I came to a similar conclusion. I had no high-level light at all on my 1986 car but wanted something less visually intrusive than the MMC arrangement, that would also not be covered by luggage on the rack. A cheapo LED strip and a couple of hours in the workshop with a lump of aluminium produced this:
![[Linked Image]](https://www.tm-img.com/images/2018/06/18/TJH_0509.md.jpg)