The ELECO GR 553 was part of the second wave of plastic refractor, gear-in-head lanterns. By taking advantage of the new, smaller low-pressure sodium gear which was developed in the late 1960s, it allowed ELECO to design a smaller canopied, more streamline, gear-in-head lantern.

The GR 553 was specifically designed for top-entry tungsten/mercury conversions where space for gear in the column or elsewhere was limited.

This lantern stood somewhere in Northamptonshire and was removed by Darren in 2008.