May 26, 2025 • 33 mins
What if you could experience the charm and innovation of pop-up headlights, a beloved relic from automotive history, all over again? Join us as we take you on a nostalgic ride through the captivating evolution of these iconic headlights that once defined eras of classic car design. From the groundbreaking moment at the 1935 New York Auto Show with the Cord 812 to the revolutionary power-actuated headlights in the 1938 Buick Y-Job concept, we promise you'll uncover fascinating stories about how these headlights became legends, only to be eventually replaced by modern lighting technologies.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I think the band Power man 5000 said it
best Supernova goes pop, oh yeah, and
popcorn.
There's lots of things out there with pop
in them, but in the automotive industry,
when you think of the word pop, you think
of one thing and something that's actually
disappeared, except it slightly reappeared
on some brand new vehicles.
We're talking about pop-up headlights.
(00:22):
I was first introduced to them when I was
five years old Now.
I'd seen them on other vehicles, but I
never understood them.
My first interaction with them was when I
was five and as a friend of my family's and
their son brought us down to show us his
dad's car, his 1987 Firebird, with flip-up
headlights.
It was the coolest thing I had ever seen.
I was amazed by it and I wanted to see it.
(00:44):
After seeing it, I wanted to see it more
and I wanted my dad to get one.
I wanted pop-up headlights.
They were cool, but in all reality, with
laser lights and HIDs and bubble lights now
coming in in the 90s, pop-up headlights
were on their way out.
In today's market we don't see them anymore,
and why is that?
Well, there's a few companies that are
still kicking them around, and today
Autolux is going to be taking a look at
(01:05):
pop-up headlights.
Welcome back to the Autolux Podcast.
I am your host, as always, the doctor to
the automotive industry, Mr Everett Jay,
coming to you from our host website at
autoluxnet.
If you haven't been there, stop by, check
(01:26):
it out.
Read some of the reviews, check out some of
the ratings.
Go to the corporate links website page.
Big or small, we have them all car
companies from around the globe all in one
spot at the autoluxnet website.
The autolux podcast is brought to you by
ecom entertainment group and distributed by
podbeamcom.
If you'd like to get in touch with us, send
us an email over at email at autoluxnet.
So, like I said in the beginning, pop-up
(01:48):
headlights.
Now, for me, the word pop has many
different meanings.
When I hear pop, if I'm hungry I think of
popcorn.
If I think of nostalgia, I think of one of
my favorite shows from when I was a kid VH1.
Pop-up video yeah, that was great.
You learn so much stuff about bands, all
the history behind them and everything else
(02:08):
all from pop-up video.
It was cool.
But those pop-up headlights on that 87
Firebird that I saw when I was a child
always stuck with me and I loved them and I
always wondered where they came from and
why they were here.
Well, essentially, pop-up headlights were
first seen in 1935.
Yes, we're going back to 1935.
The New York Auto Show, to be exact, the
(02:29):
original Autorama or Auto Show, as we all
know in North America, one of the pioneers
of the automotive shows from around the
globe the New York Auto Show that year 1935,
showcased a Cord 812.
It had a handcrafted mechanism that you
used the landing lights from a Stinson
airplane so you can pop them out.
(02:50):
Oh yeah, you can hide them.
It was to create a cleaner look to the
vehicle.
And you got to remember 1935, we were just
starting to get away from that original
buggy design that we started with.
We're starting to move into cleaner
features on our automobiles.
And somebody had the great idea why don't
we hide the headlights?
Headlights are these big round things that
stick out right in everybody's faces.
(03:12):
Why don't we try and hide them?
So Cord gave it a whirl.
By utilizing those landing lights from a
stinted airplane and using that hand crank
mechanism, they managed to make the
headlights disappear.
This essentially gave shock to the world.
Oh my God, where are the headlights on this
car?
They've disappeared.
It was amazing, it was new, it was
something that people were intrigued by,
(03:33):
but unfortunately it would still take some
time before the masses would be hit with it.
Gotta remember the original design had a
hand crank mechanism and we're talking a
cord Cord.
Were luxury vehicles?
Luxury people just want to be able to push
a button, not hand crank crap.
Gotta remember hand crank.
Oh god, that was like a decade before.
We're getting out of there, man.
(03:54):
We're getting to the days where you can put
a key in, turn it over and drive.
You don't gotta crank this thing.
Well, by 38 buick showcased its y job
concept with the first true power-actuated
pop-up headlights.
Although it was a concept, it used a
mechanical hydraulic lift system for the
lights.
It made it so that at a push of a button
(04:15):
your headlights could appear.
We all know how important headlights are to
our automobiles and we need them to be
there.
But you have to remember, in the early days
of automobiles we had small, round
headlights For the longest time.
We thought that was the only way we could
essentially project light ahead of us.
We didn't think we could do it with square.
We didn't think we could do it with oval.
We didn't think we could do it with any
generalized form.
(04:37):
Lights had to be round because light bulbs
were round and essentially a light bulb is
reflecting off of what's behind it.
So in a sense we all needed round
headlights.
But pop-up headlights made it so that our
vehicles could be more streamlined, look
better and freak people out.
When they popped up, Just like the original
(04:57):
convertibles, being able to take the top
off the vehicle, or even when they started
adding doors full-scale doors, mirrors,
every single thing.
When it started to be added to vehicles,
all intrigued people, and pop-up headlights
were one of them.
But why did this stick around for so long?
Well, essentially, technology is what kept
it around for so long and technology is
(05:19):
what killed it in the end.
Now, the use of a hydraulic system or a
hand crank system was what you had found in
the early days.
So the early days of pop-up headlights,
from 1935 all the way up until the early
60s so nearly 30 years they never really
took off.
It was a great thing for luxury vehicles
that people would be willing to pay an
extra amount for, but due to the cumbersome
(05:40):
operating systems of pop-up headlights, not
a lot of people really got into them.
It really wasn't until the electric system
of operation took over.
Electrically operated pop-up headlights
Essentially push a button and they pop out
nice easy.
You don't have to worry about fluids or
anything else.
This gave rise to the pop-up headlights.
(06:00):
In 1962, the first mainstream production
car was released with pop-up headlights.
In 1962, the first mainstream production
car was released with pop-up headlights.
Being an entry-level product for an early
pioneer of the sports car industry, the
Lotus Elan gave us pop-up headlights to the
masses.
They were what originally was the pop-up
headlight.
That's where it all started from.
(06:22):
Well, in the mainstream, you gotta got to
remember 1935, 810 cord is where it started,
but 62, the Lotus Lawn really gave us what
we all wanted.
We wanted that electrically operated pop-up
headlight that anybody can do, and now that
it was an electric system its costs could
be brought down.
It could be brought more into the masses.
So essentially, the 60s became the decade
(06:43):
of change for the automobile industry.
Gotta remember the 60s.
A lot of things started happening by the
late 40s when people were getting back from
World War II.
They'd come back, they'd settle down,
they'd have families and they'd start to
have kids.
The beginning of the baby boom happened and
with that this giant bubble of children
exploded in many parts of the world and the
baby boom generation was first moving
(07:05):
through and getting into automobiles in the
early 60s.
Now, why did things start changing in the
1960s?
So the 50s, we had amazing designs of
automobiles, big, burly vehicles.
We had V8s, we had V10s.
We had six cylinders, we had four cylinders.
We were from the small to the very large,
just about everything else.
What can change so drastically?
(07:26):
Well, the 60s, we started realizing we
needed more safety.
We started realizing we need better fuel
consumption.
We started realizing we can use electronic
systems instead of these big, burly
hydraulic systems for both the convertible
roofs and now headlights.
Stereos becoming more mainstay and now the
introduction of fm radio.
More people wanted music in their vehicles.
(07:48):
We get it, music has always been there in
our cars, but we wanted more speakers.
Customizing really started taking off in
the 60s and the baby boom generation is
really what spawned a lot of this
creativity and introduction of new
technology into the automotive world.
In the 60s, where it all started, Pop-up
headlights being started in 1962, with the
Lotus Elan started showcasing what we can
(08:10):
do to hide our headlights.
