Light … and cheap

Automotive Design & Production, Nov, 2003

You wouldn't normally associate a six-figure sports car with frugality, but that's certainly the case with Ford's 2005 GT. Working with the folks at Guide Corporation, Ford found a way to reduce the number of LEDs in each taillight from 72 to 16. Instead of placing the LEDs in a circle beneath the lens and directly lighting the lamp, engineers added a jeweled reflector to bounce the light such that it gave the same appearance, but with reduced complexity and power consumption.

It also allowed them to place an incandescent back-up light in the center of the assembly, rather than add a separate light for the reverse function. Expect to see this idea on more-and less expensive-Fords in the near future.--CAS