Hello! Does anyone know of someone manufacturing quad headlight grille combinations, like the one in this old advertisement?
Although George Barris and the Alexander Bros. had success with the Quad Headlight look, it never really took off as a popular style. I'm surprised anyone even tried to market those back in the day. You can bet NO ONE is making them now.
Interesting... That grill/shell combo looks like a pretty exact copy of the Silver Sapphire, right down to the headlight trim and optional grill. While I doubt they sold a lot of them, I'm sure they sold some. But there was still a considerable amount of fabrication needed after purchase which probably defeated most buyers expecting a bolt-on part. As to the comment 'it never really took off as a popular style', that's certainly not true although most of the 'traditional' crowd here seems to wish it were. In the '58-65 era if you were building any sort of custom beyond a mild one, it probably had quad lights. Custom rods were never very numerous, being a small subset of the larger custom scene but they did exist. A few more quad-equipped examples off the top of my head would be Barris' Twister T and Ed Roth's Tweetie Pie, Outlaw, and Beatnik Bandit. Look at show coverage from the era, you'll see even more less famous examples.
The OP and I were referring to vertical quad lights integrated into the grille shell. That set-up, as well as quad headlights in general (on pre '35 cars) NEVER became a popular trend/style...it was more of a "flash in the pan" style/idea that was only tried for a few years by a handful of builders...and then disappeared. If it was actually a popular style/trend, a lot of folks would still be using it.
I need the rest of that advertisement ! I wanna order a couple of things off that page, at those prices they're too cheap too pass up !!! LOL !!!
I have had the same question for a while now have been trying to find something like that for my roadster. Looks like will have get something made or make it yourself. I have been looking at suitable existing grilles to modify which should make the job easier. Let me know if you come up with anything. Cheers Mike.
Several HAMBers over the years have pulled off the look, which is hard to do. I have seen more fails than successes. Nothing on the market to my knowledge that a guy can buy however.
Thanks Tman, don't know about the Edsel though, Have found a real early Bedford truck grille that is quite small and looks like a good starting point. what you said is right, no point doing it just for the sake of having something different it has to look right too.
The Silver Sapphire Grille/Shell may have been sold under license if AB did in fact build it before that ad surfaced...which came first?...OR the Knockoff craze was well underway perhaps...
The Jalopy Journal
