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origins of the early Snow Trac tail light

Alp Trac

New member
Hi Guys, thankyou very much for all of help so far.

I am trying to locate a tail light for my Snow Trac, Christer has none.

A lens would be sufficient.

Does any one know if the round Hella unit was fitted to anything other than the Snow Trac? I thought that since the total number of Snow Trac units produced was relativly low that it is unlikely that Activ had a dedicated unit produced for the Snow Trac.

Any ideas? Thanks Adam
 

Lyndon

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
There were only 2 tail lights used on Snow Trac's and the "Masters" as far as I know. The early one was a 1946 Bug tail light. A lense might be obtained thru VW collectors, but probably not cheaply. An aftermarket replica of the horn button is about 200 pounds, I don't know what that translates to in US dollars. The year or 2 earlier, 1945, 44 & 43 probably also fit, but these are "WAR Years" and vertually impossable to find. Hella made them. The Later, larger round taillight was also made by Hella, it never was used on VW Products, and was probably available in any parts store in Europe for many years as they were probably fitted to trucks and trailers. It is a Unique light in that it has a Yellow Center, Red outer rings, and some had a white lense in the bottom, seperate for back-up. They hold 3 lamps also making them a bit unique. As they are not a War Years product it is possible that a spare exsists, somewhere. I may be mistaken about there only being 2 lights used. The Military units were 24 Volt and I've never paid much attention to the tail lights. I purchases what I believed to be the last spares from the Alaska Dealer in 94, but never did try to get them from Christer or some one in Europe. -
 

Alp Trac

New member
Have attached photo! The lens Says Hella at the top, any ideas? Thanks
 

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Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Adam, I noticed a couple things about your Snow Trac that are different than mine. First, the lower body panel on yours is tapered while mine is not. Second, I don't have the same light that you have! Next to the fuel filler pipe on my Snow Trac is a completely different light. Mine shines a white light straight down onto what would be a spot for a license plate.

(in the photo below you can see the rear of my Snow Trac but the fuel tank is NOT installed so there is just a hole where the fuel filler pipe would stick out, the light fixture I have is adjacent to the fuel filler hole)
 

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Lyndon

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
The light lower and to the left, is the license plate light. ST4's were designed to be "Street Legal". Old style had the 2 smaller lights on the body, New Style machines had the bigger, 2 color, light mounted on the side racks.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Lyndon said:
The light lower and to the left, is the license plate light. ST4's were designed to be "Street Legal". Old style had the 2 smaller lights on the body, New Style machines had the bigger, 2 color, light mounted on the side racks.
OK so what happened to Adam's lights? Here is a photo of the rear of his Snow Trac as it is now.

I don't know what style ST4 he has, it seems to be a transitional unit. Dual Belt tracs, but with the big wheels in front, and the old style drivers seat.
 

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Alp Trac

New member
All comes to those who wait!

Just bought these on ebay that are an almost identical match.

For those on the hunt for such a light the item description was:

They offer here for two old back lights of the fa "Hella". These old lights were mounted in the 612th Deutz year of construction in 1957. The back lights are very old and angerostet. In spite of these defects the back lights are still fully operational, because the luminous discs have not faded (orange / rot). Without light bulbs. For an old-timer lover maybe just the right spare part

I guess a Deutz is a tractor, and the fact that the lights are '57 and my Sno Trac is a '63 shows again the bargain hunting skills of Aktiv Fischer, buying up surplus stock.

I paid 36 euros for them plus the post as a guide ($45.00)

Good luck!
 

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Lyndon

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Congradulations! You were probably bidding against a bunch of VW Vintage Fans, some of them willing to pay "Big Bucks" for the Real Thing!
 
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