy to field-fix). See here.
1971 Plymouth Satellite with the 3 cubes.
The 1969 Firebird had nice ones also, at least at the rear. They were little Firebirds with spread wings that replaced the Pontiac pennant. Think of an illuminated red miniature “Screaming Chicken” logo, like the big hood decal on the “Smokey and the Bandit” TransAm’s of the second generation Firebirds from 1970 through 1979. I’ll try to find a photo to post, unless someone else beats me to it, LOL!
It’s not a close up, but here’s a ’69 Firebird for reference.
You beat me to it! Good Job! For that you get one (1) Attaboy! Collect one thousand (1000) “Attaboys”, and you are entitled to be known as a Leader Among Men! One (1) “Aw Crap!” wipes the slate clean, and you have to start all over, LOL!
OK, I’ll start a spreadsheet. 🙂
Turn signal from post-1968 Saab 96, incorporating the side marker light. On the down side, these lights were vulnerable to getting hit, and debris would collect on top of the light housings, promoting rust. But they were certainly visible.
And Saab began using these lights after they’d left the US market. Even more visible.
There was no side marker light or reflector in the rest-of-world light you show here. Just a front turn signal (upper compartment) and a front position light (lower compartment, possibly equipped with a dual-filament bulb to also serve as a daytime running light in the Nordic countries where they were required).
I like the ’68 Oldsmobile Cutlass ones for similar reasons to the Pontiac ones shown above: you can’t beat using the logo!
I seem to recall that Pontiacs other than the Firebird used the Pontiac “Chieftain” logo for the rear marker lights, also an older Pontiac logo.
Functionally, the 2nd-generation Saturn items are near the top of my list. They were designed with the lens bulged out over the bulb so as to be visible through a very wide range of viewing angles. This was because the same light was used as a turn signal repeater on Saturns exported to Japan. Passenger car side marker lights need only be visible from 30° ahead to 30° behind, which is a much narrower arc than what is required for repeaters. The bulged lens made the lamp visible despite the wheel arches, as you can see here on the white car—the illuminated side marker is highly visible ahead of the front tire, even from near the rear corner of the car. This is a very performant side marker light. It’s a really stupid pity GM chose not to wire them up on the North American cars to also provide a turn signal repeater function. To do so is a simple, zero-cost matter of whether one of the side marker light’s two wires is connected to this or that other wire, and GM knew that fully well, having put millions of vehicles on the road with flashing side markers since 1968.
Thanks for that link to your website Daniel. After reviewing your schematic, I see that it truly is a no cost situation there with the Crossfeed Method.
I wonder why Honda (and others, including your Ferrari 328 example, if in fact the modification was needed there, too) chose not to wire it this way. It would’ve been so easy.
Having said that, I’m still a little leery of messing with the wiring on that car. My Civic has had its share of electrical gremlins since I bought it.
The first was a two position Molex type connector under the hood that required repeated trips to the dealer while it was under warranty to find and fix. They got it straightened out just in time at 35,143 miles, with the warranty ending at 36K.
My Civic’s next electrical gremlin was a wiring sub-harness for the electric parking brake that nearly left me stranded 4 hours away from home on Christmas weekend this past year. The brake would not release. It finally let go allowing me to drive home after about 45 minutes of rebooting the car. Turns out it was another damaged connector within that wiring sub-harness.
Needless to say, messing with the wiring scares me a little bit on that car, even with your helpful schematic as a guide. I would love to do this though. So cool.
Maybe I’ll try it with my Mustang first, although I should just be happy with getting my sequential turn signals to work. 😉 The 2007 did not have those from the factory, but mine does!
Good question—Honda knew how to do this; many of their US-market models of the ’80s were set up this way from the factory. Maybe that was down to one individual somewhere in the circuit-specification group, and when he retired that little snippet of expertise went with him.
Another functional favourite: the first-generation Toyota Echo (Platz, Yaris). Its headlamp assembly contained the front turn signal located outboard, and the wraparound portion of the lens had a bulge like that on the Saturn front side marker. The rear-angled portion of this bulge had vertical prism lines moulded in. These caught light from the rather distant bulb to create a very suitable side turn signal repeater for the Japanese market. A double-filament bulb was used in the North American markets where side markers are required and amber front position (“parking”) lights are allowed, thus adding a wide-angle side marker function to the repeater.
Another fun one: the 2016 BMW 2-series. The outboard-facing inboard wall of the turn signal compartment has moulded-in optics to bounce light from the position/turn signal bulb sideways-to-rearward for the side marker light function.
And Australia had an interesting requirement for side marker lights on large vehicles: each lamp, all down the side of the vehicle, providing amber light to the front and red to the rear in accord with the angle ranges specified in the reg (at the top of the attached image, followed by actual examples)
The so-called ‘Fairground’ lighting. Makes it easy to see a big rig at night.