Gotta remember back then we had to use
round headlights for the longest period of
time.
It was a regulation for the automobile
industry.
They had to be round.
Now, when we hit the 80s, we realized we
can make them into square headlights and
that became the regulation for automobiles.
But by the early 90s we started realizing
we could turn those things into bubbles,
(08:31):
make any design we wanted, and that is when
the pop-up headlight industry started
disappearing.
Because we can make headlights any design
and nearly any size, why do we need to hide
them?
Hiding our headlights is something we did
to try and reduce drag on the automobile.
If you remember the original Ford GT that
was used at Le Mans, if you go back and
(08:52):
watch the movie Ford versus Ferrari and you
take a look at the front end of that Ford
GT, you'll understand what I'm talking
about when I say you need to hide
headlights.
Vehicles for the masses.
Headlights were always exposed, they were
out front, they were right there and they
would always create a massive amount of
drag.
Now in the 60s you started getting more
square box designs, so you're starting to
(09:12):
inset them a bit, put them in with the
grill, so essentially, the air could be
coned into the center and cool off your
engine.
Well, that's all fine and dandy, but when
you're getting into the sports car industry,
you can't add this massive grill to it.
So how are you going to deal with these
headlights?
Well, a lot of car companies hid them or
they would use a retraction system to be
exposed, but they wouldn't be out
(09:32):
completely for you to be able to see
everything down the road.
So unlike today, where we can basically
create a laser light, a very thin line on
the front of our vehicle for a daytime
running light and then have any design we
want for our headlights.
Back then we were mandated to use these
round headlights and, getting back to the
Ford GT part, if you take a look at the
front end of that vehicle, those headlights
(09:54):
are encased in a glass enclosure.
A lot of race cars did this because they
knew and understand drag and by having
those lights there which they needed
because they're racing during the day and
night.
So they needed the headlights.
They needed to have the most efficient
design for their automobile.
They needed to be as aerodynamic as
possible and the only way to do this when
(10:15):
you have big, flabby, round headlights on
the front of your vehicle is to either hide
them away or cover them with a bubble.
It's essentially how bubble lights got
started.
We encased them.
Now, this wouldn't really make it out to
the masses because to access those
headlights and change them would cost you
fortune to do it, so a very limited amount
of vehicles went to this.
The other option Pop-up headlights.
(10:36):
We did this to hide them away.
Now some vehicles eventually down the line
would have daytime running lights that hid
behind a glass enclosure but then also have
pop-up headlights for nighttime.
The F40 and Lamborghini Countach are top
priority when it comes to this.
If you take a look at them, you always
think that a Ferrari F40, you could see its
headlights exposed at all times.
(10:57):
But no, they're hidden behind those
headlights.
Those are daytime running lights or
essentially, fog lights.
Your pop-up headlights are your actual
nighttime visibility light fixture and they
pop out.
They hide them Because Ferrari knows during
the daytime, when you're at the track, you
need to go as fast as possible and have the
best coefficient of drag against your
vehicle.
(11:17):
You need to ensure that there is nothing
sticking out causing extra downforce on the
exterior design of that vehicle, and that's
why they hid them away.
That's why a lot of these car companies hid
them away, and they found very ingenious
ways to hide them.
See, it wasn't just pop-up headlights that
were making waves in the 1960s.
People were trying all kinds of different
things to try and hide headlights.
(11:38):
And now that we can actually get the front
ends of our vehicles closer to the ground,
create less drag on the front end to allow
the movement of air over top of it, thus
increasing our fuel consumption and being
able to possess faster rates of speed, the
sports car industry started paving the way
for the new pop-up headlight generation.
Now, originally, before there were either
(12:00):
doors that opened and closed in front of
the headlights or they popped out like the
Buick Y-Job.
It was essentially hidden away but it
popped out Slowly, came out.
Well, the Lotus Elan were hidden on the
front and they did.
Like most of them that you remember, they
popped up.
You know, the Mazda Miatas pop up, the
Corvettes from the 1980s pop up, F-40,
Countach pop up.
(12:21):
They all popped out.
How that firebird I saw pop-up headlights.
My mom had a plymouth laser back in the day,
pop-up headlights.
But what's something that happens down the
road with your pop-up headlights?
The motors go on them and then either one
or both of the headlights are stuck up.
You start noticing that you're losing fuel
mileage.
It's all because you have that extra drag
(12:41):
on the front of your vehicle.
Now, the one thing they never really took
into consideration when they're making
pop-up headlights is maybe the pop-up part
up behind it should have been more in line
with an angular design of the front of the
vehicle, thus decreasing the amount of drag
when your headlights were up.
This is something we think about today, but
this is years after and we're going to get
(13:02):
into new companies utilizing that ability
for new pop-up headlights.
After the Lotus Elan 1968, we had the
second iteration of the pop-up headlight.
We had the rollovers, and if you don't know
what the rollover headlight is, well, take
a look at the Panther Solo or Opel GT.
The headlights didn't pop out, they rolled
(13:23):
over, Literally rollover.
Go online, look for a video of the Opel GT
a 68 Opel GT and watch the headlights roll
over.
It's the coolest thing you'll ever see.
First 68 Opel GT and watch the headlights
roll over.
It's the coolest thing you'll ever see.
First time I ever showed my wife this as an
auto show, I said, yeah, these are the Opel
GTs, it's got the rollover headlights.
And the guy's there and he's like oh, you
want me to show you them and he did it.
Like my wife was astonished.
She'd like never seen anything like that.
(13:47):
Oh my God that rolled over.
They were very cool.
But what happens when the system fails?
Something breaks Like a pop-up headlight.
They usually just come up and then get
stuck up Roll over headlights.
If something breaks, they can literally
just keep rolling around in there.
But gotta remember it's a sports car.
A lot of people who buy sports cars get
into the industry at a young age, buy them,
drive them as hard as they want, kill them
(14:08):
and throw them out into the garbage.
Years later they want to find them again
and rebuild them because they want to
relive their younger days.
They should have just kept it.
After that we get what we call the half
grill.
If you don't know what the half grill is, a
1970 Alfa Romeo Montreal has half grill
headlights.
It's essentially just an eyelid.
You're slightly tired, You're just like uh,
(14:29):
okay, I'm just a little bit tired here.
You don't close your eyes the whole way, so
you could still see somewhat of your eye,
but not all of his exposed.
And the alfa romeo montreal did this.
It's kind of weird because it's like why
didn't you just fully hide them away?
But when you look at the front end design
of the montreal, it goes with it.
They essentially just have the half because
(14:49):
the grill it.
It comes across with the grill, but since
you need to expose your headlights at
nighttime, they decided to make a half door
roll up to expose the headlights behind it,
because they wanted a clean look.
That's essentially what pop-up headlights,
or any iteration of the pop-up headlight
industry, is meant to do to give you a
clean look.
(15:09):
Then there's one of my favorites, one of
the ones that people know about the most.
Okay, there is the Hideaway Grill.
Okay, Hideaway Grill, the 1966 Camaro and
69 Chargers were famous for these.
If you look at the front end of a 69
Charger, you always ask yourself, when
you're looking at them and watching it,
Fast and Furious or Duke's Hazard you're
like where the hell are the headlights?
(15:30):
And when I was a kid, for the longest time
I never knew where the headlights were
until I actually saw somebody turn their
headlights on and watch this little door go.
It's just like the half door on the Alfa
Romeo Montreal, but it's fully covered.
So, essentially, the whole front of your
vehicle can be designed the way you want it.
They did this because they wanted front end
design to look seamless.
(15:51):
And how can you do that at a time when you
can't create headlights of any size or
layout, you hide them away, and that's what
they did.
They literally hid them behind the front
grill.
Now, that's just a hideaway grill with one
door.
There was the double door which you could
find on the original Buick Rivieras oh yeah,
that big luxury brute powerhouse from Buick.
(16:14):
Oh yeah, the Rivieras were an amazing car,
but they had a double fold headlight
because they were on the side.
