Mine have been on my car since 1956 and flutter in the wind. I can see in town but nothing on the highway.
I've got the small hinge mounted mirrors on my Model A. I can see fine with them. A number of years I was given a copy of a some kind of national highway safety flyer that detailed the best way to adjust your outside mirrors. The right mirror should be adjusted so that you can only see the side of your car if you lean way over to the right. The left mirror much the same in that you have to lean to the right to see the side of the car. That allows the mirrors to reflect what is in your blind spot. If adjusted correctly, you should see a car passing on your right in the mirror up to the point where you can look out the right side window and just see the front of the car. I've been adjusting my mirrors this way for many years and it really works.
Only a driver's side mirror to pass vehicle code. Even a convex passenger side is pretty much pointless. If you're looking that far to your right, turn your head a little more and look out the back window, you're in a pickup! When I'm driving my Wife's daily with lane change warning lights and sound alerts, I still look over my L or R shoulder during lane changes. Reminds me of the Happy Days episode where Fonzie is sitting on his bike asking Richie if he thinks his mirrors look better up or handing down. Fonz favors them down. Richie; Fonz, I think you'll be able to see better with the mirrors up" Fonzie: "Hey, I don't care about where I've been. I just want to look as cool as I can getting there".
Had them on both sides of my chopped 33 sedan. Passenger side-worthless-driver’s side-damn near worthless. If I hadn’t spent my working life as a truck driver, and known how to use my mirrors, I would have tossed them. When the aftermarket swan neck ones came out, I did. Looks be damned, I’m after function.
I put peep mirrors atop the doors on the 41 PU when I built it because I like the way they look. I did purchase Hagan Fattie mirrors for it including the rear-view mirror inside the cab. They provide a wide view for such a small mirror head, and I can actually back the truck up into a parking space which I can't do in my roadster with the top up . I took a couple of pictures, not sure if this will help but there are not enough pics on this thread. My little garage is a mess at the moment while I prepare to refinish the floor so forgive the clutter. I prefer this look over hinge pin mirrors or swan necks on a PU. Right side mirror from the drivers seat Left side mirror, compare this to the 1st shot, you can see the entire stop sign in the corner. The mirrors are incredibly not cheap ($300 for a pair or something like that ), but even still I would gladly purchase another set for my roadster, but they do not fit my swan neck arms and I spent a lot of time cutting those down and chroming them to start over. Besides, roadsters should have the top down anyway!
I had them on a few of my car's. Would look into them and then would always look over my shoulder's LOL! If I slammed the door to hard, out of adjustment. They became look at me accessories.
I'm with @Hot Rods Ta Hell , there is a good reason we were built with a neck that turns.... Riding bikes is a great example. They have mirrors, but lane swapping without a head turn will eventually get you run over by the one you miss.....
Wow ! Many thanks guys! Particularly those of you who took some excellent pictures. By the way, I do turn my head around to good a really good look when I am changing lanes. I just like a good level of "awareness" by taking a quick glance in the right side mirror. As a couple of you listed, I do adjust my mirrors for blind spots. Much to look into. You guys never disappoint!
It works for lane changes, that's about it. I can get by with just one on the truck because it's easier to check the right side through the back window... It takes some getting used to.
The problem is not what you can or can't see, I have found that it's the positions that the factory-supplied arms will fit are not very good.. I have used several sets on cars, and always ended up modifying or making my own mounts. I like to see all the idiots around me clearly!
I have them on my Ford from Summit and like them very much. I had to tighten one once in 10 years of driving. I got the 4" pair, the passenger side is convex which helps.
Hello, We had a 327 powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery. Once we got it all ready for safety and drivability, we drove it all over So Cal. It was a pleasure to drive and despite it being a sedan delivery with a blind spot in the rear passenger side, the small outside mirrors did ok. If we kept looking on that passenger side outside mirror, then we knew what was there. Your truck has a lot better view, so, as long as the outside mirror shows what is next to your car to the rear bumper on the passenger side, those small mirrors work fine. Here is one Ford Truck that I thought looked rather nice with his version of small circular mirrors. Jnaki One day, my wife and I were on top of a tall cliffside park. We could see the ocean in a 180 degree side to side view. The waves were good and it was fun to watch the surfers catch some nice peaks. But, continuing to look all around, my wife spotted an old truck down below. It was one that I had seen months earlier in a big box parking lot. The styling was very nice and it stood out among the newer cars as if it were the top of a Christmas tree. Despite being dark green, it was among the standard white, black or grey stock colors of today’s cars and SUV vans. I would not put on larger mirrors as it ruins the old style truck look. It certainly gives a better view of that right side blind spot in all cars, but, large mirrors on an old Ford Truck? Nah!!! Also, those stick on convex mirrors could change your view, but we did not want to put those on the right side mirror. We liked the real life size feel of the outside mirror. Small as it is/was. Note: My wife liked driving the 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. But, despite being a cool car for a woman or man to drive, she did not like the blank wall blind spot. She said she did would not like the larger mirrors as they ruin the original look. Eventually, we sold the sedan delivery to get a small station wagon that we needed for our fast growing baby to toddler son. YRMV The truck on the other hand would give more open views, so the small, outside mirror would be fine to give a clear view of what is next to the right rear passenger side.
