Rover Sports Register Forum

The left-hand side rear light is a different design to the right-hand side one. Is this normal?
And needs new glass. Is it obtainable?
Any ideas for something else that could be made to temporarily fit - gratefully accepted.

Lucas made several variations of what are now lumped together as "D lights". Painted, chrome, single rear lens, split rear lens , all red, red/white, number plate illumination with a clear window or a round window.
It looks like you have a non matching pair.
At a guess the one on the right is an original, possibly because with there only being a need for one light when new, that would be it. There was a tendency among some owners to just fit a second light with what was to hand when two lamps became law.
Before sourcing a new lens (dimensional differences between original Lucas and Far Eastern copies), it might be worth thinking about whether "a pair" would be something you would want. I can look up the Lucas 30s catalogue for more exact details but am writing this quickly ! Vintage Supplies and their offshoot lighting company sell a selection, what used to be SVC. Classic Auto Bulbs :
https://www.classicbulbs.co.uk/cart

General comment:
I belong to several car forums. This one beats them all!!!
Thank you everyone for your help ... and such fast responses.

Some of the replacement lenses do not fit well & plastic ones can need fettling. Fitting them into the housing’s spring clips can be a “challenge “
D

David is absolutely right, brittle plastic, poorly moulded plus the little rivet heads the spring has to go over can be poorly formed
Anyway, Lucas 1930s catalogue. A 1936 12 is shown with one tail lamp, an ST38A. That is a black porkpie shape lamp. The 1937 cars have two times model 286 , order no 522902, one with number plate illumination(one presumably without). Unfortunately the 286 is not shown as I presume it was obsolete by the time the catalogue was made. It is probably only by seeing where your chassis number lies in the bigger scheme of things that more precision might be possible.
One short term solution might be to fit a piece of clear plastic cut to shape and use a lacquered red bulb. If it's legal on a new car then it must be o.k.

@SHyslop "One short term solution might be to fit a piece of clear plastic cut to shape and use a lacquered red bulb."

Thanks - I have a red bulb (somewhere) left over from a previous project ... now just to find some plastic.
I'll let you know how I get on.

I bought a square of Red Acrylic (74x74x3) from Acrylic Ltd in Plymouth (eBay)for a couple of pounds. You have to cut it into a D , but it does for now!
A dark red is probably best