Cars which share the same headlights?

[Populuxe]

I was looking at this beautiful 1948 Delahaye 135 Sport Coupe with special one-off coachwork by Hebmüller


When I realized the headlights looked familiar


It uses the headlights from the VW Beetle


Which makes sense since Hebmüller was building the Type 14A cabriolet for Volkswagen (the famous Hebmüller VW) at the same time.

 

[StreetHawk555]

The Noble M400 taillights (late model) are straight from the Hyundai Sonata (2001-2004).

 

[Liquid]

This one I'm not sure of.

The Lister Storm looks like it has headlights from a Lotus Esprit but arranged slightly differently; the fourth gen Esprit itself took its brakelights from the AE86 Corolla. They're even a bit Toyota Celica-ish.

They're definitely strangely familiar.

 

[VXR]

I believe the Lister Storm ones are B3 Audi 80/90.

 

[Liquid]

I believe the Lister Storm ones are B3 Audi 80/90.

Ding! Great shout.

 

[Wiegert]

TVR Wedges used Mk III Capri tail lights. Except when they used inverted SD1 units or nicked them from the Scimitar GTE before deciding that the Fuego was the way to go.

 

[TexRex]

That green 350i (?) looks fantastic.

 

[Eyes Fried Open]

I wonder on some of these that look verry close if lens numbers match.

I sell aftermarket panels and lights for a living.

 

[Tornado]

They buy the assemblies directly from the manufacturers in most cases. Aside from not having to tool up outside production of things that they can't directly make themselves, they won't have to have them certified, because the OEM already did that for them.



An earlier post had an example.

You must not be familiar with the parts bin sharing then, considering the Masers use the same switch units as lowly Dodge Darts.

Ferrari dumping tons of development money into the all new Quattroporte (a concept the overwhelming majority of the cars in this thread didn't have the luxury of) but then cheapening out on a major styling component visible on the exterior of the car that was sourced from one of the worst cars on the market at the time of debut is quite a bit different from FIAT-Chrysler sourcing switchgear for the current Maserati lineup from another part of FIAT-Chrysler; which is common throughout the entire industry and only really sticks out when it is brazen.



Plus I've owned several flagship GM cars and am intimately aware of how you can source parts for things like Corvettes from things like fleet-spec S10s.

 

[Liquid]

In a lot of these cases, what's the legality of them? I don't think you can trademark a specific brakelight design but does "intellectual property" not come into it?

Some of them just seem really god damned random if they are agreed upon and not just chancers using whatever they find.

 

[Eyes Fried Open]

Oh i definatly know some are shared and used accross multiple brands and within marquees. To me some of these looked close but not an exact match. Like the rx7 rear bumper lamp example. They looked close but not identical' though i was only viewing on my phone.

There was also quite a few on this list that i didnt know were shared with other models. Probably due to the fact we have hardly any of those models here in NZ.

I know of some through experience that you would swear match and would fit but mounting points or swagelines dont allow.

Example holden adventra (basically a lifted version of the equvilent commodore station wagon). Rear lamps look almost identical in size and proportion but will not interchange.

Also some can have the same base (the section that holds the reflectors and bulb sockets) but lenses are slightly different to suit bumpers or guards like Ford BA falcon and 1st gen territory headlamps. 1 of the will interchange with the other but not vice versa. Japanese models are a whole other kettle of fish when it comes to sharing lamps. There is so many shared and interchanged units you could fill a book.

 

[Tornado]

Some of them just seem really god damned random if they are agreed upon and not just chancers using whatever they find.

Well, it has to be easier to adapt bodywork that you're already making yourself (especially for the cars that are handmade and/or fiberglass) and just move to another type of light assembly when you've exhausted the supply of whatever ones you had been using or you want to make a styling update on the cheap. The only things in the thread that really got to the level of being a serial production car that wasn't somehow connected to the original car the assemblies came from was the Esprit, which yanked taillights off of something new at the start of every decade (and Toyota probably still had investment in Lotus when the Stevens Esprit was being drawn up even if it didn't debut until after they had separated); and the Chimaera/Cerbera, where I suspect running out of Fiesta taillights is why TVR switched to their own simpler design halfway through its life. So long as the OEMs are getting paid for the assemblies and you aren't shipping the parts off to build clones for South Africa, I doubt they care.

 

[GranTurNismo]

The UPS truck shares its headlights with the Oldsmobile Aurora Alero

 

[TexRex]

The UPS truck shares its headlights with the Oldsmobile Aurora

View attachment 923147

That's an Alero.

 

[Tornado]

No, it's a UPS truck.

 

[Liquid]

The UPS truck looks very squinty. Or stoned.

 

[Centroid]

The Caterham 7 uses the rear lights from

View attachment 796363

The Hillman Hunter

View attachment 796364


They really should have found something better by now.

Finally the 7 gets its own taillights:-

Overall an improvement I would say but not sure about that dinky reversing light.

 

[Centroid]

Another low volume producer borrowing...

Everybody's favourite crap three wheeler

The Mk2 Reliant Robin, took its lights from:-

The Ford Fiesta Mk2

And then when they facelifted it again

They rather awkwardly used these-

Vauxhall/Opel Corsa (Mk1/Mk2)

 

[Serge.D]

 

[MatskiMonk]

View attachment 1148960View attachment 1148961

The DB7 looks to be a rare works built V8 model... but uses the Lotus Esprit V8 badging.

 

[Serge.D]

The DB7 looks to be a rare works built V8 model... but uses the Lotus Esprit V8 badging.

Parts shared with other cars:
1.Jaguar XJS chassis.
2.Mazda 332F tail lights.
3.Mazda Miata door handles.
4.Citroen CX mirrors.
5.Hummer H1 transmission.
6.Jaguar engine block.
7.Ford Thunderbird supercharger.

 

[Wiegert]

The Mk2 Reliant Robin, took its lights from:-

The Ford Fiesta Mk2

And then when they facelifted it again
They rather awkwardly used these-

Vauxhall/Opel Corsa (Mk1/Mk2)

Someone suggested to me earlier today that the rear lights came from the Mk2 Astra estate. I did a quick search and they're actually from the Ford P100 of all things:

 

[Tornado]

Me in 1992: Our department needs a new police car because the lardass whale Caprice is kinda crap

Ford: I can do that.

Me: Wow that's great! I'll buy these for the next twenty years for sure. Now I just need to find someone who can provide the exterior lighting for the RV factory I also work for.

Ford: You're not going to believe this:

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

 

[Centroid]

Today I was reminded of the De Tomaso Longchamp

Which shares its headlights with the (European) Mk1 Ford Granada

The rear light clusters

Are from the Alfa Romeo 2000

 

[tornador]

TVR Wedges used Mk III Capri tail lights. Except when they used inverted SD1 units or nicked them from the Scimitar GTE before deciding that the Fuego was the way to go.

View attachment 916634 View attachment 916635
View attachment 916637 View attachment 916636 View attachment 916640 View attachment 916641 View attachment 916672 View attachment 916673

Nice, I didn't know that!

 

[Tornado]

I saw one of these yesterday and it amused me:

Regular Sprinter in the front.

Export C5 Corvette in the rear.

 

[SuperSportX]

The LM headlights are the same as the regular CLK and GTR the bigger ones just sit abit higher.

 

[Liquid]

I mean... it goes without saying for cars based on or inspired by each other.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

Also pretty common for GT1 / LMPs of the time to use stuff from the manufacturer parts bin to create brand synergy. See TT headlights on the R8C and R8R, or the 300ZX ones on the R390. Even more so if it’s ‘based’ on something in their line-up.