Club 80-90 Forums

I was under the impression that post-1985 T3s/T25s should have the later rectangular headlights, but I keep seeing round headlight vehicles with later registration numbers. I've seen two F-registered and two G-registered vans recently, all with round headlights.

Am I wrong about the model years involved? I thought that maybe the ones I've seen have been converted to round headlights, but it didn't seem likely as they weren't typical enthusiast-owned vehicles where that might have been done. I wondered if the discrepancy could be to do with registration dates of non-UK market imports.

What's the headlight situation with these vans then?

It's to do with original models, my '89 van had & still has round single headlamps

Okay, thanks.

So, it does appear that it's wrong to say post-1985 vehicles had rectangular headlights. If it is wrong then what factor dictated when which type of headlight was fitted?

I may well be wrong here, but I think the square lights were fitted to the higher spec Caravelles etc, rather than the lowly Kombi and panel vans.
I looked at swapping mine either for squares or the SA style twin round ones but there's no way I can justify to myself the cost of a set, they fetch very good money these days. I've got single round H4s fitted, done the rely mod in the wiki and added a set big driving lamps too. A big improvement on the original set up.

I also had exact same question when trying to identify, I wanted to make a wiki entry, but wiki rights were not forthcoming.

my 89 Caravelle CL has single round headlights
and standard jokes of all ages too I think

Caravelle GL double squares
sport jokers double squares
california & atlantics double squares

is that right?

It's an interesting post...I was told is a question of year production (1985 or 1986, don't remember) as SyncroT3 says.
But I've to say that my 1984 westfalia (imported from Germany) has squared headlights. I don't know if they were originally fitted but if they were I was told something wrong...

My 92 syncro panel van has got round lights.

I always thought it was to do with spec rather than age.

Thanks for the replies.

I didn't know about the square headlight version, unless we're referring to the same thing. When I said rectangular I was referring to the ones with rectangular (outer) headlights which have square (inner) light units mounted right up against them.

Regarding the headlight information, I think the main Wikipedia article is misleading (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2_(T3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) ). Here's what it says in the History section:

'1980 to 1985 vans are easily identified by round headlights and chrome-plated steel bumpers with plastic end-caps.'

Then further down it says (relevant part in bold):

'1986 model year vehicles received several revisions, which included a more luxurious interior with a tachometer, more fabric choices, redesigned air conditioner, larger water cooled engine with a more advanced engine management system, and redesigned transmissions including an optional syncro four-wheel drive. Exterior changes include rectangular headlights, which are probably the most notable change, and different paint options.'

It doesn't actually say round headlights weren't fitted after 1985, but the way it's written implies that it's round headlights before 1986, then rectanglular thereafter.

My 'C' reg 1986 van had round headlights (ex panelvan). I looked at an 'E' reg Autosleeper which had squares and my 'H' 1990 has squares.

Don't forget that Wikipedia is made up of lots of well meaning, but often mis-informed contributors

Also an awful lot of the info on vehicles refers to US specs which are different from EU versions. My money's still on the actual variant/trim level of the base vehicle from the factory and the fact that so many things were offered as options.

There's a list of Special Editions ont 'yard http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/VehicleSpec ... pecial.htm which shows them as extras over base spec on Carats etc

My 86 transporter has double round headlights, i dont know if its been modified or not

andisnewsyncro wrote:Don't forget that Wikipedia is made up of lots of well meaning, but often mis-informed contributors

Also an awful lot of the info on vehicles refers to US specs which are different from EU versions. My money's still on the actual variant/trim level of the base vehicle from the factory and the fact that so many things were offered as options.

There's a list of Special Editions ont 'yard http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/VehicleSpec ... pecial.htm which shows them as extras over base spec on Carats etc

Thanks for the link. I'll have a read through that in a moment.

Yes, I know what you mean about Wikipedia. Maybe someone should expand upon that entry and make it a bit more Euro-friendly!

taurus wrote:My 86 transporter has double round headlights, i dont know if its been modified or not

Double round were the South African option, also manufactured as after market kits by Taifun, possibly Projekt2 (sp?) and still made by JK. Again, not cheap bits of kit, but I like the look of them.

(Can anyone tell I'm a bit bored and have got snowed off what I was wanting to do this afternoon.......... )

the "square/rectangular" headlamps were a cost option on all specs (85 on) and only std on the upper spec vehicles.. But different country markets got different things too.. Most Scandinavian T25's have square, As do most if not all post 85 "Vanagons" (USA)