Hey all, i recently nabbed a turn signal switch offa Ebay and was wondering if anyone knew it's original source or manufacturer? It was sold as a 1957 year of manufacturer, although not under any car make. It does have a cat-eye indicator and the only numbers i can make off of it is two letters and an "800" [/IMG] My question is, has anyone ever seen this and if so do they know of any background? Thanks!
I'm thinking earlier than 57. By 57 the more modern style of the rectangular switch for the replacement ones was very common. Cat's Eye was a manufacturer of lamps, lenses and switches. A lot of aftermarket turn and stop lamps was Cat's Eye. Turn signals started to be factory installed on cars in the early 50's. Chevy I think was for 53. In NJ on comercial vehicles, the State required trucks and buses to have signals installed even on stuff that did not have signals as factory equipment. And I think 54 or 55 was when that had to be done. All the pre war and 40's trucks had to be fitted with signals to pass the annual inspections. If you brought in a used truck from out of state, it needed signals installed. Cars that did not have signals did not need them.
Very interesting about the NJ deal, well then i learned something. I didn't know Cat's Eye referred to the manufacturer i thought it just referenced the indicator. It's currently in the mail so i'm dying to break this thing out it's gonna look perfect in the truck... Yeah the whole '57 thing could definitely be wrong, my guess is it was an aftermarket add on or something. If anyone else has anything go 'head and pipe in i'd love to figure out more about this thing.