Cowl Lights

[Steve-L]

I’m watching the movie Highwaymen. It’s about the manhunt for Bonnie and Clyde. 
anyway lots of great old cars. Which are the stars IMO ?

Anyway I noticed some of the cars had cowl lights. Which got me wondering what their purpose was. 
I mean if you want to see the hood of your car at night, I guess they’d do that for you. 
Thoughts?

Edited November 12, 2020 by Steve-L
Added pic

[48Dodger]

I imagine that since the truck was used by mostly farmers and rural families back in the day,

(low tech road and no street lights), It may have been a simple way to see those big fenders when turning right or left in the darkness.....

or to see more to the peripherals.... 

These are all guesses of course, but since they are somewhat frosted lenses and not clear like the headlights.....

I think it may have been to see the location of the front of the vehicle.....

They were an were options for some years, not standard. 

 

48D 

[bkahler]

That looks more like a spotlight where the beam can be aimed forward and to the side by a handle on the inside.  I have one on my truck on the drivers side.

[Steve-L]

Here’s a better pic of cowl lights. 
also a pic of a spot light. 
the spot light was typically mounted through the A pillar. I have one on my 38, which was used as a dog catcher’s truck. So I’m guessing it helped the dog catcher locate dogs in dark areas. 
 

after some web searching, it seems the “what are cowl lights for?” Question is a common one. Unfortunately there is no common answer. 
Some possible answers are:

A hold over from horse and carriage days

First attempt at parking lights 

Peripheral lighting of street sides

[bkahler]

Interesting!  I didn't know cowl lights existed.  

 

Thanks for clarifying.  My spotlight looks just like the one in your picture.

 

Brad

 

[Young Ed]

The 41-47 trucks came with cowl lights. They are the parking lights on them.

[bkahler]

It would appear the Pilothouse trucks also came with cowl lights from the factory.  I was watching an old dodge video on youtube and saw this.  There are cowl lights on both sides of this truck.  Here's a link to the video.

 

 

[wallytoo]

9 minutes ago, bkahler said:

It would appear the Pilothouse trucks also came with cowl lights from the factory.  I was watching an old dodge video on youtube and saw this.  There are cowl lights on both sides of this truck.  Here's a link to the video.

 

 

 

job-rated, but not a pilothouse.  1947 is one year before the PH trucks, and the truck in the vid-cap is not a pilothouse.

[Merle Coggins]

I agree. That's not a Pilot-House (B-Series) cab. 

[1949 Wraith]

23 hours ago, Young Ed said:

The 41-47 trucks came with cowl lights. They are the parking lights on them.

The 41-47 Dodge and Fargo trucks had the cowl parking lights, but at least the 1942 Plymouth trucks didn't have them, instead they had the park lights on top of the headlight pod. Where are your '40 Plymouth trucks running lights located?

[Young Ed]

2 minutes ago, 1949 Wraith said:

The 41-47 Dodge and Fargo trucks had the cowl parking lights, but at least the 1942 Plymouth trucks didn't have them, instead they had the park lights on top of the headlight pod. Where are your '40 Plymouth trucks running lights located?

No such thing as a 42 plymouth truck. 41 plymouth trucks use cowl lights same as 41 dodge. 40 plymouth (dodge too) trucks have one year only headlight buckets with little parking light housings on top. 

[1949 Wraith]

30 minutes ago, Young Ed said:

No such thing as a 42 plymouth truck. 41 plymouth trucks use cowl lights same as 41 dodge. 40 plymouth (dodge too) trucks have one year only headlight buckets with little parking light housings on top. 

I know the owner of this truck and it is registered as a 1942 Plymouth truck in Canada, probably Canadian manufacture. So you think it is probably a 1940?

[Young Ed]

1 minute ago, 1949 Wraith said:

I know the owner of this truck and it is registered as a 1942 Plymouth truck in Canada, probably Canadian manufacture. So you think it is probably a 1940?

Yes that should be a PT 105. Has the 1940 only lights, 40 grill, and the 39-40 headlight location. Hard to tell from that angle but the lights are on stands closer to the grill vs 41-47 where they moved to the top of the fender in a depression. 

[1949 Wraith]

OK thanks I will let him know

[Young Ed]

46 minutes ago, 1949 Wraith said:

OK thanks I will let him know

It's a great looking truck too. I have one also but it's in a million pieces. It was the parts truck for Dads 40 - over the years I've collected all the pieces for it.

[JBNeal]

Agreed that cowl lights were the precursor to parking lights, not so much for roadway illumination...I've seen several B-series parts trucks that put the aftermarket dual lens turn signals on the cowl, similar to the W-series cowl placement.  This location was easy to install and had decent visibility fore and aft, but sealing the cab from what I've seen was done with chunks of old inner tubes

[bkahler]

18 hours ago, wallytoo said:

 

job-rated, but not a pilothouse.  1947 is one year before the PH trucks, and the truck in the vid-cap is not a pilothouse.

 

Sorry.  I had been watching several different pilothouse videos and wasn't thinking when I mentioned pilothouse.  Videos of these old vehicles being built fascinate me