History Of Pop-Up Headlights: Where Did They Go?

Where Did Pop Up Headlights Cars Go Away?

The pop-up headlight was a simple but amazing treat for many years. It used the car's most anthropomorphic feature, those eye-shaped headlights, and made them even more human so that they opened and closed like sleepy covers.

But today it would be difficult to find a car with this feature. Almost a decade has passed since the grand introduction of a new model with pop-up headlamps; The 2004 Chevy Corvette C5 was one of the last of its kind. What happened? Where did the pop-up headlight go?

History Of Pop Up Headlights Pop-up headlights made their debut in 1936. The first car introduced with such a feature was the Cord 810. The car was firstly presented at the 1935 New York Auto Show and its popularity skyrocketed. More than 1,000 drivers sued for this car, an icon of the American automotive world in the early 1900s.

It evolved and played an integral role in American automotive culture. Demand for them continued and both the 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer and the 1961-62 Plymouth Valiant had the feature.

Pop-Up Headlights: Where Did They Go In the 1990s, the difficult era of cars with pop up headlights began. The rules requiring cars in the U.S. to have scaled-beam headlamps have expired. Companies started to analyze substitute designs.

Therefore, no one was overseeing what the companies were planning and there was no nationwide mandate that specified how headlights should appear. Companies were now putting lights into the car's body.

In response to untrustworthy headlights that companies were designing, the country launched a safety bylaw known as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Standard No. 108. This stated that lights must remain open if there were issues.

The Road Ahead Hidden headlamps are very susceptible to failure: They can neither be opened nor closed when the car is hit or water splashes on the battery. It is also speculated that a return to pop-up headlamp production will not boost an automaker's revenue.

Another problem that sent pop-up headlamps to the grave wasn't just the safety issues they brought with them. There were also problems with the power of the lights.

Overall, the future of hidden headlamps remains unclear as companies prefer the design, safety, and successful interior features to these headlights.