Will pop up headlight ever return?

Some of my favourites are (naturally) on the Elan M100 "opera glasses". Only really early Elans have them as they proved problematic (electrical issues on a Lotus? Who knew??) Mine unfortunately doesn't.

Also while looking for that video I found this one. Nothing I say here can properly convey how awesome it is. (Car in vid has later boring lights like mine.)

I'm going to add opel gt to the cool list

opel GT was all mechanical..

Of course there was also the silly pop ups on the Lancia Scorpion.. they basically tilted up from 110 degrees to 90

Honda used pop-ups on the 2nd and 3rd gen Preludes with '91 as the last production year. The NSX with pop-ups lasted until 2001.

I'm knocking on wood by stating I've never had one fail in the fifteen-plus years I've had my '86 Lude. That record may fall next month when I head back to Ga and see the effects of over five months of forced-absence neglect.

LED slits are the future, and it's the space-efficiency of LEDs that make pop-up lights pointless. The headlights don't need to take up all the frontal space that a pop-up light offers.

So putting pop-up lights on a car now would make as much sense as bringing back gas-lamp headlights...no matter how cool pop-ups are.

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: No. They suck and never work for long

Mine are 24 years old and still work great.

GameboyRMH wrote:

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: No. They suck and never work for long

Mine are 24 years old and still work great.

Mine are 27 and work perfectly every time

Shut up. They are awesome. Shut up.

OK, but what about retractable headlight covers? Keep the fixed position, reflector headlights but cover them during the day.

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

Funny thing is, cars are being built with 2-pane door glass nowadays... you just can't pivot the wing window.

Good riddance to those leaky things. Made it easier for thieves to get in your car too.

GameboyRMH wrote: LED slits are the future, and it's the space-efficiency of LEDs that make pop-up lights pointless. The headlights don't need to take up all the frontal space that a pop-up light offers.

Except they need all that frontal space for pedestrian safety, so basically there is no reason for pop-ups anymore since a wedge-shaped nose can't be produced anymore.

I always enjoyed seeing the rain blow around the headlights on my X-1/9.

Knurled wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: LED slits are the future, and it's the space-efficiency of LEDs that make pop-up lights pointless. The headlights don't need to take up all the frontal space that a pop-up light offers.

Except they need all that frontal space for pedestrian safety, so basically there is no reason for pop-ups anymore since a wedge-shaped nose can't be produced anymore.

Good point, you'd have a hard time fitting pop-up lights on a modern car if you tried. you'd have to make lights that rise up vertically out of the hood, and they'd be bad for visibility.

GameboyRMH wrote: LED slits are the future, and it's the space-efficiency of LEDs that make pop-up lights pointless. The headlights don't need to take up all the frontal space that a pop-up light offers. So putting pop-up lights on a car now would make as much sense as bringing back gas-lamp headlights...no matter how cool pop-ups are.

Ugh, I hate the new "LED slit" styling trend.

I miss the '80s

Here's something to make you not miss the 80's. I'm embarrassed to say this was my first new car, though not a GTS. The fastback was better looking, but more expensive and car loans were 14%. Not a bad car despite the looks, but a sad follow-up to the brilliant previous gen. I should have bought a GTI, but I walked out of the VW dealership because the salesman's boss was a jerk.

In reply to Basil Exposition:

That's better than the Lexus in the post above.

Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: In reply to Basil Exposition: That's better than the Lexus in the post above.

True, but that's not much of a challenge...

I... I liked the angular wedge cars of the late 70s/early 80s.

In reply to Basil Exposition:

I dunno, I kinda have a softspot for Celica coupes. They are getting pretty thin on the ground though.

Same with these:

Much square, such '80s

Basil Exposition wrote: Here's something to make you not miss the 80's. I'm embarrassed to say this was my first new car, though not a GTS. The fastback was better looking, but more expensive and car loans were 14%. Not a bad car despite the looks, but a sad follow-up to the brilliant previous gen. I should have bought a GTI, but I walked out of the VW dealership because the salesman's boss was a jerk.

I love the 3rd gen coupes! I think the hatchbacks look better with the later light treatment but the coupe can be either way. Especially in '80s WRC guise with its massive box flares.

Incidentally I would go nuts for one of these in nice shape. Digi-dash mandatory.

Jay wrote: I love the 3rd gen coupes! I think the hatchbacks look better with the later light treatment but the coupe can be either way. Especially in '80s WRC guise with its massive box flares. Incidentally I would go nuts for one of these in nice shape. Digi-dash mandatory.

Whenever I see one of these the Knight Rider theme starts playing in my head. This doesn't happen for the '82 Trans-Am.

They are fun on the MR2, and I've heard they work well for autocross to use as targeting sites. However I remember seeing way too many Firebirds in my youth with one headlight stuck up in the air.

Jerry wrote: They are fun on the MR2, and I've heard they work well for autocross to use as targeting sites. However I remember seeing way too many Firebirds in my youth with one headlight stuck up in the air.

For local autocrossing it's common for NA Miatai to run headlights up to help airflow into engine compartment and the lower speeds negate any aero penalty. On a track I found it cost me a second a lap to have them up.

I never thought about them looking cool till kids started commenting on how neat it was when I would take the otter out in public. Apparently popups are rare enough nowadays that young'uns have never seen such automotive antics.

Pop up headlights.

Because nobody will ever wax nostalgic about your E36 M3ty HIDs that are some fugly dark purple color when you first turn them on.

(Trufax: Every RX-7 ever made had pop up headlights. This instantly makes them better than any other car)