It was almost like tail fins on the front
of the Buick Riviera and this had two door
options.
It would have one that would move up.
So halfway through on the headlight, where
it was about to be exposed, half of it went
up and half of it went down to expose your
headlight hidden behind that front cone.
(16:36):
This was an intriguing contraption, because
they wanted to hide their headlights, but
they also wanted to create an eye-catching
design, and you can't do that with standard
round headlights.
I get it.
There were lots of cars before.
I'm literally talking to you right now and
I I got the Playmobil Mercedes 300 SL right
in front of me and, yeah, they had round
headlights encased in a chrome accent on
(16:58):
the front of the vehicle, made to blend in
with the design.
But that's how we did it up until the days
of pop-up headlights.
We found ways to incorporate them into our
designs, but essentially we couldn't taper
the front hood down far enough to make our
vehicles go that much faster.
When pop-up headlights came into play, we
were able to because we could drop them
(17:19):
below the hood line.
See the 300SL years later, when it got into
the bubble lights of the 1980s, the hoods
were a lot shorter than they were in the
1950s.
Now they didn't have pop-up headlights,
they used bubble lights, but they still
were able to utilize better design for
better aerodynamics.
Now, after the hideaway grille, you have
(17:39):
what's called the rolling headlights.
Now the Mercury Cougar 1967 Mercury Cougar
had these.
You may think that they're very similar to
what the Charger and Camaro had, but the
Charger and Camaro had the headlights were
stationary, it was only the grill that
disappeared.
Same with the Buick Riviera it's the grill
that opened up along the side the 67
(17:59):
Mercury Cougar the headlights were behind
the front grill.
So if you turn them on when they're on,
that would be shining into your engine bay.
Great thing when you're working on vehicles.
Okay, If you can actually bypass the system.
When you're working on a 69 Mercury Cougar,
you can literally use the headlights to see
inside the engine bay while you're working.
It is the coolest thing ever.
Go online, there's those whole kinds of
videos that tell you how to do this, and a
(18:21):
lot more vehicles would be great if they
actually had headlights in the engine bay.
But the Mercury Cougar did, because its
headlights were hidden behind the grill.
So when you flip them over, the grill would
flip over, with the headlights exposed on
the other side.
Bam, there you go.
It's essentially a door, you know, kind of
like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,
where him and his dad would keep rolling
through the room that they're in that
(18:41):
catches fire, and then the other room with
all the Nazis just moving around right.
That's basically what the Mercury Cougar
revolving headlights are doing.
Then you have what's called the drop-down
or concealed headlights of the Aston Martin
Bulldog of 1980 or the 1992 Jaguar XJ220.
Now what do we mean by this?
(19:02):
The drop-down or concealed headlights?
If you can't picture those two cars right
now, then go to the website autoluxnet,
look for this podcast about pop-up
headlights and you'll see pictures of these
things.
Okay, the Aston Martin Bulldog essentially
the headlights were in the center of the
front end of the hood.
They were closer to the windshield than
they were to the front grille.
But what it was?
(19:22):
When you need to expose the headlight, the
headlights didn't pop out.
No, the area in front of the headlight
would drop down, kind of like the XJ220.
Its headlights were concealed, almost like
Buick Riviera, in the side sill.
Essentially the front arches and the door
would drop down to expose the headlight
behind it.
Now, these were amazing things, because a
(19:44):
lot of people looked at it and said what
the hell are the headlights?
Okay, we get it, this is a great concept
vehicle or this is a great supercar, but
where are your headlight?
You have to be able to drive around at
night.
You can't sell a vehicle without any
headlight, okay, Unless you're building for
a very specific purpose, like a
track-orientated vehicle or something only
made to go in and around, like a golf
(20:05):
course.
You need to have headlights for the streets.
Well, they just found another ingenious way
to make it happen.
They had a drop-down concealed door.
Essentially, the headlights were there, but
the headlights were literally a door in
front which is drop-down, exposing them to
the world outside.
Our next one was one of the weirdest ones
you'd ever seen.
Toyota has built one incredible sports car
(20:27):
long before the Toyota Supra.
You can essentially say this vehicle helped
create the design, the appeal and even the
feel of the Toyota Supra.
You can essentially say this vehicle helped
create the design, the appeal and even the
feel of the Toyota Supras.
We're talking about the 67.
Toyota 2000 GT Only came as a coupe model,
except for one instance in its life, In the
movie you Only Live Twice from James Bond.
(20:49):
We talked about this in our James Bond
podcast.
If you want to go back and listen to it the
vehicles of James Bond you can learn about
this vehicle.
Toyota 2000 GT only ever had one
convertible model made.
It was made for a James Bond movie.
They never released it to the public.
All standard coupe models came with what
they call the pop out headlights.
They're essentially on the side of the
(21:11):
vehicle and they popped out from the sides.
Essentially, your front fender flares is
where your headlights were and they popped
out from the side of your vehicle.
It was a very intriguing thing.
But you also have to remember this was also
a mid-engine car with a front engine layout,
so they had lots of space to play with when
they're trying to hide their headlights
away.
Now, why would you do something like this?
Why wouldn't you just make them pop out of
(21:32):
the hood?
Why wouldn't you use a glass encasement?
Why would you make them pop out of the side?
Well, Toyota wanted to do something
different, and they actually found it a lot
easier to make them pop out of the side of
the vehicle than to pop out of the top.
Why?
Because the pressure that you have to use
to push them out from the side of the
vehicle as opposed to out of the hood was a
lot less so to do this, they made it for
(21:55):
the 2000 GT and they gave it its own image,
which was amazing.
It's kind of like the Opel GTs with the
rollover lights.
There's very few vehicles out there that
have ever had that specific form of
headlight.
Not unlike the next one, the original
Lamborghini Miura had the pop out headlight
Now pop out, pop out headlight.
(22:16):
So essentially, the headlights were exposed.
You could see them resting on the front
hood and if you look at the front of a
Lamborghini Miura or a 77 Porsche 928,
you'll see that the headlights are
literally sitting on the front of the
vehicle.
There's headlights.
Okay, I just turned them on and away I go.
No, those headlights actually have to be,
because you have to remember.
All headlights have to be pointed forward.
(22:38):
They can't be sitting at an angle that
means when you turn them on they'll just be
shining up in space.
Well, unless you're trying to flash your
high beams at, say, SOS and try and flag
down some UFOs.
No, you need this thing to, and the 928 did.
They popped out from the hood.
(22:59):
This was an amazing way to actually give
you the appeal of having the headlights
exposed, but also to meet world regulations.
Now, the 928 just had them pop out so you
can get to the proper angle you needed for
nighttime driving.
The Miura added what they call the eyelash
effect to it to give it its own persona on
(23:21):
the front end, and for that Demira had its
own identity.
And for the longest time I never even knew
those headlights popped out from the hood.
I should have guessed, because they all
have to be facing forward, but I always
just thought they bent the light inside of
it because they're rather large lights.
But no, from that you went to a later
iteration of pop-up headlights, the ones
(23:42):
that were bent into the hood.
And what do we mean by that?
They're pop-up headlights, but it doesn't
even look like headlights are supposed to
be there.
The 1983 Honda Prelude did this.
It's second generation had pop-up
headlights that weren't just flat with the
hood line, they angled it, it bent over.
(24:02):
So essentially the headlight fixture had to
be even bigger than your standard headlight
fixture because it was bent into the actual
hood design of the vehicle.
It made for a really intriguing look.
Remember that was the original Prelude,
1983.
Second generation after it came out in the
late 70s, it had an appeal that would set
(24:23):
it on fire in the 1980s and make it a
renowned sports coupe for the North
American and Asian and European
marketplaces.
After that we move into what I like to call
the slit lights.
They're actually called partial up lights.
Okay, the bmw 8 series if you've ever seen
one of those, it actually has part of the
(24:46):
headlight exposed at all times and the rest
of it comes popped out of the hood.
Now this might be something you might have
seen in the aftermarket industry years ago
when people used to buy mass rx7s and
slightly pop the headlights out.
