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1936 was a great year to be alive, because the first car appeared with pop-up headlights
– quite possibly the best thing to happen to headlights since someone thought to use
a light bulb instead of a gas light.
They appeared simultaneously on two cars – the Italian Alfa Romeo 8C, and the American Cord 810.
You had to manually wind them up and down using a handle on the dashboard.
At the time they were a handy way of streamlining the front of the car, producing an aerodynamic
shape that mimicked racing cars of the day, although the streamlining advantage was negligible.
Just two years later GM figured that winding headlamps up and down while driving a 1930s
car at dusk probably wasn’t the best thing to be doing, so added electric power, shown
in the Buick Y-Job concept car.
But the first production car to use electric pop-up headlamps was the 1942 DeSoto.
Hidden headlights’ popularity waxed and waned throughout the 40s and 50s, but regained
popularity in the mid-to-late 1960s.
They appeared in Europe and particularly in the US where aerodynamic headlamps were not
permitted.
In the US the rules stated headlamps needed to be either round or rectangular, so they
weren’t simply used for streamlining cars, but also for hiding them to improve the front
car design.
Buick started the trend in 1965 with the stealth lights on the Riviera.
The headlights rotated into position, and one of the early issues with this design was
as it rotated it could momentarily blind oncoming traffic.
The hidden headlamp design was also popular on 1970s Lincolns, and it was still being
used on the 1986 Buick Skyhawk.
The US also had rules around the positioning of headlamps, which meant manufacturers who
wanted to mount lights low down had to find creative ways to get around the rules, and
pop-up headlights were one way of doing it.
For example, Toyota exported the pop-up headlight version of the AE86 to North America, rather
than using lower fixed headlights like they did in Europe.
Raising the body height was costly and would have affected the handling.
The Alfa Romeo Montreal’s headlights didn’t pop-up, but rather stay fixed while their
eyelashes hid themselves away.
It was an odd choice, but definitely cool!
The Porsche 928, in my opinion the most beautiful Porsche ever made, maybe thanks to seeing
its rear so often playing Chase H.Q., had an interesting take on pop-up headlights.
They were always visible, but raised to make the car look frog-like when illuminated.
At least the car only looked silly when it was dark.
It would be hard to imagine the Ferrari Testarossa without pop-up headlights - another car from
1980s videos games and indeed TV shows.
With all 1980s supercars seeming to favour pop-up headlights, likely to get around US
headlamp laws, this is maybe why I find them so cool.
Another car that’s definitely improved with pop-up headlights is the BMW 840, that seems
to give oncoming cars a cool, steely stare.
Of course, you didn’t have to spend a fortune to get your pop-up headlamp fix.
The Triumph TR7 and Mazda MX-5 both sported bug-eyed looks, and it was a sad day in 1998
when the second generation MX-5 went for fixed headlamps.
Probably the last marque you think about when thinking of little sporty cars is Volvo, but
the 480 was pretty sleek, at least for a Volvo, and had such a low bonnet that it had headlamps
that rose out of it.
US regulations are now more relaxed over headlamp size, allowing for aerodynamic shapes.
But car manufacturers, always looking to save a penny anywhere they can on car production
costs, saw that pop-up headlights were more expensive and heavier than fixed headlights.
Internationalised ECE auto safety regulations have also recently incorporated pedestrian-protection
provisions preventing protuberances from car bodies, try saying that three times fast!,
making it more difficult and expensive to design compliant pop-up headlamps.
Whether the mechanism was powered by an electrical or a vacuum system, one of the inevitable
downsides was of course the one of the headlights will appear with the other stubbornly refusing,
leading to your car winking to oncoming traffic who think you’re driving a motorbike.
And of course, if both lights refuse to rise up, you’re going to have a very dangerous
drive home.
Because this was a potential safety hazard, it was another reason Governments around the
world were so keen to ban them.
Ford tried to fix this issue on their hidden headlight system by using springs on the covers,
so if the vacuum system failed the lights would open.
However it meant that if the car hadn’t been driven for a few days, like if it was
on a dealer’s forecourt, the cars would sit around with half-opened headlights.
Not really very good for prospective sales!
For all these reasons, pop-up headlights have disappeared from today’s cars.
The last time pop-up headlamps appeared on a volume-production car was in 2004 when both
the Lotus Esprit and Corvette ended production.
Developments in smaller headlamps, particularly those using LEDs all but eliminate the need
for concealed headlamps altogether.
But pop-up headlights, in my mind, continue to be one of the coolest features on a car.
It was a rare sight to be driving down the road and spot them popping up, but when you
did see it, it was like a seeing a solar eclipse or double rainbow.
Ah, for simple pleasures of life!
So, what’s your favourite car with hidden headlights?
Let me know in the comments below!
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