What Car Has The Coolest Hide-Away Headlights?

"Aaron Vick Starnes" (aaronstarnes) 07/30/2014 at 16:23 • Filed to: None

8

50

My vote is for the Opel GT. These lights are neat for two reasons. They're manually operated which means no broken motors or winking cars. AND they roll over sideways!

Bonus Winking Car

Jedidiah > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:27

0

But the wiring harness will twist around and get nasty shorts because of those lights. It is a well-documented probelm for them.

MIATAAAA > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:27

0

Mind blown. How does the mechanism work - a rod going all the way up to the from from the dash??

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:28

12

You nailed with the Opel, for both correct reasons. I think the Cizeta V16 belongs in this list, too:

Thunderbee - Has the engine that kids like > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:29

4

Bonus BONUS winking car!

Aaron Vick Starnes > Thunderbee - Has the engine that kids like 07/30/2014 at 16:30

0

HA!

Frank Grimes > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:30

13

505Turbeaux > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:30

4

this, this is the coolest. Just because it looks so sinister either way

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Thunderbee - Has the engine that kids like 07/30/2014 at 16:31

0

That car is kind of....slutty.

Aaron Vick Starnes > Frank Grimes 07/30/2014 at 16:31

1

I wish my vid had those sweet sound effects.

Aaron Vick Starnes > MIATAAAA 07/30/2014 at 16:32

0

The handle is back near the console.

Sn210 > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:32

5

Jag XJ220's headlights do the slide-aside too

Coolest though have to be the Buick Riviera's

camaroboy68ss > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:34

0

67-68 Camaro RS

C2 Corvette

camaroboy68ss > Frank Grimes 07/30/2014 at 16:35

0

ahh the 65 clam shell doors, sweet!

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:35

1

Damn safety regulations

Your boy, BJR > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:38

0

the buick sky hawk turbo's lights popped DOWN. I liked those.

Pessimippopotamus > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:46

4

Panther Solo.

Such a weird looking car.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Sn210 07/30/2014 at 16:49

2

I think you mean *this* Riviera.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:50

17

Sexiness ('65 Riviera).

Sn210 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/30/2014 at 16:51

0

even badasser

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 16:51

3

How about the brazilian Dodge Charger?

Instead of a pop up mecanism, all they did here was place the grille over the lights, so they were virtually unseen, until you turned them on and they slowly faded into view, instead of popping up.

Camry-Into-Canyon > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 07/30/2014 at 16:56

1

What'd ya expect, it's a Probe!

Nibbles > Your boy, BJR 07/30/2014 at 16:56

0

Vid or GIF plzkthx

deekster_caddy > Frank Grimes 07/30/2014 at 17:00

0

'65 Riv! Plus, dual quad V8 as an added bonus.

Your boy, BJR > Nibbles 07/30/2014 at 17:03

0

lol YOU try finding anything at all on that car.

Nibbles > Your boy, BJR 07/30/2014 at 17:04

0

I asked first

jkm7680 > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 17:06

1

I'll have to go with the Opel GT also. Even though all hideaway headlights are pretty damn cool. If I could stretch the rules a bit, I'd say Porsche 928 but those aren't exactly hide away.

Aaron Vick Starnes > jkm7680 07/30/2014 at 17:09

2

Acceptable!

axiomatik > CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) 07/30/2014 at 17:23

1

It's not safety regulations. Popups went away once cars were allowed to use "aerodynamic" headlights. Popups were used to get better aerodynamics when automakers were still required to use sealed-beam headlights.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > axiomatik 07/30/2014 at 17:34

0

it's actually regulations on the height of for lights

RazoE > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 17:42

0

these were horrible. Almost as bad as these.

472CID > Pessimippopotamus 07/30/2014 at 17:57

0

Wonder why they call it the Solo, it clearly has two seats

ranwhenparked > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 18:17

0

1942 DeSoto

shinsen > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 18:20

2

are you sure that was sound effects? sounded like a stock car to me...

Hammerfrog > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 18:44

4

Cord?

Renescent > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/30/2014 at 19:03

0

Second, clamshell headlights are hot sex.

Jonee > Aaron Vick Starnes 07/30/2014 at 19:56

0

Peugeot

axiomatik > CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) 07/31/2014 at 08:46

1

What does the height regulation have to do with whether or not automakers can use popups? They can place them at any height they want. The only instance I know of where the height played a role was in the 240SX. The headlights on the Silvia version were too low for US headlight regs, so only the popups were offered in the US, but that is an argument for the use of popups, not against.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Frank Grimes 07/31/2014 at 09:31

1

This is the winner. If anyone has anything else to say about the subject they can see themselves out.

Ad_absurdum_per_aspera > Hammerfrog 07/31/2014 at 22:05

1

Cord is the coolest almost anything that its era — an impressive one for design, at that — could possibly have produced.

Ad_absurdum_per_aspera > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/31/2014 at 22:09

1

Interesting. Looks like what would have been a Valiant/Dart here in the States, but with a cooler grille. Was it based on a thermostatic scheme like protective fog-lamp louvers, so it opened up under the heat of the light bulbs? Or did the light just go out through the slits?

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Ad_absurdum_per_aspera 07/31/2014 at 22:35

0

You're spot on. The Brazilian Charger was actually the top of the line Dart, with a cover up grille and flying buttresses.

It didn't have any pop up mechanisms though, the light just went through it, which is probably pretty unsafe in earlier models with the thicker slats!

Hammerfrog > Ad_absurdum_per_aspera 08/01/2014 at 01:49

0

Yes! they were so advanced (not to mention beautiful)! it sucks that they had reliability issues!

BeO42 > Aaron Vick Starnes 08/01/2014 at 18:02

0

Alfa Romeo Montreal

They're not really hidden to begin with. But it's a beautiful detail on a very beautiful car.

fourvalleys > Hammerfrog 08/01/2014 at 18:04

1

I saw one of these in person for the first time in over a decade, and they are truly staggering in person. They look okay in photos but fantastic in person.

Flat6ForLife, Drives a Flat4 > Aaron Vick Starnes 08/01/2014 at 18:20

0

Mmmm I'd have to say the XJ220.

paradisian > Aaron Vick Starnes 08/01/2014 at 19:32

0

1969 Camaro RallySport

Hammerfrog > fourvalleys 08/01/2014 at 21:05

1

Agreed!

namesakeone > Aaron Vick Starnes 08/02/2014 at 02:33

1

I thought the C4 Corvette had at least one redeeming feature:

JCNM > Aaron Vick Starnes 08/04/2014 at 02:33

0

I owned an Opel GT for almost 32 years, it took a pretty strong arm to open the headlights, you had to make sure you did it quick enough with enough force so they had enough momentum to latch at the end of their travel. The mechanism worked perfectly the entire time I had it, I probably cycled the lights a minimum of 10,000 times. People just loved to watch the lights flip over, I actually had strangers in parking lots ask me to operate the lights, I guess they were easily amused. I had over 300,000 miles on the car when I sold it to a collector and it was amazingly trouble-free the entire time I had it.

Jay > Aaron Vick Starnes 08/04/2014 at 13:47

0

The best version of the lay-back lights are on the Lamborghini Miura.