“Högerassymetriskt halvljus” Huh??
Now, that is a mouthful, isn’t it? That is Swedish and directly translated it mean “right asymmetric low beam”
If you drove around in Sweden in early 1967 you would probably see a grey sticker on the headlights on at least half the cars.
Why??
Most European headlights were designed to have an asymmetrical pattern. If your country drove on the left side, the pattern was designed to add extra light on the left side on the road. This would give the driver a better chance to see pedestrians or worse, a big moose getting ready to cross the road.
A 500kg moose coming thru your 122 windshield hurts!!
As Sweden was getting ready to convert to right side driving later in the year, one item on your car may become illegal. The headlight. If you had a left asymmetrical headlight you would blind people when you started to drive on the right side.
Auto manufacturers were told to install right asymmetrical lights as of July 1, 1966. The switch to right side drive that was planned for the third of September 1967. They equipped all new cars with right asymmetrical headlight but with a sticker over the asymmetrical part of the lens.
See above.
It didn’t take long for Swedes to realize that if you installed those sticker’d headlight on your current car, the neighbors may think you had a brand new car! So…it became a status symbol to roll with sticker’d headlights.
My 1967 Volvo 122S wagon had these ROBO lights with stickers on it as it was a European Delivery car and they took delivery in the summer of 1967, before the change over.
Once the car was delivered to US soil, they were swiftly replaced with under-performing Sealed Beams. The original owner kept the ROBO lights and I got them when I bought the car.
Personal Note: It brought back many memories. I woke up in the morning of Sept 3, 1967 with great excitement. I got the honor to remove the stickers from dad’s car!
If you look at a E-code (EU approved) headlight today you will still see that the lens is fluted to generate the asymmetrical pattern. Also, Euro headlights still have a sharp cut-off on the horizon and that prevents blinding oncoming traffic.
US market were for years stuck with Sealed Beam lights. All US market cars were forced to comply with those lousy headlights. They pretty much just put out a dot on the road and you had to aim it low so you don’t blink oncoming traffic.
E-code headlights put out way more and a better pattern but are usually not DOT approved so check your local laws for application.