Will pop up headlight ever return?

The best car of your birth had me looking at the 930 Slant nose. One of my all time favorites. Many of the other classic sports cars utilized the pop up headlights, some better than others.

Do you think that we will ever see such a thing again or is it all going to become tiny slits of LED on otherwise bland/ overstyled front ends?

Thanks to pedestrian safety issues, I doubt it.
Situationally cool but not always ideal.

they can make good looking cars look completely fugly with the flip of a switch... plus they kill the aero when up..

so, no, pop up headlights should never, ever make a return.

I really like them, but they will never return. I will enjoy them as long as I own my FC, which is likely forever.

Like previously mentioned, aerodynamic requirements alone would kill the thought of any auto manufacturer ever using them again. Not to mention the extra weight and space required to make them operational.

Nostalgia, like that for wing windows, or cars that don't have back-up cameras, anyone?

No. They suck and never work for long

Ahh nostalgia. To demonstrate here's a conversation I had with my dad recently.

Dad: They don't make cars like they used to.. The 50's had the best cars, they were built out of such solid steel.

Me: Ohh.. How often did you have to replace the wheel bearings on those cars with superior steel?

Dad: Well you had to repack them reguarlly..

Me: On the 9 Honda accords you have owned since 1986, have you ever replaced or repacked a wheel bearing?

Dad: no... but the paint on the 50's cars was so thick?

Me: Yes.. it was good, but it also ate the lungs of those spraying it...

Dad: But the cars were so easy to work on?

Me: because you had to constantly. Adjust brakes? Tune-ups? Carb adjustments if you gain too much altitude?

Dad: ok, I get it.

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine:

My father is the opposite. They day he could stop carrying a set of points in the glove box was like being a kid on Christmas morning.

some cars it did not muck up the aero. Supposedly the BMW 8 series the lights were far enough back and low enough that up or down, they did not change the aero of the car.

And as much as I like flip up lights... just remember that the Bugeye sprite was supposed to have flip up lights

They are on at night. It is dark. You don't see the ugliness.

I agree that pop-up lights are cool, but the problem they were invented to solve (making a car look sleek and fast while still using DOT-mandated sealed beam headlights) doesn't exist any more. In addition to failing pedestrian safety standards they also hurt fuel economy and with the current regs that would kill them by itself.

I miss them, but I have no delusions about a return.

Left my '86 Accord at the airport for a week. Mouse chewed through some wiring shorting the motor that flipped up the left headlight. Apparently the light cycled up and down for several days until the battery ran down.

We had a C5, which were notorious for stripping a little fiber gear that raised the headlight. So much so that someone sold a kit with steel replacement gears.

So, no, not interested.

Awesome: C4 corvette 928 Porsche

Good: fb rx-7 ...and almost anything with round pop ups

Poor: 82-92 Firebird

^^^from a 'looks cool when up' or 'cool mechanism' perspective.

Dad had an Elan with vacuum operated pop-ups.

Kind of a PITA at night when you're at WOT and the lights would drop as the vacuum signal would go away.

i hope not, i was always happy that the foxbody didnt have to suffer with them.

my 85 200sx looked good but yes one didn't work.

If it means a return to cars that look like this, I sure hope so.

Friends of mine have done HID conversions to a 951, FD RX-7 and a 2nd gen MR-2 so the light only pops up a couple inches to expose the bulb and it looks really good. Probably doesn't muck the aero too too much

wheelsmithy wrote: Nostalgia, like that for wing windows, or cars that don't have back-up cameras, anyone?

Vent windows were actually useful, whereas pop up headlights were just a solution to a styling choice.

On a similar note, I would think the last 3 cars with them was the C5, 4th gen Firebird, and NA Miata. At least American market. Am I correct?

BMW E31 ran until 1999 with pop ups

Lotus Esprit had pop-ups until 2004.

i love them on the c4, the rotation is way cooler than just popping up.