The Holden HQ had rear side markers in red and amber as well,
The amber portion was a rear turn signal repeater, just like on the VF Valiant.
The red section was a reflector only, though there is space for a bulb & holder. I was going to make them operational on an aborted HQ project.
Just a general comment, I’m not a fan of the side marker lights being integrated into the turn signal, mostly because that usually means that the turn signal is also integrated into the headlamp assembly, which is nasty! The problem is that the turn signal disappears into the headlight glare at night, making the front turn signal almost impossible to see at night! I don’t know how many times I’ve been sitting at an intersection waiting for cross traffic to clear, silently cursing because I thought some jerk didn’t signal, only to finally see the signal blinking away, hiding in the glare of the headlights. By the time you finally see it, it’s far too late to make your turn, because traffic following behind the turning car is too close for you to safely turn without creating a collision. 1990’s E-Class Mercedes and Ford Explorers are the worst offenders, the Mercedes’ in particular because of the “eyebrow” turn signal above the headlight, thin and short, but they’re all pretty bad, IMHO.
I agree with you that this is a problem. Front turn signals located within 10cm (4″) of the low beam (or fog lamp, or DRL) have a 500-candela minimum intensity requirement, that is 2.5× the 200-cd requirement for turn signals further away from those other lights. That’s why front turn signals are often located near the high beam instead—dimmer signals are cheaper to make than brighter ones. But obviously the increased intensity requirement, set many years ago when all headlamps were tungsten non-halogen sealed beams (not much glare) and all turn signals were incandescent (finite amount of light to work with) isn’t enough greater to solve the problem.
About the only good thing about the bluer-and-bluer trend in HID (and now LED) headlamps is that the colour contrast makes closely-adjacent front turn signals more conspicuous than it was with halogen lamps.
(I don’t agree that side markers integrated into the turn signal necessarily means the turn signal is integrated into the headlamp, and I don’t think side markers integrated into the headlamp create any problem at all.)
True, as I said, it’s not all cases, just a large enough number to be a problem. Usually, it’s because it’s cheaper to mold one large assembly out of plastic rather than two or three smaller assemblies. This wasn’t an issue with sealed-beam headlamps, because the sealed beam lamp had to have a separate housing, keeping the three (3) functions mechanically separated from each other. The advent of replaceable bulbs in a molded housing improved styling and aerodynamics, trading off the high replacement cost and glare issues mentioned previously.
The fact that the single large reflector assembly is much more expensive for the customer to replace after accident damage than multiple smaller ones just adds insult to injury. I was quoted a dealer price of over $600 to replace the headlight assembly on my 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata, because the “Speed” version used “smoked” lenses instead of the clear lenses on the base Miata. Polishing out the lens wasn’t an option, because water had gotten inside the housing, causing the metallized aluminum reflector coating to peel off of the plastic reflector surface, destroying the reflector.
I admit I’m biased. My ’69 Skylark. Could not get a decent picture when lit.
And can I nominate the worst side markers? Front ones on the Porsche 914
Picture didn’t show but I know what you mean about the 914. Though the 924 ones are probably worse, they look like the hardware store reflectors you’d stick to your mailbox post
“Amerikanischer tink cahs neet seit mahkah lights, ja? Fein, zo ve giff dem grett bik seit mahkah lights!”
(as I’ve commented before)
Picture didn’t show?
Most of these are old. Does anyone like how the light is on the Dodge Charger and Challenger?
It’s fine. In design it’s not unique or original or clever, just another of many vehicles with wheel arch side markers. Functionally it’s alright, though it’s a little further from the rear of the car than I like to see.
The ’71 Buick Riviera. The optional cornering lamp was combined with the front side light.
Mmmm, a long-time favourite of mine is the inverted triangle indicator repeater on the gen 1 Ford Focus. The way it lines up with the body lines is simply delicious:
I agree with you, but that answers a different QOTD (“What’s your favourite side turn signal repeater?”).
True, but I’m sure it could be wired up as a marker!
Sure, it could—but it’s in the wrong place for it.
And another fave is another Ford, the Australian EF Falcon, on which the side repeater was perfectly integrated into the rubbing strip, with a gentle elliptical shape echoing the decor strip in the front bumper. Also delicious!
Very similar to the ’93-’99 Subaru Legacy/Liberty (outside North America, where the repeater was replaced by a blankoff cap)
Since we’re talking repeaters, on a related note I have to say I have always loved the fender-top signal indicators common on many late ’60s/early ’70s Mopars (and perhaps other makes, as well)—the kind you could see flash from inside of the cabin of the car. As a kid riding shotgun in my Uncle Jake’s glorious ’71 Newport coupe, I believed these to be the coolest automotive feature in the entire universe, bar none.
I liked those, too!
I recall in 1968 someone nicknamed those MOPAR side markers as “Nader Eyes”.
It wasn’t just Mopar. A friend used to call all side marker lights “Nader Eyes”!
Cars of that era were Naderized!