The best mirrors I ever had on a race car were intended for use on a
Motorcycle! Worked great - stiff adjustment, resistant to vibration,
medium long stalks so they stuck out to the side yet the design was such
that if you hit them they would swivel out of the way without breaking. On
Minis and my Midget I used a generic replacement inside rear view mirror
from Canadian Tire as the center mirror - cost about $9, and worked just
fine. Now I use the Raydot types, but be aware that there are at least
three versions of this almost generic classic! the best are the authentic
repro Raydots, with the black aluminium base section riveted to the mirror
bowl. Next best are the imitations ones that still have the heavy riveted
base, but not black. the ones that just have the base pressed into the
bowl aren't worth having - they fall apart after three races on a Merlyn Mk6A.
Brian
At 01:37 PM 03/24/2000 -0500, Simon Favre wrote:
>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
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