So they're always somewhat faced out.
Okay, well, that looks cool, but it does
shit for your aerodynamics.
Okay, BMW integrated it within the hood,
(25:07):
but they were slightly exposed when you
need to fully see at night, the rest of it
would pop out.
So it's essentially a partial pop-up
headlight.
The next one really is just a standard
pop-up headlight but it's got double the
double-up pop-up headlight from the 1991
Syzetta V16T had two sets of headlights
(25:28):
pop-up.
It's essentially just having four pop-up
headlights in the front of your vehicle.
It looks really weird when they're all up
because you're like, why do you need four
headlights at night?
What you got?
Really bad bulbs.
But in a sense it also created something
even more amazing.
With that we start dying out and
essentially by the 1980s pop-up headlights
(25:49):
run all kinds of different vehicles.
It was the easiest way for us to hide those
big, bulky, square headlights.
We hid them underneath the hood and
everybody thought they were cool.
We all thought it was great and grand.
They were going into everything.
During the 1980s, the Honda Accord became
one of the first sedans in the world to
include pop-up headlights.
Like a sedan, a vehicle, an everyday driver
(26:12):
for suburbanized people had pop-up
headlights.
My aunt and uncle had one.
I thought it was pretty cool, Like a sedan
with pop-up headlights.
That's cool.
It even made the car look cool and
essentially helped cement the Honda Accord
as one of the leaders in the midsize market.
But in 2018, the Aries Progetto Uno became
(26:32):
the last vehicle available to the masses
with pop-up headlights.
That was until four years later.
Pop-up headlights really are not back, but
they're coming back and if you take a look
at some of the original vehicles with
pop-up headlights, as regulations changed
and bubble lights got better, they moved
away from them.
(26:52):
A perfect example of that is the second
generation NSX or the C6 Corvette.
The C5 and the C6 were very similar designs.
The C5 had pop-up headlights.
The C6 Corvette, the C5 and the C6 were
very similar designs.
The C5 had pop-up headlights.
The C6 had bubble headlights, Kind of like
the NSX.
The design slightly changed for its second
generation, but it went to bubble
headlights, Essentially the same fixture
(27:12):
that the pop-up headlights were in.
They literally just dropped the glass
enclosure and put headlights in it.
They didn't do much else.
They didn't try and change the design of it.
They literally just stuck them in because
we didn't need them anymore.
Pop-up headlights were dying out.
People were getting tired of the one-eyed
look, the electronic issues and hell, even
the added weight to these systems and all
the extra electronics.
(27:33):
Gotta remember that Fiero is a vehicle we
all thought was cool when we were kids.
Unfortunately, it was an electrical
nightmare and none of us wanted to work on
them.
After they started having issues and even
it, in its last generation, got away from
pop-up headlights.
When they deregulated the square headlights
and allowed us to start using bubble
headlights, we didn't have a use for pop-up
(27:55):
headlights anymore.
That is like I said, until 2022, when
Ferrari decided to bring back the hideaway
headlights on their Daytona SP3.
Now the headlights are there.
They had the daytime running lights, which
you could see, but the actual headlights.
To get a little bit better aerodynamics,
they inset them into the front hood line,
but they wanted to create a better
(28:15):
aerodynamics kit for the front end, so they
created a small little eye-lit door.
Remember those people that used to cover
their headlight, the bubble headlights?
Back in the 90s, during aftermarket days,
try and, you know, make them look like
they're frowny or make them look thinner or
scarier.
You know the Daytona kind of did that.
A short little door slides back so you can
(28:37):
get full use of your headlights at
nighttime.
It's kind of cool.
I've got to say thanks to Ferrari for doing
this.
But MG, or Shanghai Automotive Group SAIC,
is going one step further.
They looked at the aftermarket industry and
in China the aftermarket industry doesn't
exist.
Nobody's allowed to make aftermarket
vehicles in China, so for that the
(28:59):
automobile companies have to include stuff
from the aftermarket industry within their
vehicles.
Mg did this the Shanghai Automotive Show of
2025 with their MG Cyber X concept.
Now this vehicle is going to be going into
production within the next 18 months.
Let's just hope that there's little roll
(29:19):
back pop-up headlights make it to
production.
If you look at the front of the MG CyberX,
it has the standard band lighting for your
daytime running light in the front, but you
think the headlights are just those tiny
little rectangles above the push guards on
the side.
But they're not.
The actual headlights are small, little
roll back pop-up headlights that come out
(29:40):
just at the edges of the hood.
Now this thing is already essentially a
brick on wheels.
We covered in one of our previous podcasts
a toaster car, but it gave us something to
look forward to.
We all forget how cool it was the first
time we ever saw a pop-up headlight in
front of us.
We have to go back and remember why we fell
in love with them, why we had them here and
(30:01):
why, again, why we hated them in the end.
My mom's Plymouth Laser by the time she got
rid of the car, one of the headlights had
always stayed up.
So it's either she drives around with one
eye open or she keeps both of them up,
Because changing those motors were
expensive, especially for some of those
really cheap sports cars.
You have to remember something like the
Isuzu Impulse with its tiny little
(30:22):
half-eyelid door, kind of like the Alfa
Romeo Montreal.
When those things go, do you really want to
fix it, Because the Impulse is like a dirt
cheap bargain sports car.
No, you did not want to fix it, you just
left it the way it was, Same with the
original Miatas.
But hell, there's a lot of people in
generation now that think that's cool Drive
around with a one eye out.
Hey, maybe somebody should go back and tell
them that it's not cool.
(30:42):
Kind of like those real cheap, crappy
looking knockoff Ray-Bans with the
highlighter colored style arms on them.
Yeah, those are the stuff you get at like
Byway or Kmart.
When you were a kid you got beat up for
having no Pop-up headlights.
Were cool and they were an amazing thing,
and I'm glad to see that the automobile
industry is taking an interest in it once
again.
We don't really need them because we can
(31:03):
make any design we want for headlights on
vehicles.
And then remember we've gone from
essentially kerosene lamps to a thin band
laser light on the front of the vehicle.
They can literally dance the night away
when we turn the blinker on.
Okay, we, we've all seen those sequential
Mustang lights and now Audi does it with
older vehicles, with the you know the
fading one.
(31:24):
You can literally make the sound effects to
them when they're trying to turn.
So why do we want pop-up headlights back?
Why do we need to take a look at that again?
Well, there was something that was cool and
something that we all liked when they were
around.
They had all kinds of different variations
and they made it easy to hide headlights.
At a time now, and really until we get
translucent body moldings that we can cover
(31:46):
our headlights with completely to make the
whole front of the vehicle disappear, until
we actually turn those lights on and they
blind through that color.
Until those days come, we're essentially
stuck with what we got the laser lights.
Technology changed so we didn't have to
have pop-up headlights.
But are we getting to a point now that our
lights have become so small we could do
(32:07):
anything with them that some people are
taking a look at the past and saying we
need to bring some of these things back to
make a change within our vehicles.
So, in all reality, pop-up headlights they
were great, they were cool, they were
mesmerizing, but in the end, Pop-up
headlights they were great, they were cool,
they were mesmerizing, but in the end,
technologies beat them to death, just like
technology gave birth to them.
(32:28):
So if you like this podcast, please like,
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Click the like button, share it.
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(32:49):
The more people that follow us, the more
people that share it, the more episodes we
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Help us grow and we'll help you learn even
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The Autolux podcast is brought to you by
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If you'd like to get in touch with us, send
us an email over at email at Autoluxnet.
(33:10):
And after you've done all that, stop by the
website, Stop by Autoluxnet.
Read some of the reviews, check out some of
the ratings.
Go to the Corporate Lux website page, the
Radix.
Go to the Corporate Leaks website page.
Big or small, we have them all, Car
companies from around the globe all
available on the Autoluxnet website.
So, from myself here for Jay, the
Autoluxnet website, Ecom Entertainment
Group and Podbeamcom, Strap yourself in for
(33:32):
this one fun wild ride that the world of
pop-up headlights is going to take us on.
