Missing reverse lights on a '68?
Racer
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 474
Likes: 25
From: Springfield MO
At the time, it was an easy way to "disguise" your '68 as a newer car. Replace one panel, add a stingray emblem above the gills, and presto! the casual observer would see a '69 on the highway. In retrospect, it seems silly to us. But at the time, most of the updates (especially the switch from metal bumpers) were seen as very progressive and "modern." The cars were popular for modifying in ways to hide the age since they got more "space age" as the years went. Now, that is out of fashion and most people agree that it was a regression in style. But at the time, chrome bumpers were old and dated and everybody wanted their car to look like the latest version. My '68 had almost every single '68-specific part stripped and replaced with newer style parts. Reverse lights were gone. Wiper door was gone. Front clip was a '74. Interior was all '70-'72. The changes had been done decades ago, before the value of the early cars climbed. Back in the '70's and '80's, nobody wanted the antique-looking early cars. Losing the old backup lights was part of a quick way to "update" your car.
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 49
Likes: 1
My dream car as a kid.....my nightmare as an adult
At the time, it was an easy way to "disguise" your '68 as a newer car. Replace one panel, add a stingray emblem above the gills, and presto! the casual observer would see a '69 on the highway. In retrospect, it seems silly to us. But at the time, most of the updates (especially the switch from metal bumpers) were seen as very progressive and "modern." The cars were popular for modifying in ways to hide the age since they got more "space age" as the years went. Now, that is out of fashion and most people agree that it was a regression in style. But at the time, chrome bumpers were old and dated and everybody wanted their car to look like the latest version. My '68 had almost every single '68-specific part stripped and replaced with newer style parts. Reverse lights were gone. Wiper door was gone. Front clip was a '74. Interior was all '70-'72. The changes had been done decades ago, before the value of the early cars climbed. Back in the '70's and '80's, nobody wanted the antique-looking early cars. Losing the old backup lights was part of a quick way to "update" your car.
Last edited by scotish44; Aug 9, 2018 at 03:32 PM.
