Pop Up Headlights

[overrun]

I think the Honda NSX is the last car with pop up headlights.

 

I accidentally cut up a Mk2 Toyota MR2 earlier in the year, I couldn't see the low-slung MR2 over the undergrowth at the junction - he flashed his lights, but I was gone by the time they popped up. Are they all quite slow to react?

Nearly T-boned a Mondeo taxi that was waiting to cross a central reservation, in my mates mk2 Turbo because he never saw us for that exact reason.

[Spiny Norman]

Whaaaaat? I never even knew the Lagondas did that.

Haha...it usually catches someone out. They just don't look like they need extra lights.

 

Green thing looks like a crap imitation of a Lamborghini Bravo, but Google suggests it's a Marcadier Barzoi 2.

 

http://www.marcadier.com/barzoi2_eng.htm

[Spiny Norman]

Looks a bit like the arrangement on the Aston Martin Bulldog too.

 

[vulgalour]

Just when you think the Lagonda couldn't get any more awesome/ugly, it does.  Top picture.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Love pop-up headlights. Apparently the EU banned them because of the risk to pedestrians. Have to say I've never seen written on any obituary "sadly died after being impaled on a pop up headlight" but there you go.

 

I don't believe that the EU has ever banned pop up headlamps. At least, every time I've challenged someone to prove it, they've never been able to turn up the relevant legislation. Pop up headlamps shouldn't even be too difficult to meet pedestrian safety targets with - just design them to collapse. Hell, if Nissan can justify hinges rigged with explosive bolts just to lower the bonnet line a bit and Volvo are coming out with external airbags, pop up lights should be pretty trivial. 

 

They just went out of fashion.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Green thing looks like a crap imitation of a Lamborghini Bravo, but Google suggests it's a Marcadier Barzoi 2.

 

http://www.marcadier.com/barzoi2_eng.htm

 

Full points ! Andre Marcadier was an Autoshite hero, I must get round to starting a topic about his creations !

[barefoot]

Love pop-up headlights. Apparently the EU banned them because of the risk to pedestrians. Have to say I've never seen written on any obituary "sadly died after being impaled on a pop up headlight" but there you go.

 

Many years ago, I was involved in a collision with a pedestrian whilst driving a courtesy 944 at about 80 mph on an unlit dual carriageway.

The front bumper took both his legs off at the knees, the o/s popped headlight took off his right leg at the hip, then what was left of him was split open when he hit and collapsed the A pillar.

At the inquest they said that he was probably dead before he'd been thrown into and distorted the Armco.

 

I think that there must have been other similar incidents leading to a ban.

 

Incidentally, it was completely collapsed afterwards.

[Pillock]

[CortinaDave]

The "European directive for pedestrian protection" came into force in October 2005. Seems a bit too much of a coincidence to me that that is also when pop up headlights seem to have disappeared.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I think some Ferraro Daytonas came without popup headlamps and they look shit.

I love em I've had a Volvo 480, tr7 and a silvia mainly because of the lights .

Lights go up, lights go down, lights go up, lights go down repeat 1000

Ironically the Daytona received pop-ups because of American saftey regulations, the same reason US spec e-types and Citroen SMs didn't have covers on the headlights. Ferrari chose to redesign rather than take the Citroen and Jag bodge approach.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

The "European directive for pedestrian protection" came into force in October 2005. Seems a bit too much of a coincidence to me that that is also when pop up headlights seem to have disappeared.

 

But it only lays down a series of tests the cars must pass. It doesn't explicitly prohibit any design. 

 

If you look at Wikipedia's list of cars with pop up headlamps, it suggests the real reason we don't see them on modern cars is because they were a fad. They'd effectively died out by the mid 90s anyway. 

[Junkman]

 

[barefoot]

If you look at Wikipedia's list of cars with pop up headlamps, it suggests the real reason we don't see them on modern cars is because they were a fad. They'd effectively died out by the mid 90s anyway.

 

I thought that pop up lights were first introduced to comply with US headlight height regulations.

So a low sleek cars lights would pop up to the correct height.

Presumably that no longer applies.

 

Edit. Didn't the Americans want all bumpers to be the same height at one point as well?

Hence all that bloated rubber crap nailed on.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Edit. Didn't the Americans want all bumpers to be the same height at one point as well?

Hence all that bloated rubber crap nailed on.

 

Yeah, although in that case the goal was reducing accident repair costs rather than safety. They initially just had to protect certain bits of the car (lights, etc) from a 5mph impact at the front (half that at the back), but it later grew to standardised bumper heights (as seen on this Canadian spec Mini, if you look really closely you can spot the seamlessly raised bumper height) and a demand that a 5mph impact (front and rear) not damage the bodywork at all. 

 

 

The bumper laws peaked in 1980 when new cars had to survive a 5mph front or rear impact without even any damage to the bumpers themselves, at which point the automakers went crying to President Reagan who signed legislation to outlaw Russia forever and agreed to let them do whatever the fuck they wanted.

[inconsistant]

I'm going to guess that pop up headlights became irrelevant due to some sort of technological advancement in headlight design in the late 90/early 00s that meant that the front surface of the headlight could be at an angle, rather than at 90degs to the beam, so they could then be blended into the aerodynamic surfaces of the front of the car.

[Station]

Pop up headlights disappearing had nothing to do with pedestrian safety. Car manufacturers had to meet new emission/efficiency regulations (don't know if this was self regulated by the industry or the government) which meant pop ups couldn't be used due to aerodynamics.

 

The us does have headlight limits which is why there are two versions if the corolla AE86 - the trueno and the sprinter, both with different headlights.

[Mike D]

This is my only current vehicle with pop up lights:

 

 

Although my old 928 had them too. It looked absolutely crap with them up however!

 

Here's one in all it's 'someones stuck their cock up my exhaust' surprised glory...

 

[Station]

Haha at that 928 and it's description!!

[Partridge]

That just made me belly laugh!

[rml2345]

Bloody lol! Those 928 pop ups are brilliant! I didn't know they looked quite as ridiculous as that. Also didn't know the AM Lagonda had pop up lights of any sort, the knowledge of which has increased greatly the appeal of an already desirable* car.