I think the band Power man 5000 said it
best Supernova goes pop, oh yeah, and
popcorn.
There's lots of things out there with pop
in them, but in the automotive industry,
when you think of the word pop, you think
of one thing and something that's actually
disappeared, except it slightly reappeared
on some brand new vehicles.
We're talking about pop-up headlights.
(00:22):
I was first introduced to them when I was
five years old Now.
I'd seen them on other vehicles, but I
never understood them.
My first interaction with them was when I
was five and as a friend of my family's and
their son brought us down to show us his
dad's car, his 1987 Firebird, with flip-up
headlights.
It was the coolest thing I had ever seen.
I was amazed by it and I wanted to see it.
(00:44):
After seeing it, I wanted to see it more
and I wanted my dad to get one.
I wanted pop-up headlights.
They were cool, but in all reality, with
laser lights and HIDs and bubble lights now
coming in in the 90s, pop-up headlights
were on their way out.
In today's market we don't see them anymore,
and why is that?
Well, there's a few companies that are
still kicking them around, and today
Autolux is going to be taking a look at
(01:05):
pop-up headlights.
Welcome back to the Autolux Podcast.
I am your host, as always, the doctor to
the automotive industry, Mr Everett Jay,
coming to you from our host website at
autoluxnet.
If you haven't been there, stop by, check
(01:26):
it out.
Read some of the reviews, check out some of
the ratings.
Go to the corporate links website page.
Big or small, we have them all car
companies from around the globe all in one
spot at the autoluxnet website.
The autolux podcast is brought to you by
ecom entertainment group and distributed by
podbeamcom.
If you'd like to get in touch with us, send
us an email over at email at autoluxnet.
So, like I said in the beginning, pop-up
(01:48):
headlights.
Now, for me, the word pop has many
different meanings.
When I hear pop, if I'm hungry I think of
popcorn.
If I think of nostalgia, I think of one of
my favorite shows from when I was a kid VH1.
Pop-up video yeah, that was great.
You learn so much stuff about bands, all
the history behind them and everything else
(02:08):
all from pop-up video.
It was cool.
But those pop-up headlights on that 87
Firebird that I saw when I was a child
always stuck with me and I loved them and I
always wondered where they came from and
why they were here.
Well, essentially, pop-up headlights were
first seen in 1935.
Yes, we're going back to 1935.
The New York Auto Show, to be exact, the
(02:29):
original Autorama or Auto Show, as we all
know in North America, one of the pioneers
of the automotive shows from around the
globe the New York Auto Show that year 1935,
showcased a Cord 812.
It had a handcrafted mechanism that you
used the landing lights from a Stinson
airplane so you can pop them out.
(02:50):
Oh yeah, you can hide them.
It was to create a cleaner look to the
vehicle.
And you got to remember 1935, we were just
starting to get away from that original
buggy design that we started with.
We're starting to move into cleaner
features on our automobiles.
And somebody had the great idea why don't
we hide the headlights?
Headlights are these big round things that
stick out right in everybody's faces.
(03:12):
Why don't we try and hide them?
So Cord gave it a whirl.
By utilizing those landing lights from a
stinted airplane and using that hand crank
mechanism, they managed to make the
headlights disappear.
This essentially gave shock to the world.
Oh my God, where are the headlights on this
car?
They've disappeared.
It was amazing, it was new, it was
something that people were intrigued by,
(03:33):
but unfortunately it would still take some
time before the masses would be hit with it.
Gotta remember the original design had a
hand crank mechanism and we're talking a
cord Cord.
Were luxury vehicles?
Luxury people just want to be able to push
a button, not hand crank crap.
Gotta remember hand crank.
Oh god, that was like a decade before.
We're getting out of there, man.
(03:54):
We're getting to the days where you can put
a key in, turn it over and drive.
You don't gotta crank this thing.
Well, by 38 buick showcased its y job
concept with the first true power-actuated
pop-up headlights.
Although it was a concept, it used a
mechanical hydraulic lift system for the
lights.
It made it so that at a push of a button
(04:15):
your headlights could appear.
We all know how important headlights are to
our automobiles and we need them to be
there.
But you have to remember, in the early days
of automobiles we had small, round
headlights For the longest time.
We thought that was the only way we could
essentially project light ahead of us.
We didn't think we could do it with square.
We didn't think we could do it with oval.
We didn't think we could do it with any
generalized form.
(04:37):
Lights had to be round because light bulbs
were round and essentially a light bulb is
reflecting off of what's behind it.
So in a sense we all needed round
headlights.
But pop-up headlights made it so that our
vehicles could be more streamlined, look
better and freak people out.
When they popped up, Just like the original
(04:57):
convertibles, being able to take the top
off the vehicle, or even when they started
adding doors full-scale doors, mirrors,
every single thing.
When it started to be added to vehicles,
all intrigued people, and pop-up headlights
were one of them.
But why did this stick around for so long?
Well, essentially, technology is what kept
it around for so long and technology is
(05:19):
what killed it in the end.
Now, the use of a hydraulic system or a
hand crank system was what you had found in
the early days.
So the early days of pop-up headlights,
from 1935 all the way up until the early
60s so nearly 30 years they never really
took off.
It was a great thing for luxury vehicles
that people would be willing to pay an
extra amount for, but due to the cumbersome
(05:40):
operating systems of pop-up headlights, not
a lot of people really got into them.
It really wasn't until the electric system
of operation took over.
Electrically operated pop-up headlights
Essentially push a button and they pop out
nice easy.
You don't have to worry about fluids or
anything else.
This gave rise to the pop-up headlights.
(06:00):
In 1962, the first mainstream production
car was released with pop-up headlights.
In 1962, the first mainstream production
car was released with pop-up headlights.
Being an entry-level product for an early
pioneer of the sports car industry, the
Lotus Elan gave us pop-up headlights to the
masses.
They were what originally was the pop-up
headlight.
That's where it all started from.
(06:22):
Well, in the mainstream, you gotta got to
remember 1935, 810 cord is where it started,
but 62, the Lotus Lawn really gave us what
we all wanted.
We wanted that electrically operated pop-up
headlight that anybody can do, and now that
it was an electric system its costs could
be brought down.
It could be brought more into the masses.
So essentially, the 60s became the decade
(06:43):
of change for the automobile industry.
Gotta remember the 60s.
A lot of things started happening by the
late 40s when people were getting back from
World War II.
They'd come back, they'd settle down,
they'd have families and they'd start to
have kids.
The beginning of the baby boom happened and
with that this giant bubble of children
exploded in many parts of the world and the
baby boom generation was first moving
(07:05):
through and getting into automobiles in the
early 60s.
Now, why did things start changing in the
1960s?
So the 50s, we had amazing designs of
automobiles, big, burly vehicles.
We had V8s, we had V10s.
We had six cylinders, we had four cylinders.
We were from the small to the very large,
just about everything else.
What can change so drastically?
(07:26):
Well, the 60s, we started realizing we
needed more safety.
We started realizing we need better fuel
consumption.
We started realizing we can use electronic
systems instead of these big, burly
hydraulic systems for both the convertible
roofs and now headlights.
Stereos becoming more mainstay and now the
introduction of fm radio.
More people wanted music in their vehicles.
(07:48):
We get it, music has always been there in
our cars, but we wanted more speakers.
Customizing really started taking off in
the 60s and the baby boom generation is
really what spawned a lot of this
creativity and introduction of new
technology into the automotive world.
In the 60s, where it all started, Pop-up
headlights being started in 1962, with the
Lotus Elan started showcasing what we can
(08:10):
do to hide our headlights.
Gotta remember back then we had to use
round headlights for the longest period of
time.
It was a regulation for the automobile
industry.
They had to be round.
Now, when we hit the 80s, we realized we
can make them into square headlights and
that became the regulation for automobiles.
But by the early 90s we started realizing
we could turn those things into bubbles,
(08:31):
make any design we wanted, and that is when
the pop-up headlight industry started
disappearing.
Because we can make headlights any design
and nearly any size, why do we need to hide
them?
