Altezza Lights, thoughts on a 1999-2012 staple

"Nerd-Vol" (Nerd-Vol) 12/01/2016 at 13:25 • Filed to: Altezza, design, lexus, honda, s2000, mazda, feeling old

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The namesake that got it right. Picture from Wikipedia

As a new year approaches, I realize that we move further and further from our youth. As someone born in the late 1980s, the cars I grew up with are starting to really show their age. As we move further and further away from the 1990s and 2000s, we are able to look at the designs and analyze how well they have held up.

Some aspects of the late 90s till 2010 still work:

Picture from Wikipedia

Behold the clean and simple looks of a 6th generation civic pictured above. Clean lines, and a mixture of smooth edges and hard lines, that still pleases the eye. Mind you, there were very complicated looking vehicles at the time, especially from Pontiac, but much of the industry used simple designs.

Picture from Wikipedia

So now we look at the modern civic. This is a design which has certainly a “love it or hate it” factor. I for one like it, but there is no denying that the car is very busy looking. This vehicle also struggles to hide its visual size and weight. At a quick glance, anyone would be forgiven if they confused the current civic with an accord, the vehicle appears so large.

Why do I mention all this? To show that there is a lot to love about the design of cars from the 90s and 00s.

BUT. There is something which is looking worse and worse by the moment; Altezza(Lexus IS) tail lights.

At the time I first laid eyes on the Lexus IS, I was awestruck. It was a fantastic looking vehicle, and the centerpiece was the tail end. Circle lights mounted on the trunk and then a full assembly of lights nearby, enclosed in clear plastic. It was a massive departure from what we were used to.

Picture from Wikipedia

For a long period of time the tail light was an afterthought, just a big block which was there to function and nothing else.

Picture from Wikipedia

Now mind you, before the Lexus IS manufacturers could style the shape of the assembly to make it flow with the car, but now, the actual assembly could be styled. It is worth mentioning that the Supra did pretty much the same thing earlier, but the Lexus IS is the one that made it stick.

So what soured me on the amazing altezza light? The aftermarket. Within a year, every catalog was full of altezza lights. With their gleaming chrome housings and circle lamps, you could make your 1988 civic look like a new Lexus.

(Photo from derand.com)

Except you couldn’t, they looked cheap and gaudy, and did so much to devalue the look of the altezza light before other manufacturers could copy Lexus. By the time altezza lights started showing up on common cars from the factory they already looked a bit old. Depending on the application though, the altezza light still could look handsome

A first generation Mazda 3. It does a good job of using the look, but not being too busy.

My Honda S2000. This one is a nice design, but it does not have a timeless look and blends in with other cars from the time. I’m glad that Honda kept the design simple, but nothing about it makes the car seem special.

Picture from Wikipedia

This is a 2003 Lancer Evolution. This is one of the worst examples of the copy cats. Ever time I see one I always wonder why someone would put cheap aftermarket lights on their car. Sadly they were like that from the factory.

As you can see, the altezza light was shamelessly copied over the next decade.Some pulled it off better than others, but none of them were fantastic, and all look dated today.

So where are we now?

I personally feel that designers are doing fantastic work with tail lights. Compared to older vehicles, many assemblies have become more compact, but they are no longer an afterthought like they were pre-altezza. Now the tail lights feel cohesive and styled, but are not garish or gaudy.

In conclusion, we need to take altezza lights for what they were, a rough draft, the initial work that got us to a finished product. Think about it like the PSX vs the PS2. The graphics on the PSX were chunky and do not hold up well compared to what followed. There is no shame in that though, we had to start somewhere when it came to 3D polygons, and we had to start somewhere, when it came to modern car styling.

What do you all think about the altezza light?

crowmolly > Nerd-Vol 12/01/2016 at 13:29

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So what soured me on the amazing altezza light? The aftermarket.

Honestly I think you nailed it. If it’s a factory installation it probably looks good.

Aftermarket Altezza-style tails are tacky as fuck 99% of the time.

Nerd-Vol > crowmolly 12/01/2016 at 13:36

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The aftermarket is pretty mediocre when it comes to most things lighting.

Stapleface > Nerd-Vol 12/01/2016 at 13:54

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Are you trying to tell me my 12k HID’s in the stock housing aren’t mad tyte yo?

Stapleface > Nerd-Vol 12/01/2016 at 13:57

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You know, I didn’t really even like them on the Lexus. The worst factory version I can remember was the first gen Equinox. Those tails alone would be enough for me to buy the Torrent instead.

Nerd-Vol > Stapleface 12/01/2016 at 13:59

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Nah man, they look great on yours. It’s everyone else.

*inhales deeply on vaporizer*

Nerd-Vol > Stapleface 12/01/2016 at 14:00

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Good gracious. I feel like Mitsubishi and GM contracted out APC to do their lights.

Berang > Nerd-Vol 12/01/2016 at 14:03

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If I put some plastic wrap over these, would they be altezza enough?

TheJMan92 > Nerd-Vol 12/01/2016 at 14:07

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I have a love hate relationship with the IS300. I want one badly, and I love the front, but the back just ruins it for me.

I think the worst offender by far are these horrible looking Altezza knockoffs you always see on beat 2nd gen DSMs on Craigslist. Just so incredibly awful.

Nerd-Vol > TheJMan92 12/01/2016 at 14:09

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BARF!!!! That poor eclipse.

Nerd-Vol > Berang 12/01/2016 at 14:11

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I think so?

vicali > Nerd-Vol 12/01/2016 at 14:36

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Q) Do Altezza ownser swap regular lights?

A):

Nerd-Vol > vicali 12/01/2016 at 14:46

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That is an improvement.

vicali > Nerd-Vol 12/01/2016 at 14:52

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Our 08 Foz has altezzas;

a lot of 06/07/08 owners swap to the 04/05 reds;

It’s terrible but I’m keeping them OEM.. they’ve grown on me for sure.

190octane > TheJMan92 12/01/2016 at 16:50

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The original IS is a great car, I had one for 10 years and 140k miles, was still fun to drive.

Nerd-Vol > vicali 12/01/2016 at 17:12

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Wow. It’s amazing what a difference there is between the two.

RT > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 06:32

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Yep, I always disliked the aftermarket Altezza lights, too tacky.

Most of the factory ones looked good though, for some reason they look pretty great on Japanese market minivans.

My personal favourites are the ones which made it on the Lancia Thesis, they make it look like a Hot Wheels car.

They even found their way on this beautiful Morgan.

LongbowMkII > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 06:54

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As a general rule, dark gray/black light housings work, chrome ones don’t. I’d like to change mine:

Kind of a hybrid altezza

To the full clear/led->

Nerd-Vol > LongbowMkII 12/02/2016 at 08:58

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Both actually look decent. I like your general rule though.

Nerd-Vol > RT 12/02/2016 at 09:01

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Those work. Very elegant shape, I think due to the thinness of the light.

RazoE > vicali 12/02/2016 at 10:04

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I had JDM Dark chrome tail lights on my 2003 IS300 which were the 2nd darkest (darkest being the USDM 2002 GGP tail lights). I loved them, but for some reason I always liked the TRD tail light covers, so I bought a set of those and got rear-ended a few weeks later.

CalzoneGolem > vicali 12/02/2016 at 10:40

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Oh, I like the 04-05 reds so much better. I’ll have to hit the junkyard for a set.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 11:10

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WRX hatchbacks had them and I hated it, especially on the black.

but you could do this:

and for some reason the sedans had normal red taillights

vicali > CalzoneGolem 12/02/2016 at 11:24

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Funny thing is you can probably find someone to swap with on sf - early SG want to swap to late versions as well..

grass is always greener..

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 11:32

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After looking at that 1st pic I’m getting the urge to get an IS300 and stick a wing and lip kit on it.

shop-teacher > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 12:17

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I always hated Altezza lights, they look like fried hell. The Pontiac 6000LE you used as an example of boring lights, I actually think is a good looking clean design ... something Pontiac wasn’t exactly known for in the 80's.

1.6 liter beater > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 12:38

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Great article. Authors like yourself see me more on Oppo than the main site. Anyways the cars I thought looked the worst with aftermarket lights were 90's mustangs and Chevy trucks. That and spinner hubcaps were just attrocious.

Shift24 > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 13:16

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One of the best examples to compare is the First gen Torrent and Equinox

But Pontiac has had a history of making their tail lights look better

Nerd-Vol > 1.6 liter beater 12/02/2016 at 14:54

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Thank you very much. I am very humbled by your kind words.

The mustangs were bad, they had such an iconic shape and the altezza lights clashed so badly.

Nerd-Vol > Shift24 12/02/2016 at 16:08

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Wow, that Chevy looks really bad.

I have a weird soft spot for Pontiac. Their designs in the 90s and 2000s were really complex, but sort of worked.

Sort of.

Nerd-Vol > shop-teacher 12/02/2016 at 16:09

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Yeah, those Pontiac ones aren’t bad for what they were.

Nerd-Vol > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire 12/02/2016 at 16:10

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The lip and wing set it off so nicely. I think those 1st gen cars will become a classic.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 16:44

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For a long period of time the tail light was an afterthought, just a big block which was there to function and nothing else.

I don’t get this at all. While it’s true that for a lot of the 90s the trend was toward simple “band of color” taillights, there was a shitload of design effort that went into styling taillight assemblies before that time. Intended as iconic looks in their own right, not “blocks”, even in the sense of mixing in clear or alternately colored elements as contrast.

The Altezzas didn’t bring anything “new” so much as spur a return to form.

Even the “bands of color” of another age had a lot of styling effort dedicated to them.

...and even in the 90s band of color years there were models trying things differently.

Nerd-Vol > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 12/02/2016 at 17:12

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Great point.

I was referring to the period of time before the altezza, so the 80s and the 90s. I should have been more specific.

That said, I’d imagine for every interesting design from the era you are mentioning there are several uninspired attempts.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 19:10

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I would agree that it is an improvement, but those two round red lights still look like a nostrils on an oversized nose.

RazoE > vicali 12/02/2016 at 20:26

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Okay, I can finally get some pics up.

Here are “regular” IS300 tail lights:

Toyota Altezza JDM Dark Chrome tails:

Lexus IS 300 USDM Dark Chrome tails:

2003 Sport Design tail lights (slightly purple)

2004 Sport design tail lights (slightly titanium)

2002 GGP (graphite gray pearl) tails:

TRD Tail light covers (usually body color):

Rare Altezza Evoluer tail lights (inside is red chrome)

So as you can see, there are MANY options and many variations. My personal favorite were the JDM Dark chrome tail lights which I had, but I liked the uniqueness and rarity of the TRD tail light covers, so I sold my JDM dark chromes and bought a set of “regular” chrome tails with TRD covers. The covers block no light, for the record.

BONUS PIC:

The first “altezza” lights, that I know of.

Shift24 > Nerd-Vol 12/02/2016 at 22:39

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Yeah but it’s was better than any other domestic and most foreign auto makers were doing at the time. For some reason I really like the 5th gen Grand prix coupes tails and these came out in 1988.

XJDano > Nerd-Vol 12/03/2016 at 09:48

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I was going to say something about the equinox /torrent twins but have been beat to it. I don’t really like them as I have my wife’s 05 equinox as a hand me down car when we bought her a van.

But by now I’m not going to change stuff out on a work car. I actually drive around a lot with a hitch tray so it really breaks up the design. Not one care to give, as it is now an appliance to get me to work and hold my working tools.