Like most things in our hobby, when you think they are ALL gone, one (or more) of anything shows up. A real, live MD lamp is out there somewhere .. may take 50 more years for it to turn up, or maybe tomorrow this "unicorn" shows up at a yard sale/swap meet.
Anyway, one of these posts, or I read it somewhere, mentions the
Tensor lamp. That was a brand name and company by same name and it had imitators over the years too.
The Tensor lammp was patented in
1964. Perfect timing and design it seems for Chrysler's MD plans a few years later.
source:
Popular Science, January 1965
The description of Tensors at the link above:
"The first Tensor lamp consisted of assembling together a 12-volt automobile parking light bulb and reflector made from an ordinary kitchen measuring cup .. fixed the cup to a metal tube that was attached to a transformer, which reduced 115-volt house current to 12 volts. Because of the small bulb, the entire lamp could be made smaller with a light-directing shade"
I am in the line of thought as
@MrMoparCHP in that something "similar-looking, make-do" could be cobbled together from existing/vintage lamps you could get today?
No need for a voltage step-down. An automotive bulb was used by the inventor and 12V. A cigarette lighter plug could be fabricated? Some other attachment wired into the vehicle?
It would take some skill, but it ain't putting a man on the moon or something. Surprised somebody hasn't done it yet..
