Found this pair of headlights yesterday and I'm planning to put them on a '14 Speedster. When I found them they had been in a barn for many years and very corroded but straight. You can see that I have partially cleaned one of the headlights using a lemon cut in half with salt on the surface. That does a pretty good job but required a good bit of scrubbing. I don't know these headlights very well and I don't know that much about metals. The light looks like copper to me? I held it up to a brass radiator and sure looks different. Someone told me the V on top indicates it was made by a company under contract to Ford to make lights for 1911/1912 Fords. I think they said V stood for Victory Company?? I'd sure appreciate any comments. Thanks
That is brass. It will polish up just fine.
The lamps are similar to 1909 - 10 Model T, perhaps Brown or E&J. I bet the V stands for what ever brand of car they came on originally.
Thanks Royce for the heads up on the Velie headlights. I checked Hemmings and eBay to see if there were any listed there but no luck yet. How in the world did you know about Velie? Thanks very much for the help.
There was a great article on a Velie reunion in the Horseless Carriage Gazette a couple years ago. Velie made some great cars; Mr Velie was the grandson of John Deere.
That doesn't mean the headlamps are from a Velie, but they could be. I am not at home this week, so I don't have access to my library to see what other 1909 - 10 makes started with the letter "V".