Hiding our headlights is something we did
to try and reduce drag on the automobile.
If you remember the original Ford GT that
was used at Le Mans, if you go back and
(08:52):
watch the movie Ford versus Ferrari and you
take a look at the front end of that Ford
GT, you'll understand what I'm talking
about when I say you need to hide
headlights.
Vehicles for the masses.
Headlights were always exposed, they were
out front, they were right there and they
would always create a massive amount of
drag.
Now in the 60s you started getting more
square box designs, so you're starting to
(09:12):
inset them a bit, put them in with the
grill, so essentially, the air could be
coned into the center and cool off your
engine.
Well, that's all fine and dandy, but when
you're getting into the sports car industry,
you can't add this massive grill to it.
So how are you going to deal with these
headlights?
Well, a lot of car companies hid them or
they would use a retraction system to be
exposed, but they wouldn't be out
(09:32):
completely for you to be able to see
everything down the road.
So unlike today, where we can basically
create a laser light, a very thin line on
the front of our vehicle for a daytime
running light and then have any design we
want for our headlights.
Back then we were mandated to use these
round headlights and, getting back to the
Ford GT part, if you take a look at the
front end of that vehicle, those headlights
(09:54):
are encased in a glass enclosure.
A lot of race cars did this because they
knew and understand drag and by having
those lights there which they needed
because they're racing during the day and
night.
So they needed the headlights.
They needed to have the most efficient
design for their automobile.
They needed to be as aerodynamic as
possible and the only way to do this when
(10:15):
you have big, flabby, round headlights on
the front of your vehicle is to either hide
them away or cover them with a bubble.
It's essentially how bubble lights got
started.
We encased them.
Now, this wouldn't really make it out to
the masses because to access those
headlights and change them would cost you
fortune to do it, so a very limited amount
of vehicles went to this.
The other option Pop-up headlights.
(10:36):
We did this to hide them away.
Now some vehicles eventually down the line
would have daytime running lights that hid
behind a glass enclosure but then also have
pop-up headlights for nighttime.
The F40 and Lamborghini Countach are top
priority when it comes to this.
If you take a look at them, you always
think that a Ferrari F40, you could see its
headlights exposed at all times.
(10:57):
But no, they're hidden behind those
headlights.
Those are daytime running lights or
essentially, fog lights.
Your pop-up headlights are your actual
nighttime visibility light fixture and they
pop out.
They hide them Because Ferrari knows during
the daytime, when you're at the track, you
need to go as fast as possible and have the
best coefficient of drag against your
vehicle.
(11:17):
You need to ensure that there is nothing
sticking out causing extra downforce on the
exterior design of that vehicle, and that's
why they hid them away.
That's why a lot of these car companies hid
them away, and they found very ingenious
ways to hide them.
See, it wasn't just pop-up headlights that
were making waves in the 1960s.
People were trying all kinds of different
things to try and hide headlights.
(11:38):
And now that we can actually get the front
ends of our vehicles closer to the ground,
create less drag on the front end to allow
the movement of air over top of it, thus
increasing our fuel consumption and being
able to possess faster rates of speed, the
sports car industry started paving the way
for the new pop-up headlight generation.
Now, originally, before there were either
(12:00):
doors that opened and closed in front of
the headlights or they popped out like the
Buick Y-Job.
It was essentially hidden away but it
popped out Slowly, came out.
Well, the Lotus Elan were hidden on the
front and they did.
Like most of them that you remember, they
popped up.
You know, the Mazda Miatas pop up, the
Corvettes from the 1980s pop up, F-40,
Countach pop up.
(12:21):
They all popped out.
How that firebird I saw pop-up headlights.
My mom had a plymouth laser back in the day,
pop-up headlights.
But what's something that happens down the
road with your pop-up headlights?
The motors go on them and then either one
or both of the headlights are stuck up.
You start noticing that you're losing fuel
mileage.
It's all because you have that extra drag
(12:41):
on the front of your vehicle.
Now, the one thing they never really took
into consideration when they're making
pop-up headlights is maybe the pop-up part
up behind it should have been more in line
with an angular design of the front of the
vehicle, thus decreasing the amount of drag
when your headlights were up.
This is something we think about today, but
this is years after and we're going to get
(13:02):
into new companies utilizing that ability
for new pop-up headlights.
After the Lotus Elan 1968, we had the
second iteration of the pop-up headlight.
We had the rollovers, and if you don't know
what the rollover headlight is, well, take
a look at the Panther Solo or Opel GT.
The headlights didn't pop out, they rolled
(13:23):
over, Literally rollover.
Go online, look for a video of the Opel GT
a 68 Opel GT and watch the headlights roll
over.
It's the coolest thing you'll ever see.
First 68 Opel GT and watch the headlights
roll over.
It's the coolest thing you'll ever see.
First time I ever showed my wife this as an
auto show, I said, yeah, these are the Opel
GTs, it's got the rollover headlights.
And the guy's there and he's like oh, you
want me to show you them and he did it.
Like my wife was astonished.
She'd like never seen anything like that.
(13:47):
Oh my God that rolled over.
They were very cool.
But what happens when the system fails?
Something breaks Like a pop-up headlight.
They usually just come up and then get
stuck up Roll over headlights.
If something breaks, they can literally
just keep rolling around in there.
But gotta remember it's a sports car.
A lot of people who buy sports cars get
into the industry at a young age, buy them,
drive them as hard as they want, kill them
(14:08):
and throw them out into the garbage.
Years later they want to find them again
and rebuild them because they want to
relive their younger days.
They should have just kept it.
After that we get what we call the half
grill.
If you don't know what the half grill is, a
1970 Alfa Romeo Montreal has half grill
headlights.
It's essentially just an eyelid.
You're slightly tired, You're just like uh,
(14:29):
okay, I'm just a little bit tired here.
You don't close your eyes the whole way, so
you could still see somewhat of your eye,
but not all of his exposed.
And the alfa romeo montreal did this.
It's kind of weird because it's like why
didn't you just fully hide them away?
But when you look at the front end design
of the montreal, it goes with it.
They essentially just have the half because
(14:49):
the grill it.
It comes across with the grill, but since
you need to expose your headlights at
nighttime, they decided to make a half door
roll up to expose the headlights behind it,
because they wanted a clean look.
That's essentially what pop-up headlights,
or any iteration of the pop-up headlight
industry, is meant to do to give you a
clean look.
(15:09):
Then there's one of my favorites, one of
the ones that people know about the most.
Okay, there is the Hideaway Grill.
Okay, Hideaway Grill, the 1966 Camaro and
69 Chargers were famous for these.
If you look at the front end of a 69
Charger, you always ask yourself, when
you're looking at them and watching it,
Fast and Furious or Duke's Hazard you're
like where the hell are the headlights?
(15:30):
And when I was a kid, for the longest time
I never knew where the headlights were
until I actually saw somebody turn their
headlights on and watch this little door go.
It's just like the half door on the Alfa
Romeo Montreal, but it's fully covered.
So, essentially, the whole front of your
vehicle can be designed the way you want it.
They did this because they wanted front end
design to look seamless.
(15:51):
And how can you do that at a time when you
can't create headlights of any size or
layout, you hide them away, and that's what
they did.
They literally hid them behind the front
grill.
Now, that's just a hideaway grill with one
door.
There was the double door which you could
find on the original Buick Rivieras oh yeah,
that big luxury brute powerhouse from Buick.
(16:14):
Oh yeah, the Rivieras were an amazing car,
but they had a double fold headlight
because they were on the side.
It was almost like tail fins on the front
of the Buick Riviera and this had two door
options.
It would have one that would move up.
So halfway through on the headlight, where
it was about to be exposed, half of it went
up and half of it went down to expose your
headlight hidden behind that front cone.
(16:36):
This was an intriguing contraption, because
they wanted to hide their headlights, but
they also wanted to create an eye-catching
design, and you can't do that with standard
round headlights.
I get it.
There were lots of cars before.
