Discussion
Bit of a boring one this, but I was just reading the Octane DB5 article and it mentioned bullet wing mirrors, which I think look fantastic.
Now, I'm assuming the migration of lateral mirrors from the wings to the doors was for ease of adjustment? However now mirrors are largely electric that is no longer an issue. I've never driven a car with "wing" mirrors, but I would have thought they would pretty much eradicate the "blind spot", in which case isn't it time for mirrors to migrate back to the wing?
Oh hang on, it might also be a safety thing to avoid spearing pedestrians when they go over the bonnet. In which case, never mind....
Now, I'm assuming the migration of lateral mirrors from the wings to the doors was for ease of adjustment? However now mirrors are largely electric that is no longer an issue. I've never driven a car with "wing" mirrors, but I would have thought they would pretty much eradicate the "blind spot", in which case isn't it time for mirrors to migrate back to the wing?
Oh hang on, it might also be a safety thing to avoid spearing pedestrians when they go over the bonnet. In which case, never mind....
I had dinner once with a designer from Vauxhall and it was all aerodynamics to him as to why they were no longer considered for wing mounting. He was working on door mirrors on the INSIDE of the door, using a plexi refractor / prism or some such other techno chat thing which brought down the CD rating considerably, coupled with tucking the wipers in etc.
I believe at some point the driver's side mirror had to be adjustable from the driving seat - before the advent of cable or powered mirrors the solution could only be to mount it on the door. Don't know if that's correct but it's something that my Dad used to moan about back when I first started driving...
benjj said:
I'd assume aerodynamics had something to do with them disappearing.
spoodler said:
I believe at some point the driver's side mirror had to be adjustable from the driving seat - before the advent of cable or powered mirrors the solution could only be to mount it on the door. Don't know if that's correct but it's something that my Dad used to moan about back when I first started driving...
That could be correct.....And now, modern standards for pedestrian safety in the event of being hit by a car and thrown onto the bonnet will also be a cause for proper wing mirrors no longer being used.
There's no point having a nice cosy bonnet for the pedestrian to lie on if they're going to have their internal organs removed by wing mirrors at the same time.
saramos7 said:
I had dinner once with a designer from Vauxhall and it was all aerodynamics to him as to why they were no longer considered for wing mounting. He was working on door mirrors on the INSIDE of the door, using a plexi refractor / prism or some such other techno chat thing which brought down the CD rating considerably, coupled with tucking the wipers in etc.
I would have thought it would be far simpler to have small cameras mounted on the outside of the doors and a screen mounted ahead of the driver to display the images so he does have to glance too far away from the road ahead?(Of course, This does depend on just how long ago this conversation took place!
) Spoodler,
I go back to when rear view mirrors were not a Factory fitment. There were many wing mirrors on the market,and getting the right spot on the wing, yes,my first car had wings, as opposed to a pressing that was part of the bonnet etc like today.. (even the second car,both Ford Anglias one was a 1946 E93A the second a 100E), it was real pain in the location of it. The Vauxhall Victor 101 was a real bugger, the bonnet was full width and the average Bert those days eschewed the bullet racing mirror and still stuck the wing mounted ones but on the vertical part of the body, they stuck out like cockroach antenna.to get he view right you sat in to car and got a mate to loosen the nut and adjust the mirror. even the racing ones were fixed solid, No requirements for adjustment reqd, well back in the 60/70's anyway. Mostly they were worse than useless sizewise they measured about 100x75mm and could have either flat or convex mirrors. You couldn't see much The racing mirros were about 100mm in diameter and a much better option.
I go back to when rear view mirrors were not a Factory fitment. There were many wing mirrors on the market,and getting the right spot on the wing, yes,my first car had wings, as opposed to a pressing that was part of the bonnet etc like today.. (even the second car,both Ford Anglias one was a 1946 E93A the second a 100E), it was real pain in the location of it. The Vauxhall Victor 101 was a real bugger, the bonnet was full width and the average Bert those days eschewed the bullet racing mirror and still stuck the wing mounted ones but on the vertical part of the body, they stuck out like cockroach antenna.to get he view right you sat in to car and got a mate to loosen the nut and adjust the mirror. even the racing ones were fixed solid, No requirements for adjustment reqd, well back in the 60/70's anyway. Mostly they were worse than useless sizewise they measured about 100x75mm and could have either flat or convex mirrors. You couldn't see much The racing mirros were about 100mm in diameter and a much better option.
Getting the mirror closer to the driver also means you can get a much wider field of view. Wing mirrors were ok mainly because there just wasn't so much traffic and motoring in lanes. I also can remember when door mirrors hadn't even been thought of, and cars still had opening front quarter lights (very handy for smokers).
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff