Badge and lamp bars are the bumper-mounted bars that classic-MG owners used during the production era to display rally badges, club affiliations, and competition stickers, and to mount auxiliary fog and driving lights at the front of the car. Listed as a BMC-approved accessory from the earliest production years, they were a popular dealer-fit and customer-fit option through the 1960s and 1970s and remain one of the most popular period accessories fitted today, giving the car the purposeful, club-sporting appearance that defined the era. The MGOC range covers badge bars in a range of styles, with or without driving and fog lamp mounting provisions, installed either behind the front overriders or to the bumper face on chrome-bumper applications.
Bar Construction & Styles
The standard badge-and-lamp bar is a chromed steel tube formed into a slight curve to match the contour of the front bumper, mounted to the bumper through brackets that bolt to the bumper itself or to the bumper mounting points on the bodywork, with the bar typically sitting proud of the bumper by 30 to 50 millimetres to provide a structural mounting point for badges and auxiliary lights. Two functional grades are stocked, plain badge bars being straight chrome bars providing a clean horizontal display surface for badges only, and combined badge-and-lamp bars being wider and stronger with integrated mounting points for additional driving or fog lamps to be fitted alongside the factory headlamps. Several size options are stocked to suit different mounting positions and visual proportions, with period BMC catalogues offering 17-inch and 27-inch bars, the longer version described in period as being for the particularly enthusiastic club member, and the bars available today reflecting the most practical and popular fitments. Bars are stocked in chrome bumper specification appropriate to the chrome-bumper cars in the range, mounting either behind the bumper overriders so the brackets are hidden behind the chrome overriders themselves, or behind the number-plate backing so the bar is visible above the front number plate, both methods preserving the original appearance when the bar is removed as no permanent modification is made to the bumper or bodywork.
Badge Display
The principal use of the badge-and-lamp bar is the display of period rally badges, club affiliations, and event stickers, with owners through the 1960s and 1970s accumulating badges from rally events such as the Monte Carlo, the RAC, and the various smaller club events, from membership of motoring clubs such as the MGCC and the various marque clubs, the AA and the RAC, and from specific destinations and events visited. The collection of badges on a classic-MG bar tells the story of the car's history, and the bar provides the appropriate visual context for displaying these badges in period-correct fashion, with new owners able to either retain the badges that came with the car to preserve its history or build their own collection over time.
Auxiliary Light Mounting, Clips & Fixings
The secondary use of the badge-and-lamp bar is the mounting of auxiliary fog and driving lights, the bar providing a sturdy structural mounting at the appropriate height in front of the bumper with lights mounted symmetrically on either side through appropriate brackets, useful for ensuring the light beams are not blocked by any bumper-mounted obstruction, and the dedicated Fog & Driving Lights section covers the lamp options that suit. A complete range of mounting clips and fixings is stocked, chrome-plated clips for visible mounting points matching the bar's finish, stainless steel clips as the corrosion-resistant alternative particularly relevant where road spray or winter use exposes the mountings to damp conditions, with the stainless clips also resisting tarnishing and maintaining their appearance without the regular polishing that chrome clips require. Clips are sold individually so owners can order exactly the number required for their collection of badges, with badge-bar clip screws securing the clips to the bar and Nyloc self-locking nuts resisting vibration loosening, important for any front-mounted accessory subject to airflow and road vibration, and felt or rubber padding between clamp faces and the bumper surface prevents scratching the chrome during installation.