It was all on the grounds of cost, originality and bizarre UK lighting
regulations. Cost, because the bonnet side panels from the Herald could be
retained, originality - it was conceived, drawn and approved(?) by the
Chief Designer in just five minutes one morning while he was seated in his
smallest room - and regs because we have (maybe still do have) some ga-ga
regulations about how close to the road auxiliary lights can be. The main
lights, namely the two upper/outer ones are dip/main beam while the other
inner and lower ones are main beam only. In this respect, the inners were
regarded as 'spot' lights and fell within auxiliary lighting regulations.
The whole thing looked ghastly when it first came out - the 'Chinese Junk'
was a common nickname within the factory, but the layout grows on you, I
suppose. For its day, I guess the front end of the Vyteez was just as much
an oddball as the Renault Twingo or, dare I say, it the ubiquitous Ford
Sierra, which still makes me feel ill whenever I see one.
John Macartney
A 'mole' now on the inside of British Motor Industry Heritage Trust
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