I'm literally talking to you right now and
I I got the Playmobil Mercedes 300 SL right
in front of me and, yeah, they had round
headlights encased in a chrome accent on
(16:58):
the front of the vehicle, made to blend in
with the design.
But that's how we did it up until the days
of pop-up headlights.
We found ways to incorporate them into our
designs, but essentially we couldn't taper
the front hood down far enough to make our
vehicles go that much faster.
When pop-up headlights came into play, we
were able to because we could drop them
(17:19):
below the hood line.
See the 300SL years later, when it got into
the bubble lights of the 1980s, the hoods
were a lot shorter than they were in the
1950s.
Now they didn't have pop-up headlights,
they used bubble lights, but they still
were able to utilize better design for
better aerodynamics.
Now, after the hideaway grille, you have
(17:39):
what's called the rolling headlights.
Now the Mercury Cougar 1967 Mercury Cougar
had these.
You may think that they're very similar to
what the Charger and Camaro had, but the
Charger and Camaro had the headlights were
stationary, it was only the grill that
disappeared.
Same with the Buick Riviera it's the grill
that opened up along the side the 67
(17:59):
Mercury Cougar the headlights were behind
the front grill.
So if you turn them on when they're on,
that would be shining into your engine bay.
Great thing when you're working on vehicles.
Okay, If you can actually bypass the system.
When you're working on a 69 Mercury Cougar,
you can literally use the headlights to see
inside the engine bay while you're working.
It is the coolest thing ever.
Go online, there's those whole kinds of
videos that tell you how to do this, and a
(18:21):
lot more vehicles would be great if they
actually had headlights in the engine bay.
But the Mercury Cougar did, because its
headlights were hidden behind the grill.
So when you flip them over, the grill would
flip over, with the headlights exposed on
the other side.
Bam, there you go.
It's essentially a door, you know, kind of
like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,
where him and his dad would keep rolling
through the room that they're in that
(18:41):
catches fire, and then the other room with
all the Nazis just moving around right.
That's basically what the Mercury Cougar
revolving headlights are doing.
Then you have what's called the drop-down
or concealed headlights of the Aston Martin
Bulldog of 1980 or the 1992 Jaguar XJ220.
Now what do we mean by this?
(19:02):
The drop-down or concealed headlights?
If you can't picture those two cars right
now, then go to the website autoluxnet,
look for this podcast about pop-up
headlights and you'll see pictures of these
things.
Okay, the Aston Martin Bulldog essentially
the headlights were in the center of the
front end of the hood.
They were closer to the windshield than
they were to the front grille.
But what it was?
(19:22):
When you need to expose the headlight, the
headlights didn't pop out.
No, the area in front of the headlight
would drop down, kind of like the XJ220.
Its headlights were concealed, almost like
Buick Riviera, in the side sill.
Essentially the front arches and the door
would drop down to expose the headlight
behind it.
Now, these were amazing things, because a
(19:44):
lot of people looked at it and said what
the hell are the headlights?
Okay, we get it, this is a great concept
vehicle or this is a great supercar, but
where are your headlight?
You have to be able to drive around at
night.
You can't sell a vehicle without any
headlight, okay, Unless you're building for
a very specific purpose, like a
track-orientated vehicle or something only
made to go in and around, like a golf
(20:05):
course.
You need to have headlights for the streets.
Well, they just found another ingenious way
to make it happen.
They had a drop-down concealed door.
Essentially, the headlights were there, but
the headlights were literally a door in
front which is drop-down, exposing them to
the world outside.
Our next one was one of the weirdest ones
you'd ever seen.
Toyota has built one incredible sports car
(20:27):
long before the Toyota Supra.
You can essentially say this vehicle helped
create the design, the appeal and even the
feel of the Toyota Supra.
You can essentially say this vehicle helped
create the design, the appeal and even the
feel of the Toyota Supras.
We're talking about the 67.
Toyota 2000 GT Only came as a coupe model,
except for one instance in its life, In the
movie you Only Live Twice from James Bond.
(20:49):
We talked about this in our James Bond
podcast.
If you want to go back and listen to it the
vehicles of James Bond you can learn about
this vehicle.
Toyota 2000 GT only ever had one
convertible model made.
It was made for a James Bond movie.
They never released it to the public.
All standard coupe models came with what
they call the pop out headlights.
They're essentially on the side of the
(21:11):
vehicle and they popped out from the sides.
Essentially, your front fender flares is
where your headlights were and they popped
out from the side of your vehicle.
It was a very intriguing thing.
But you also have to remember this was also
a mid-engine car with a front engine layout,
so they had lots of space to play with when
they're trying to hide their headlights
away.
Now, why would you do something like this?
Why wouldn't you just make them pop out of
(21:32):
the hood?
Why wouldn't you use a glass encasement?
Why would you make them pop out of the side?
Well, Toyota wanted to do something
different, and they actually found it a lot
easier to make them pop out of the side of
the vehicle than to pop out of the top.
Why?
Because the pressure that you have to use
to push them out from the side of the
vehicle as opposed to out of the hood was a
lot less so to do this, they made it for
(21:55):
the 2000 GT and they gave it its own image,
which was amazing.
It's kind of like the Opel GTs with the
rollover lights.
There's very few vehicles out there that
have ever had that specific form of
headlight.
Not unlike the next one, the original
Lamborghini Miura had the pop out headlight
Now pop out, pop out headlight.
(22:16):
So essentially, the headlights were exposed.
You could see them resting on the front
hood and if you look at the front of a
Lamborghini Miura or a 77 Porsche 928,
you'll see that the headlights are
literally sitting on the front of the
vehicle.
There's headlights.
Okay, I just turned them on and away I go.
No, those headlights actually have to be,
because you have to remember.
All headlights have to be pointed forward.
(22:38):
They can't be sitting at an angle that
means when you turn them on they'll just be
shining up in space.
Well, unless you're trying to flash your
high beams at, say, SOS and try and flag
down some UFOs.
No, you need this thing to, and the 928 did.
They popped out from the hood.
(22:59):
This was an amazing way to actually give
you the appeal of having the headlights
exposed, but also to meet world regulations.
Now, the 928 just had them pop out so you
can get to the proper angle you needed for
nighttime driving.
The Miura added what they call the eyelash
effect to it to give it its own persona on
(23:21):
the front end, and for that Demira had its
own identity.
And for the longest time I never even knew
those headlights popped out from the hood.
I should have guessed, because they all
have to be facing forward, but I always
just thought they bent the light inside of
it because they're rather large lights.
But no, from that you went to a later
iteration of pop-up headlights, the ones
(23:42):
that were bent into the hood.
And what do we mean by that?
They're pop-up headlights, but it doesn't
even look like headlights are supposed to
be there.
The 1983 Honda Prelude did this.
It's second generation had pop-up
headlights that weren't just flat with the
hood line, they angled it, it bent over.
(24:02):
So essentially the headlight fixture had to
be even bigger than your standard headlight
fixture because it was bent into the actual
hood design of the vehicle.
It made for a really intriguing look.
Remember that was the original Prelude,
1983.
Second generation after it came out in the
late 70s, it had an appeal that would set
(24:23):
it on fire in the 1980s and make it a
renowned sports coupe for the North
American and Asian and European
marketplaces.
After that we move into what I like to call
the slit lights.
They're actually called partial up lights.
Okay, the bmw 8 series if you've ever seen
one of those, it actually has part of the
(24:46):
headlight exposed at all times and the rest
of it comes popped out of the hood.
Now this might be something you might have
seen in the aftermarket industry years ago
when people used to buy mass rx7s and
slightly pop the headlights out.
So they're always somewhat faced out.
Okay, well, that looks cool, but it does
shit for your aerodynamics.
Okay, BMW integrated it within the hood,
(25:07):
but they were slightly exposed when you
need to fully see at night, the rest of it
would pop out.
So it's essentially a partial pop-up
headlight.
The next one really is just a standard
pop-up headlight but it's got double the
double-up pop-up headlight from the 1991
Syzetta V16T had two sets of headlights
(25:28):
pop-up.
It's essentially just having four pop-up
headlights in the front of your vehicle.
