The mysteries of trafficators

I read with interest Scott Moore’s letter ‘Anoraks – do you love them or hate them?’ in OBM 445.

He included a photograph of his Triumph 2.5PI and asked if anyone could verify if the side repeater indicator, or ‘trafficator’ as he referred to them, situated on the door pillars between front and rear doors, were a standard fitting, after this was queried by an Anorak he had met.

I had the pleasure to drive one of those cars as a patrol car while a member of the Nottinghamshire Police traffic department in the 1970s and I can tell Scott that the indicator repeaters were a standard fitting. The odd thing is that I seem to remember that, in the small print of the Road Traffic Construction and Use Regs, side repeater indicators were supposed to be fitted no more than a third of the vehicle’s length from the front of the car. I always wondered about that but couldn’t see why that should be an issue. I stand to be corrected on that.

I wonder how Scott gets on with his PI? I remember the one I drove to be rather quick (in its day) and would spit flames out of the exhaust on the overrun after travelling at high speed – very noticeable at night. I believe the type of fuel injection fitted, which preceded the Bosch type that later seemed to be adopted by many manufacturers, may have been the cause and was difficult to set up properly, if our workshop’s staff were correct. Good times.

At the risk of being classed as an Anorak, or just pedantic at the very least, I always thought that the term ‘trafficator’ referred to the hinged pop-out upwards sort as fitted to some older cars. I wouldn’t put much money on being correct, though.