Rear bumper licence plate lights

[Kieronpollock]

Hi
Can anyone shed some light (excuse the pun) on the license plate light on the attached photo (not my car)
Reason I ask is I’ve come to install the rear bumper supplied by the PO which has these lights but the bumper does not fit; the corners don’t have brackets but instead have posts that dont line up to the holes in the wings. I therefore suspect I have a 260Z bumper in excellent condition that is no longer of use to me. I’ve ordered a new bumper from Bumperautomobile but of course it doesn’t have the licence plate lights. I’ve only seen a few images of cars with with these lights on so wondering about their history and use
Thanks in advance

 

[status]

Ones on the bumper work and I think the one over the plate is a dummy but can be made to work

 

[Kieronpollock]

I have new OEM light above plate to be installed. Just would like to know more about what cars/years have the bumper lights as many don’t seem to have them

 

[Robotsan]

Is a light a legal requirement on cars this age, or just for MOT? Just wondering for when I come to get plates for mine.

 

[Faster Behr]

Is a light a legal requirement on cars this age, or just for MOT? Just wondering for when I come to get plates for mine.

280Z has lights in the shroud above the plate

 

[jonbills]

It was a requirement in the UK to have number plate light there at least through 74.

 

[Robotsan]

280Z has lights in the shroud above the plate

Thanks for the highly relevant answer!

 

[Mr Ex Jnr]

Dunno the answer but my 240z don't have them on

 

[Kieronpollock]

Hopefully few others will chip in to clear up the mystery of these bumper lights. The one in the photo was from a 240Z sold a few months ago and still showing on Carandclassics, any others currently for sale don’t have them on - wonder if any other members have them on theirs

 

[johnymd]

As far as I am aware, UK cars requires the bumper mounted light to comply with regulations. IMO and the opinion of many others is they don't look as good as a clean bumper and top mounted light therefore most people change theirs.

 

[toopy]

My car which is UK supplied had them, but I've long removed them as I'm not keen, bumper still has the holes for now though!

 

[Albrecht]

This is one of those questions that is complicated to answer and still leaves some questions with regard to correct fitment and use.

The *original* design of the car included the top-mount licence plate light, but this soon fell foul of incoming Construction And Use regulations (driven by E-mark related legislation) for UK and Europe. However, quite a few cars slipped through the net and I think it was a bit of a grey area for a couple of years.

Nissan's solution was to make a 'dummy' version of the top-mount light (with no lamp holders or wiring) and to add the two 'bubble' lamps and chrome housing - with a dedicated rear bumper centre section - to light the plate from below. This was carried through onto the RS30/RLS30/GS30/GRLS30 models for UK and 'Euro' markets.

Factory parts lists complicate things by referring to "Europe" and "Exc. Europe" for some parts. Quite often "Exc. Europe" seems to apply to RHD Export market versions, but in the case of the licence lamp it is not 100% clear. I know of some cars that certainly had both top and bottom illumination...

Anyway, 50+ years later many cars have had new rear bumpers and have switched back to the original top-mount illumination. What's 'factory correct' is hard to pin down in many cases, so it is probably best to go with what the bumper centre section dictates.

 

[Kieronpollock]

Many thanks for the full response. My new bumper won’t have the light so I will keep it on the 260Z bumper and sell together as it’s a pretty clean original bumper that until fitment became an issue I was happy to put on a newly repainted car

 

[toopy]

This is one of those questions that is complicated to answer and still leaves some questions with regard to correct fitment and use.

The *original* design of the car included the top-mount licence plate light, but this soon fell foul of incoming Construction And Use regulations (driven by E-mark related legislation) for UK and Europe. However, quite a few cars slipped through the net and I think it was a bit of a grey area for a couple of years.

Anyway, 50+ years later many cars have had new rear bumpers and have switched back to the original top-mount illumination. What's 'factory correct' is hard to pin down in many cases, so it is probably best to go with what the bumper centre section dictates.

I believe mine was the original bumper, however the fittings never had any wiring to them which i always thought was odd. There was no evidence in the boot loom to suggest they were ever connected, illumination was from the light unit above.

 

[status]

If yours is. 76 then wot Alan says makes sense