I was waiting in line at a car Show one time and a couple cars ahead of meWas a 32 3 window coupe chopped severely. The guy in the car was pretty Dang Old and seemed like he had a hard time getting in and out. I talked to him for a minute and noticed that his rear view Mirror was A screen playing whatever was behind him but it looked like a normal size. Kind of like a backup camera screen projected on to your review mirror it was pretty slick.
My daily has a camera rear view mirror. It looks like a mirror, and you can turn off the camera if you please but after you get used to it is pretty cool. Nice thing is you get a full view of what is behind your truck, not the back seat and the sliding rear window but a color view of everything behind you. You can even enlarge the view to make out cops that may be lurking back aways. I can see it being applicable to a hot rod with poor visibility.
I have had 2 51 F1's. The trouble with them is the cab is really tapered back to front. The stalks on most mirrors aren't long enough to get a decent view. I made extenders for the 1st one that went under the mirror stalk. On the 2nd, I made an extension for the stalk. Neither was really good for half blind old guys whose neck can't swivel 90 degrees anymore. People can say what they want but if you are wanting to be as good as you can, you might want to spend the bucks for the long arm Hagans. The original hinge mount is a good compromise.
I use the same mirrors. My car is so much wider at the B pillar. $$ but I can see very well, make lane changes and back up with them. They also bolt to the door, not clamp.
Somewhere out in one of the sheds I have a box of those damned worthless things. They serve one purpose and that is give you an outside mirror to keep the law happy but you can't see with one and they always shake and vibrate and get loose. I think I tried four or five of them on my old 51 and none worked but they did keep the cops happy.
I have a set of peep mirrors on my 48 Plymouth coupe. They are worthless. The necks are at the wrong angles to work effectively, and they don't stay in adjustment. I invested in a rear view camera set up. That works very well. The peeps are still hanging on the doors because the crappy clamping set up has damaged the doors. When I built the truck I started with a set of peeps mounted off the door hinges, even before the the mirror glass broke after the 1st year, they were still pretty small to be very useful. I've replaced them with the more modern 4" x 6" mirrors mounted off the door hinges, those are much more stable and provide better vision, but I have also installed a rear view camera set up in the truck. it is nice to see exactly what is behind the vehicle's back bumper. The 1st pic it the truck with the peep mirrors. The 2nd picture shows the coupe with the crappy peeps still riding along, and in the back ground is my truck with the larger mirrors.
Lots of folks use em. I can't possibly hate them any more. In use they suck. Can you adapt? Sure. Looks? I'd rather see bird shit on my hood. I haven't done it yet but I'll probably bolt on some nice ones which means drilling my doors. Screw it. It's my car. You'll find my peep mirrors in the same bin as my fuzzy dice. No offense to those who like the ugly fuckers..
Yep, bolt on and with all the door slammin and driving they never need adjustment. Of course, that is why I started buying Hagan mirrors years ago. 69 Camaro mirrors move every time you close the doors, Hagan makes a pair of dead ringers for the Chevy that never come loose.
I have the optional factory mirror on the door of my '57. It is mounted near the wind window and you can see great out of it. They originally came mounted on the fenders and you couldn't see s#@t out of them. I do not use one on the right side. My car has so much glass that there is no blind spot and I always look before going right. Been driving it for 60 years this way.
Sometimes it is less about what type of mirrors you have, and more about whether they are actually used properly. Some don't seem to get used at all....
If you drive a wedge shape vehicle which is pretty much anything pre '48, they are for the most part useless.
I can't speak for every HAMB era year, but with the first factory new car I bought in '65 and the new OT in '68, the outside mirrors were extra, add-on options. If you ordered a new car and didn't check the box for mirrors, you didn't get 'em. I do believe it's likely some of the loaded-up models may have come with mirrors included, though. (I was on a tight budget with the '68, so I paid a little extra and only got the driver's side mirror. I don't recall having any problems on the mostly 2-lane roads back then.)
I have a peep on the 32 . I’m kinda use to not seeing in a mirror well and looking carefully after many years on the road on two wheels .
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