It looks really weird when they're all up
because you're like, why do you need four
headlights at night?
What you got?
Really bad bulbs.
But in a sense it also created something
even more amazing.
With that we start dying out and
essentially by the 1980s pop-up headlights
(25:49):
run all kinds of different vehicles.
It was the easiest way for us to hide those
big, bulky, square headlights.
We hid them underneath the hood and
everybody thought they were cool.
We all thought it was great and grand.
They were going into everything.
During the 1980s, the Honda Accord became
one of the first sedans in the world to
include pop-up headlights.
Like a sedan, a vehicle, an everyday driver
(26:12):
for suburbanized people had pop-up
headlights.
My aunt and uncle had one.
I thought it was pretty cool, Like a sedan
with pop-up headlights.
That's cool.
It even made the car look cool and
essentially helped cement the Honda Accord
as one of the leaders in the midsize market.
But in 2018, the Aries Progetto Uno became
(26:32):
the last vehicle available to the masses
with pop-up headlights.
That was until four years later.
Pop-up headlights really are not back, but
they're coming back and if you take a look
at some of the original vehicles with
pop-up headlights, as regulations changed
and bubble lights got better, they moved
away from them.
(26:52):
A perfect example of that is the second
generation NSX or the C6 Corvette.
The C5 and the C6 were very similar designs.
The C5 had pop-up headlights.
The C6 Corvette, the C5 and the C6 were
very similar designs.
The C5 had pop-up headlights.
The C6 had bubble headlights, Kind of like
the NSX.
The design slightly changed for its second
generation, but it went to bubble
headlights, Essentially the same fixture
(27:12):
that the pop-up headlights were in.
They literally just dropped the glass
enclosure and put headlights in it.
They didn't do much else.
They didn't try and change the design of it.
They literally just stuck them in because
we didn't need them anymore.
Pop-up headlights were dying out.
People were getting tired of the one-eyed
look, the electronic issues and hell, even
the added weight to these systems and all
the extra electronics.
(27:33):
Gotta remember that Fiero is a vehicle we
all thought was cool when we were kids.
Unfortunately, it was an electrical
nightmare and none of us wanted to work on
them.
After they started having issues and even
it, in its last generation, got away from
pop-up headlights.
When they deregulated the square headlights
and allowed us to start using bubble
headlights, we didn't have a use for pop-up
(27:55):
headlights anymore.
That is like I said, until 2022, when
Ferrari decided to bring back the hideaway
headlights on their Daytona SP3.
Now the headlights are there.
They had the daytime running lights, which
you could see, but the actual headlights.
To get a little bit better aerodynamics,
they inset them into the front hood line,
but they wanted to create a better
(28:15):
aerodynamics kit for the front end, so they
created a small little eye-lit door.
Remember those people that used to cover
their headlight, the bubble headlights?
Back in the 90s, during aftermarket days,
try and, you know, make them look like
they're frowny or make them look thinner or
scarier.
You know the Daytona kind of did that.
A short little door slides back so you can
(28:37):
get full use of your headlights at
nighttime.
It's kind of cool.
I've got to say thanks to Ferrari for doing
this.
But MG, or Shanghai Automotive Group SAIC,
is going one step further.
They looked at the aftermarket industry and
in China the aftermarket industry doesn't
exist.
Nobody's allowed to make aftermarket
vehicles in China, so for that the
(28:59):
automobile companies have to include stuff
from the aftermarket industry within their
vehicles.
Mg did this the Shanghai Automotive Show of
2025 with their MG Cyber X concept.
Now this vehicle is going to be going into
production within the next 18 months.
Let's just hope that there's little roll
(29:19):
back pop-up headlights make it to
production.
If you look at the front of the MG CyberX,
it has the standard band lighting for your
daytime running light in the front, but you
think the headlights are just those tiny
little rectangles above the push guards on
the side.
But they're not.
The actual headlights are small, little
roll back pop-up headlights that come out
(29:40):
just at the edges of the hood.
Now this thing is already essentially a
brick on wheels.
We covered in one of our previous podcasts
a toaster car, but it gave us something to
look forward to.
We all forget how cool it was the first
time we ever saw a pop-up headlight in
front of us.
We have to go back and remember why we fell
in love with them, why we had them here and
(30:01):
why, again, why we hated them in the end.
My mom's Plymouth Laser by the time she got
rid of the car, one of the headlights had
always stayed up.
So it's either she drives around with one
eye open or she keeps both of them up,
Because changing those motors were
expensive, especially for some of those
really cheap sports cars.
You have to remember something like the
Isuzu Impulse with its tiny little
(30:22):
half-eyelid door, kind of like the Alfa
Romeo Montreal.
When those things go, do you really want to
fix it, Because the Impulse is like a dirt
cheap bargain sports car.
No, you did not want to fix it, you just
left it the way it was, Same with the
original Miatas.
But hell, there's a lot of people in
generation now that think that's cool Drive
around with a one eye out.
Hey, maybe somebody should go back and tell
them that it's not cool.
(30:42):
Kind of like those real cheap, crappy
looking knockoff Ray-Bans with the
highlighter colored style arms on them.
Yeah, those are the stuff you get at like
Byway or Kmart.
When you were a kid you got beat up for
having no Pop-up headlights.
Were cool and they were an amazing thing,
and I'm glad to see that the automobile
industry is taking an interest in it once
again.
We don't really need them because we can
(31:03):
make any design we want for headlights on
vehicles.
And then remember we've gone from
essentially kerosene lamps to a thin band
laser light on the front of the vehicle.
They can literally dance the night away
when we turn the blinker on.
Okay, we, we've all seen those sequential
Mustang lights and now Audi does it with
older vehicles, with the you know the
fading one.
(31:24):
You can literally make the sound effects to
them when they're trying to turn.
So why do we want pop-up headlights back?
Why do we need to take a look at that again?
Well, there was something that was cool and
something that we all liked when they were
around.
They had all kinds of different variations
and they made it easy to hide headlights.
At a time now, and really until we get
translucent body moldings that we can cover
(31:46):
our headlights with completely to make the
whole front of the vehicle disappear, until
we actually turn those lights on and they
blind through that color.
Until those days come, we're essentially
stuck with what we got the laser lights.
Technology changed so we didn't have to
have pop-up headlights.
But are we getting to a point now that our
lights have become so small we could do
(32:07):
anything with them that some people are
taking a look at the past and saying we
need to bring some of these things back to
make a change within our vehicles.
So, in all reality, pop-up headlights they
were great, they were cool, they were
mesmerizing, but in the end, Pop-up
headlights they were great, they were cool,
they were mesmerizing, but in the end,
technologies beat them to death, just like
technology gave birth to them.
(32:28):
So if you like this podcast, please like,
share or comment about it on any of the
major social feeds and streaming sites that
you've found the Outlooks podcast on, From
Spotify to iTunes.
You can find the Outlooks podcast anywhere
you're at.
Always give us a like, Click the like
button, Share it.
Always give us a like.
Click the like button, share it.
Tag people, tag us, send it to your friends,
send it to your family, tag them in it and
tell them about the pop-up headlights and
the autoluxnet podcast.
(32:49):
The more people that follow us, the more
people that share it, the more episodes we
can get to you, the automotive listener.
Help us grow and we'll help you learn even
more, All from the autoluxnet podcast.
The Autolux podcast is brought to you by
Econ Entertainment Group and distributed by
Podbeamcom.
If you'd like to get in touch with us, send
us an email over at email at Autoluxnet.
(33:10):
And after you've done all that, stop by the
website, Stop by Autoluxnet.
Read some of the reviews, check out some of
the ratings.
Go to the Corporate Lux website page, the
Radix.
Go to the Corporate Leaks website page.
Big or small, we have them all, Car
companies from around the globe all
available on the Autoluxnet website.
So, from myself here for Jay, the
Autoluxnet website, Ecom Entertainment
Group and Podbeamcom, Strap yourself in for
(33:32):
this one fun wild ride that the world of
pop-up headlights is going to take us on.
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