The exact quote is:
<heavy Italian accent>
"First rule of Italian driving: what is behind me is not important."
</heavy Italian accent>
If you really want a vintage look, reproductions of the Raydot (sp?) and
Talbot classic mirrors are available. The Alfas of the 60's were only
fitted with external mirrors by the dealers, AFAIK. My '62 had 2 goofy
chrome stalk ones out on the front fenders, right over the wheels. You
need about a 6 foot reach to adjust them from inside the car. ;=( My
'67 had a Talbot on the driver's door, none on the passenger side. Back
in the 60's, I don't think there was a universal requirement for outside
mirrors. I believe most were installed either at buyer request, or due to
local regulation. It was the same with radios. The dealers would drill
a hole and put the antenna in all sorts of dumb locations.
I tried a stick-on convex mirror over one Raydot on my Formula Junior.
It was too convex. I'd probably have to special order one that was less
convex. The stick-on made the next nearest formula car look like a gnat.
I also had trouble with the stick-on falling off! I'm back to flat Raydots
now.
MHKitchen@aol.com wrote:
>
> To all:
>
> This discussion has brought up the subject of mirrors. In my research of
> Lotus Cortinas, I could not find one vintage picture of a Locort with an
> outside rear view mirror installed!! ALL of the race cars only used the
> stock inside mirror! I found that most interesting. I don't know if the
> same is true for other vintage cars, but it would seem that mirrors were not
> a priority then. It reminds me of a scene from the old Gumball Rally movie,
> where the Ferrari driver ripped the mirror off the car and threw it out,
> saying something to the effect that "We don't worry about who's behind us,
> only in front!".
>
> Myles H. Kitchen
> 1965 Lotus (equipped w/makeup mirror) Cortina Mk1 #128
|