Can anyone tell me how “rare” a pair of these Hella driving lights with covers and wiring connectors
are? I’ve come across a few online comments that they are “as rare as hens teeth”.
Just want to know from someone who knows for sure. I’ve seen some pretty crazy ebay prices but have also seen crazy prices for a box of sewing needles. They’re off my 1990 XJ40 parts car.
Thanks. Peter
For what it’s worth my 1990 XJ6 has factory accessory fog lights but they are Cibie versions with white plastic covers.
Ok so “factory” meaning they were something you could order as an accessory/option from Jaguar
and they came installed on the car when it arrived new?? I guess I’m wondering since
this Hella set has actual covers with the Jaguar growler on them if “they” are the real thing
Jaguar offered from factory or was there other brands you could choose from such as your
Cibie that was perhaps just a dealer added option? I’m just trying to find out if they are as rare as the elusive “hens teeth”.
I think that would be cool and a great bonus since they came on a parts car for my '87 XJ.
Someone out there knows for sure. They just haven’t been on the forum lately but they’ll come across my question and clarify these driving light curiosities of mine. Thanks John.
Not sure where you are located, but in the USA market a 1987 model year car is a Series III, The XJ40 was launched here mid 1987 as a 1988 model. The lamps on my car were supplied from the Jaguar parts warehouse as accessory items in late 1990 when I bought my 1990 car and they have the round plugs that plugged into the harness after you removed the blanking plug that fooled the bulb failure module. . Google Images seems to show the growler cover lights fitted on the Vanden Plas and Majestic, perhaps they were stock on these fancier cars but not on the XJ6 and Sovereign?
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This blue 1990 4.0 Sovereign is my parts car that the Hella’s came from. This pic is old and the car
is now rusted and missing parts.
This is my 1987 3.6 Sovereign that I purchased that had been in an accident. It’s been rebuilt and is rust free.
The lights will go onto this eventually. These are both Canadian vehicles and I’m on the Canadian east coast. Still waiting to hear how rare they are. Will see I guess. Thanks for your feedback John.
You information is very accurate. I can’t comment on the pre-1988 series III cars because i don’t know them as well but fog lights didn’t even appear as an available item until 1990 on the Xj40’s. If you look at 1988-1989 Xj6’s front ends and the accompanying control panel under the dash you will see the fog light switch is absent. It wasn’t until 1990 did the button appear and you see the fog lights mounted under the front bumper. As far as those covers with the growler, my educated guess would be that they were a dealer installed option that you could pay extra for from the parts counter. The standard covers were not that fancy. Unless like stated before, they came on the more up-scaled Vanden Plas or Majestic models. The base Xj6 or Sovereign didn’t have them to my knowledge. As these cars are getting older, any fog light covers are a rare find in my opinion. Most people took them off their cars during purchase so they could use the fog lights in bad weather. Few saved them in the trunk or passed them on to a new owner for installation. Definitely keep them for spares if you have them or install them if you wish.
Two issues with the covers. If left off they expose the fog light to cracking by stones kicked up from the road. If covered, the lights cannot be used but if they ARE inadvertently turned on the covers can be melted from the heat.
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Yes for sure you wouldn’t want to leave the covers on with the lights on. I’d imagine these are quite rare and we’ll hang onto them at least for now. Thanks for all who took the time to reply. Peter
I have an 89 and it had no fog lights but all the wiring and plugs for FOGS was there behind bumper and dummy cover on dash between the hazard and rear fogs… bought the FOG rocker cover removed dummy cover, and yes installed CIBIE series 195 fogs in front. Working fogs with factory dash switch.
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Like i said, Jaguar probably anticipated that they would eventually offer the foglights in the future hence the blanking plate that could be removed and all the wiring was installed. That upgrade is a popular one and thank you for performing it on your Jaguar.