What is this?(old car question)

[jackelope]

I've got a '61 Continental in the shop and we're wondering what this is on the dash. It's snack in the middle of the dash. Picture is taken through the windshield looking in from the hood.
Anybody?

[h20hunter]

Either a traffic light spotter or animal spotter........per one of the guys I work with......he is all about old cars....

[jay.sharkbait]

High beam sensor

It turns the cars high beams off when the sensor "sees" an oncoming cars headlights

[h20hunter]

Okay...I'm going with sharkbait...

http://daveknowscars.com/2011/05/26/mercedes-benz-adaptive-high-beam-assist-new-feature-or-old-news/

[Heredoggydoggy]

High beam sensor

It turns the cars high beams off when the sensor "sees" an oncoming cars headlights

Sharkbait is correct.  Back in the late 1950's early 1960's there was an attempt to put headlight sensors in cars to dim the headlights to oncoming cars.  Cadilacs had a similar system too.  Don't know why they weren't a success...

[flinger]

Yup automatic headlight dimmer

[Woodchuck]

It's the phazer in Cpt Kirk's personal planet exploration craft, looks like he has set on stun.   

[jackelope]

High beam sensor

It turns the cars high beams off when the sensor "sees" an oncoming cars headlights

Sharkbait is correct.  Back in the late 1950's early 1960's there was an attempt to put headlight sensors in cars to dim the headlights to oncoming cars.  Cadilacs had a similar system too.  Don't know why they weren't a success...

Thanks!

High beam sensor

It turns the cars high beams off when the sensor "sees" an oncoming cars headlights

Thanks to you too.


This car has some crazy options for a '61. Neat stuff.

[Heredoggydoggy]

I  had a '64 Lincoln Continental.  No headlight sensor in it.  Either it had been discontinued by then, or it was an extra-cost option.     One of the best cars I ever had, though.  It had a 430 cid. engine, and got 22 mpg! 

[Bofire]

Yup my Mom had one in a 65 caddy, the thing tho was so sensitive that sometimes reflector posts beside the road trigered it.
Carl

[Heredoggydoggy]

Yup my Mom had one in a 65 caddy, the thing tho was so sensitive that sometimes reflector posts beside the road trigered it.
Carl

Maybe that's why it never got to be popular.... 

[300rum]

Must have been a Lee Iacocca car.  I know he was real big in having lots of options on cars, they were much more profitable for Ford. 

[jackelope]

I don't know. It's a '61 Continental Convertible. Very nice car.

[follow maggie]

Another vote for the headlight dimmer. Nice car, by the way

[coachcw]

wait til you work on the top ! I have the old manuals on them

[Heredoggydoggy]

I don't know. It's a '61 Continental Convertible. Very nice car.

It's kind of a historic car, too.  I used to see a powder blue Lincoln convertible parked in a Hadley, Mass. driveway that JFK rode in.  Drove by one morning on my way to work, and something shorted out and it burned up.  Sad. 

[jackelope]

This one is powderblue too. It belongs to a Limo company.

[huntnphool]

With today's HID headlights that thing would be permanently in dim mode.

[Skillet]

Grandpa had a 1967 Coupe De Ville and I think it had one of these in it. 

They would have been a lot more popular if they would have dimmed the other jerk's high beams instead of your own.