[paulel]

tonight while coming home from work, i got behind what i think was an old cougar. it made a right turn using it's turn signal. the right side tail lights were made up of 3 parts and they lit up in an animated style.
*kinda* like KITT's scanner, expect the cougar's turn signal just went to the right.
does this sound familar? or know what i'm talking about?

 

[rlyoung1]

I think that is the regular turn signal on the old Cougars. Don't remember ever seeing those on any other model of car. I think it's cool!

 

[CorvetteAl]

Sequential tail lights is what they are called. Pretty cool huh? Factory baby!!! Good to see someone had some that worked. A lot of times they are broke.

 

[Superbird77]

Were they like this?

And here is the link to the page.

They look great, though a bit confusing to me

 

[edseldave]

YES! Late 60's T-Birds & Cougars had the sequential turn signals ..

Neat stuff ! Why cant they do stuff like that on new cars ???

 

[robmcin]

Actually there is a company that with sell you an upfdated version of the sequential tail lights... all you need are 3 per side and it will work.

Firebirds, Camaros, T birds, Mustangs, etc

Ebay 2 light system

Ebay 3 light system

 

[Superbird77]

But, are you allowed that you put it on your car just like that?
Or do you need to have a homologation of some sort?

 

[paulel]

no, the cougar looked a bit different (maybe it wasn't a cougar)
like the one made by JL
i'll see if i can find a pic...

 

[ParkRNDL]

YES! Late 60's T-Birds & Cougars had the sequential turn signals ..

Neat stuff ! Why cant they do stuff like that on new cars ???

Years ago, my uncle had a 1965 Impala, which has 3 taillights on each side. He said that back in the 60's J.C. Whitney had a sequential taillight kit that he could have used in his car, but he never liked it because it worked ALL the time, including when you hit the brakes. So when you braked, the brake lights came on sequentially too... The factory Ford/Mercury ones had some sort of logic control that only flashed them sequentially as turn signals. When you hit the brakes, they all fired at once. I'm sure that with all the electronic gadgetry available today, someone could make a universal kit that could tell the difference between an electrical signal from the turn signal switch and one from the brake light switch...

--rick

 

[PWSchuh]

But, are you allowed that you put it on your car just like that?
Or do you need to have a homologation of some sort?

Do you mean retrofit to a modern car? That's a good question.

Back in the 60's, the Thunderbird and Cougar came with these sequential lights from the factory and there were no laws about such things because no one ever thought about it before, so no one ever thought to pass a law against it. Ford just said "Hey, this would be cool, let's do it."

Now there are lots of lighting laws, but I don't know if any of them restrict this sort of thing or not.

 

[robmcin]

No, you can do it if you like, no laws I have seen or been told of, its going on the 77 TA this winter.

 

[paulel]

here, it looked like these...
http://www.classiccarmall.com/carsfs/sale2872.htm
http://www.seriouswheels.com/1960-1969/1968-Mercury-Cougar-Cream-Maroon-Top-RA.htm

 

[robmcin]

Paul,

I think the question was just whether they worked like the ones in the picture.

By the pics you linked, they do.

It was factory on T Birds and Cougars for quite a few years

 

[noddaz]

I used to have a 1968 Cougar that had sequential turn signals.
They were cool when they worked. They were a mechanical nightmare when they didn't. There used to be a replacement kit called "lightning sticks" or something like that.. But they used to be something like $150 10 years ago...
These electronics look like an improvement...
It's about time...
Scott

 

[luckymopar416]

heres a "how to" link for mustang owners
http://www.mustangmonthly.com/howto/173_0404_ford_tail_light_install/

 

[flyin'68bird]

My friend had a 68 Cougar a few years back and it had the sequential lights. I think they all had them. In fact, my friend's brother in law has a 68 too. I'll have to check it out next time I see it. Those signals are unique. The first time I saw them I had to ask my friend if they were factory. :wave: