5 Cars That Chart the Progress of Pop-up Lights
This story first appeared in the November/December 2024 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Join the club to receive our award-winning magazine and enjoy insider access to automotive events, discounts, roadside assistance, and more.
It has been 20 years since the last cars with the distinctive peekaboo lighting solution went out of production. Yet for enthusiasts who came of age in the Reagan era (or who wish they did), they remain one of the clearest markers of a cool car. Their history, in some respects, tracks the evolution of the automobile itself. Join us for a brief tour of the rise and fall of pop-up headlights.
The Pioneer: 1936 Cord 810
Car design in the 1930s was all about streamlining. Industrial designers pared down the ornamental aspects of art deco but kept its smooth, sleek shapes. Protruding headlamps literally stand in the way of that aesthetic, so many designers began fairing them into the fenders. The logical next step was to hide the lights entirely. Auburn stylist Gordon Buehrig was the first to do so on a production vehicle by adding Stinson retractable airplane landing lights to the 1936 Cord.
If you should pass a Cord on the road, don’t expect its driver to offer you a “pop-up salute” (quickly raising and lowering the headlights)—the Cord’s must be cranked up and down by hand.
The Nose-Job: 1970 Plymouth Superbird
By the 1960s and early ’70s, hidden headlamps had become a fashionable aesthetic across a range of models, but a few sports cars, including the Stingray Corvette and Ferrari GTB/4 Daytona, specifically exploited pop-ups for aerodynamic advantage. Yet no one took it as far as Mopar. Dodge was first, affixing a big schnoz on its Charger so that it could dominate NASCAR in 1969. Sister brand Plymouth did the same the following season, placing a nose cone on its Road Runner.
Because Dodge and Plymouth had to sell limited numbers of street versions in order to race on Sunday, they integrated retractable headlights into the fascia of the road cars.
As far as nose jobs go, these have to be among the more expensive: Due to their racing pedigree and rarity, a Charger Daytona or Road Runner Superbird with a numbers-matching Hemi can be worth hundreds of thousands more than a wingless Charger or Road Runner.
Muscle Metamorphosis: 1982 Pontiac Trans Am
Amid unpredictable gas prices and tightening fuel-economy regulations in the 1980s, automakers were scrambling for every efficiency improvement, including through aerodynamics. The sealed-beam headlamps mandated by the federal government created a lot of drag, so many automakers opted to tuck them away.
Of course, pop-ups also fit the zeitgeist—at the dawn of the computer era, everyone wanted to look futuristic. For cars, that meant a sleek wedge shape, with no headlights to be seen.
More cars with pop-ups were produced in the 1980s than in any other decade. Everything from Alpines to Accords had ’em, but our favorite remains the third-gen Trans Am. Perhaps nothing captures the difference between the ’70s and the ’80s better than the transition from the rough-and-tumble Burt Reynolds’ Bandit to David Hasselhoff’s sleek, computerized KITT.
Peak Pop-Up: 1991 Cizeta Moroder V16T
No one does excess quite like the Italians. The Cizeta boasts 16 cylinders and four retractable headlights. It was built by ex-Lamborghini engineers and penned by the man behind the Countach. Improbably, the supercar funded by a pioneering disco producer and launched during a recession was not a success.
The Holdout: 2004 Chevrolet Corvette
In 1984, the federal government—with heavy lobbying from Ford as it prepared the aerodynamically advanced Taurus—loosened its regulations concerning headlight standardization. By the early 1990s, automakers were getting the hang of making flush-mount composite headlights, and the expensive and failure-prone pop-up mechanisms began to seem like a bad idea.
By the time the fifth-generation Corvette debuted in 1997, sports car rivals like the Toyota Supra and Mitsubishi 3000 GT had already ditched their hidden lamps for projector beams, and the Acura NSX was soon to follow. When the C5 Corvette went out of production in 2004, the pop-up party was over. We likely won’t see them again, thanks largely to safety regulations. Modern pedestrian protection requirements don’t explicitly forbid pop-ups, but the sharp edges inherent to a protruding light are difficult (read: expensive) to engineer around.
The Cizeta Moroder V16T is a car I have only seen in video games and pictures. Peak popup headlight!
John Temerian took delivery of a Cizeta and did a full history of it on his YouTube channel, Curated TV. Very interesting and beautiful car for sure. Check out out.
I kind of expected to see the NA Miata listed as “peak personality” for pop-up headlights.
The ‘90-‘97 Miata is definitely a noteworthy car that should have been included. The ‘83-‘87 and ‘88-‘91 Prelude as well as several Porsche models (notably the 928) should have made the list.
What about the wonderful car the Miata was modeled after. The fantastic Lotus Elan!
Yes, the Elan and the 914. Also
the Miura and the 928.
Don’t forget the FIAT X1-9
Exactly. My mini Ferrari always got looks wherever I went. If the pop ups didn’t work you could pop front hood, reach in a manually raise or lower them with little wheel. A fun little ride that just needed about 20 hp more.
And almost pop-up, the Bug-eye/Frog-Eye Sprite!
They tried but it would have been too expensive so they dropped the idea.
Regarding ‘model after’, the shape of the Elan’s pop up housing looks remarkably similar to that of the Cord in the down position. It has to be more than coincidence.
I miss my 1971 Lotus Elan.
I was thinking that you were suggesting the 1958 Austin Healey Sprite, affectionately known as the Bugeye. Gerry Coker’s original design showed the lights folding into the bonnet.
Indeed!
My point exactly. The NA looks far better than the NB.
Then there is the Opel GT. Mine a roller when purchased, headlight buckets out. Just move the lever and roll them over. Not quite. The mechanism needs not only to move smoothly, but the headlights need to move in unison, lock in place, and make positive contact with the micro switch. I was lucky, as I had my friend Gil to make the proper adjustments. Never had an issue with my X1/9, but how many of us have seen a vehicle wth one headlight up, and the other partway up going down the road?
“Just move the leaver and roll them over” Not so easy when it’s cold outside. Even when they are adjusted correctly.
I still love my Opel GT.
The Porsche 928, anyone? ANYONE?
And the 914, 944 and 968
And the 1991-1994 Mercury Capri.
And while not a pop-up, the 1965 Buick Riviera clamshell headlights almost warrant mentioning just because they’re so cool.
I agree the 65 Riv GS was one of the best.
Another forgotten car is the 1968 and 69 Impala that had hide away head lamps as an option as did the 67-69 Camaro. The 69 were see through lens as a back up if they failed. Which was common.
and the 1966 through 1970 Dodge Chargers had the “hidden headlights”
I had one of those Capris. Turbo with a 5 speed,fun car.
The pop ups crapped out, never figure why.Cranked them open from under the hood.
Fortunately never really drove it a night.
That’s a common issue with an easy fix. What happens is, the grease on the headlamp gear hardens up. Simply remove the headlamp, scrape/clean out all the old grease and replace with new white lithium grease.
I would have added the C4 head lamp as it did a full 180 flip.
Also the Fiero over the TA. It not only flips up it rises up as the hood is lower than stock head lamp height.
It had to articulate up and the hood light cover was part of the hood. Much engineering on these.
Sorry, but never Fiero over TA. I like the Fiero but the thirdfgen TA was more iconic.
Iconic?
Yes I agree having owned several in the past.
That only means the Firebird TA it’s an icon for you.
Definitely should have included the Fiero. Pop-up headlights from the beginning in 1984 to the end in 1988. The Gen 2 system is the better of the two systems used and can be retrofitted to the 984-1986 models
Yep, the headlights pushed up spring loaded doors in the hood of the Fiero. In my younger days, I got an 86 Fiero GT up to about 125 mph and first one and then both headlight doors popped up due to air pressure! My friends didn’t believe me, so I took my buddy down the same road (slightly downhill) and did it again. As we slowed down, the doors slammed shut again.
I’m impressed that you got your GT up to 125 mph. I’ve never tried in my ’88 GT and I doubt if it will make it, but you have the proof.
Yes exactly shoulda been on top of the list. They were cool.
Also the reason many went away was weight and alignment issues with more precision projectors.
My 1984 Trans Am PS headlamp stopped functioning, most fail dew to the nylon gear in my case the carbon brush broke loose from the bronze spring. Clamped the brush down onto the bronze spring checking for continuity and epoxied it in place.
Zotz- Yea the 928 but along the same lines and more so the Muira. Opel GT gets my vote hands down.
Yes absolutely the Opel GT ! I cant think of any other car that implemented them rolling over the way they do… and manual action at that 🙂
Pulling the lever on an Opel GT was way more fun than flipping a switch……….
And quite a bit more noise as well!
Saab Sonnett was “pull a lever” too.
Gee – someone else knows the Sonett! Those are restoration nightmares, but kids at parades LOVE them.
The Panther Solo joined the roll-over headlight party in the 1980s.
Absolutely the Buick Opel GT! We loved the car and those wonderful Flip-Over Headlamp Buckets! So much fun! I believe they were part of the fun of that little “Corvette”, albeit noisy to operate for sure. Simply grab hold of that handbrake-looking floor lever next to the transmission tunnel, give it a solid pull, (because if you didn’t they wouldn’t fully open and latch in place and they would not turn on!), and there you have it, headlights for the evening.
The other automobiles mentioned in the comments I think bring to the forefront that there were definitely more the 5 that needed to be mentioned. Ahhh, don’t we all enjoy our fun cars through the years! Ha haa . . . . . .
As a 7 year old kid, it was a thrill to sit in my friend’s father’s parked Opel GT and flip the lights up.
Lotus Esprit!
The Trans Am motors were the same in the Fiero and C4 in the early years. The brush thing was rare but a nylon gear would break but they make a billet replacment. I have fixed a couple of these and they are an easy fix.
They were the same in 1987 & 1988. The 1984 through 1986 Fiero used a mechanical relay system with completely different motors.
Just because I own one: BMW 840i/850i/850CSI (E31).
Nice!
I’ll add another ‘just because I own one’ MKIII Toyota Supra.
I will add another one just because I own one, the double lights on thr Countach are cool!
Me too! 96 850ci
Don’t forget the other prewar production car with pop-up headlights…42 De Soto. Ever see one?
I passed on 1 of these…back in the 70s, but still kick myself…it had been rolled…but very little damage.
Yup – not lately, but years ago a gent nearby had a couple of them!
Thanks for the mention. l was hoping someone would!
How about pop-OUT headlights?
The Alfa Navajo concept:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/549298485775459130/
240sx s13 do have pop out headlights too. Great sport drift car.
240sx for sure! On the track it was worth 3 mph
One of my favorites was
1970 Opel GT
Mine too, my brother bought one new back in the day. I remember it was mechanical with a lever and actually worked pretty good.
My goodness, everyone. Oldsmobile Toronado 66-69. The Toro borrowed from the Cord front end and grille design too. Vacuum operated and not without their issues…
Love the 68-69 Toronado stealth headlights. Can’t tell that there are any headlights. I told one teenager who asked me where the headlights were; “back when they made this car it didn’t have headlights and you could only drive it during the day”
Riviera went with the same vacuum setup for 68-69. Major pain finding parts for those. I know there’s a few parts off the 68-69 Camaro RS will work on those.