Need help translating pre-war french car light switch

[Teamelva]

Apologies in advance if this is getting too esoteric, but I have been trying for a few months to translate the switch position labels on the dash mounted light switch on my 1927 Rally. The Rally is a french sports/race car made from ~1923 until they went out of business in 1933. Think of it as a poor man's Bugatti. It was manufactured in the same area outside Paris and contemporaneous with Bugatti, but not even close to the level of craftsmanship as were Bugattis. The gauges were made by Jaeger, who supplied gauges for many other french manufacturers in the pre-war period. [interestingly, Jaeger still supplies gauges and electrical vehicle components]

The switch has four positions:
"ZERO" - the "off" position
"LANT" - this lights a dim driving lamp in the front headlamps and the rear light
"PHAR" - this lights the low beams plus rear light
"CODE" - this lights the high beams plus rear light

I know which switch terminals are powered at which settings, but I want to make sure I wire the headlamps correctly to correspond to the switch settings. I hope someone in the vast GJ talent pool may be able to help.

 

[Eslader]

You might have the switch reversed in the last two settings.

ZERO: Obvious
LANT: Lanterns - or what we Americans call parking lights.
PHAR: Phare, French for headlight.
CODE: Phares code, or dipped headlights. Probably refers to the law (code) that says you dim the lights when there's oncoming traffic.

 

[bodyguy16]

You might have the switch reversed in the last two settings.

ZERO: Obvious
LANT: Lanterns - or what we Americans call parking lights.
PHAR: Phare, French for headlight.
CODE: Phares code, or dipped headlights. Probably refers to the law (code) that says you dim the lights when there's oncoming traffic.

I would agree, this is accurate.

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[Teamelva]

Eslader, thanks for the quick reply. I think your explanation make a lot of sense. If you were driving back then, you would usually have your lights on the brightest setting for best visibility unless you were driving somewhere where traffic rules demanded dimming lights (hence that would be the last setting).

And it turns out the lights were wired incorrectly. I purchased the car that way with french headlamps that appeared to be circa late 40s/early 50s. After searching for a couple of years, I finally found and purchased the period-correct headlamps and have restored the wiring and want to reinstall them. I'm attaching photos of the two different lamps so you can see what I'm describing. The first photo shows the incorrect lamps and then testing different settings on the correct lamps after re-wiring them.

Thanks very much for your help.

 

[Eslader]

No problem!

That is an *awesome* car. Good show getting the right lamps - they'll look much better.

 

[4xdog]

I love selective yellow lights.

A set of original French H4 bulbs with globe are in my parts bin from my first trip to France in 1984. The look of the streets of Paris lit by all those yellow lamps is an image that stays with one.

 

[kbs2244]

Yellow is mellow.

 

[Teamelva]

I love selective yellow lights.

A set of original French H4 bulbs with globe are in my parts bin from my first trip to France in 1984. The look of the streets of Paris lit by all those yellow lamps is an image that stays with one.

4XDog,

I agree with you. I love the look of yellow headlamps too, especially on vintage french vehicles. I have them in my 71 H Van and 71 2CV as well. Unfortunately, as you may know, driving with yellow headlamps is a moving violation in much of the U.S. (although I've never been pulled over for it).

Don't ask why I have three French cars. No one should have three French cars and I don't have a good excuse.

 

[goingtoarizona]

You may not have a Bugatti, but you do have some nice wheels! 2CV's and Land Rovers are cool!

 

[Teamelva]

Thanks going to Arizona. I like cars that are somewhat unusual.

For those on this thread that are interested, I learned that the dim clear bulb in my lamps was called a feux de ville (city light) and was commonly used in pre-war times when driving in town.

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