The last car with pop up headlights?
Discussion
Galsia said:
I seem to recall that the Spirit of Ectasy bonnet ornament on Rolls Royce cars was going to be banned for the same reason but Rolls Royce got around it by adding a mechanism that makes it rapidly retract into the bodywork in a collision. I suppose manufacturers could design pop up lights to do the same thing if they wish.
Yep. They've had that since the 60s (and to sto scroates from trying to steal them). Desiogners could think about 928 style lights, which fold outwards and up, therefore they would be hinged to fall back if anything hit themMy personla favourite was the panther Solo solution: the light, and a body couloured panel would rotate to reveal the light (not sure how to descrive it- think about a barrel roll, or a drill bit rotaing. That sort of thing). Looked good, and safe.
williamp said:
Galsia said:
I seem to recall that the Spirit of Ectasy bonnet ornament on Rolls Royce cars was going to be banned for the same reason but Rolls Royce got around it by adding a mechanism that makes it rapidly retract into the bodywork in a collision. I suppose manufacturers could design pop up lights to do the same thing if they wish.
Yep. They've had that since the 60s (and to sto scroates from trying to steal them). Desiogners could think about 928 style lights, which fold outwards and up, therefore they would be hinged to fall back if anything hit themMy personla favourite was the panther Solo solution: the light, and a body couloured panel would rotate to reveal the light (not sure how to descrive it- think about a barrel roll, or a drill bit rotaing. That sort of thing). Looked good, and safe.
Stupid "safety" legislation. Pop up lights are COOL! I loved my old Celica GT 
Amazing that pop-up lights on sports cars are banned incase of a statistically negligable accident with a pedestrian but we can have 2 ton 4x4's with vertical grills and chrome/steel bull bars and fog lights on them???
Retarded.
Amazing that pop-up lights on sports cars are banned incase of a statistically negligable accident with a pedestrian but we can have 2 ton 4x4's with vertical grills and chrome/steel bull bars and fog lights on them???
Retarded.
JamesK said:
Stupid "safety" legislation. Pop up lights are COOL! I loved my old Celica GT
Amazing that pop-up lights on sports cars are banned incase of a statistically negligable accident with a pedestrian but we can have 2 ton 4x4's with vertical grills and chrome/steel bull bars and fog lights on them???
Retarded.
Cant have the metal bull bars etc anymore either....Amazing that pop-up lights on sports cars are banned incase of a statistically negligable accident with a pedestrian but we can have 2 ton 4x4's with vertical grills and chrome/steel bull bars and fog lights on them???
Retarded.
There was (is) legislation in the UK that specifically bans headlights mounted to a moveable part of the vehicle's structure, which technically bans pop-up headlights, regardless. This legislation has been in place for donkey's years, though, and I think everyone just basically ignored it when pop-ups were in fashion.
The other issue with pop-ups is the length of time it takes to activate them if you need to flash your headlamps in daylight as a warning. You can, of course, wire driving lights to flash when you headlamps are not raised, but then you've got to mount the driving lights the statutory 600mm to beam cut-off above the road surface, which kind of defeats the object.
The pop-up lights on the original Lotus Elan are actually wired to a flasher unit, so that if you raise them when the light switch is off, they come up flashing repeatedly like indicators. Trouble is, the length of time the vacuum lifters on an Elan take to operate, you've hit whatever it is you were trying to warn, before the headlamps have raised!
The other issue with pop-ups is the length of time it takes to activate them if you need to flash your headlamps in daylight as a warning. You can, of course, wire driving lights to flash when you headlamps are not raised, but then you've got to mount the driving lights the statutory 600mm to beam cut-off above the road surface, which kind of defeats the object.
The pop-up lights on the original Lotus Elan are actually wired to a flasher unit, so that if you raise them when the light switch is off, they come up flashing repeatedly like indicators. Trouble is, the length of time the vacuum lifters on an Elan take to operate, you've hit whatever it is you were trying to warn, before the headlamps have raised!
Sam_68 said:
For bonus points: would anyone like to guess the first use of pop-up headlamps?
Wikipedia believes it was the 1932 Cord 810. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cord_Front_Driv...
Edited by kambites on Wednesday 5th November 11:32
Sam_68 said:
kambites said:
Wikipedia believes it was the 1932 Cord 810.
Bah! That's cheating - looking it up on Wikipedia doesn't count!I bet you're the type who uses a PDA to look up answers in the pub quiz, aren't you?
I'd already read the wikipedia page before I saw your question.Chassis 33 said:
We were having a discussion about this last night at the White Hart Classic Car meet, what was the last car to be fitted with pop up headlights?
The general consensus was possibly MX5, Elan or NSX, anything more recent?
Also have they just gone out of fashion as over complicated unnecessary contraptions or has legislation banned them?
Regards
Iain
it has nothng to do with fashion, and everything to do with pedestrian safety, thats the reason they were stopped.The general consensus was possibly MX5, Elan or NSX, anything more recent?
Also have they just gone out of fashion as over complicated unnecessary contraptions or has legislation banned them?
Regards
Iain
Munter said:
JamesK said:
Stupid "safety" legislation. Pop up lights are COOL! I loved my old Celica GT
Amazing that pop-up lights on sports cars are banned incase of a statistically negligable accident with a pedestrian but we can have 2 ton 4x4's with vertical grills and chrome/steel bull bars and fog lights on them???
Retarded.
Cant have the metal bull bars etc anymore either....Amazing that pop-up lights on sports cars are banned incase of a statistically negligable accident with a pedestrian but we can have 2 ton 4x4's with vertical grills and chrome/steel bull bars and fog lights on them???
Retarded.
Still think I'd rather take my chances with a pop-up lit coupe than one of the several hundred thousand X5/RR/Jeeps on the road!Sam_68 said:
The other issue with pop-ups is the length of time it takes to activate them if you need to flash your headlamps in daylight as a warning. You can, of course, wire driving lights to flash when you headlamps are not raised, but then you've got to mount the driving lights the statutory 600mm to beam cut-off above the road surface, which kind of defeats the object.
On the 928 the full beam for flash is set into the bumper, only the dipped beam are popups.Whoosh! Slight tangent!
What do owners of top up headlight cars do when they go out in the morning, it's dark, and their cars are ice cubes? Does the heat of the lamp quickly thaw the ice and let it pop up, or do they commute on side lights until the engine warms through and the lights pop up ..... or have these got sufficient power to pop up no matter what the weather?
What do owners of top up headlight cars do when they go out in the morning, it's dark, and their cars are ice cubes? Does the heat of the lamp quickly thaw the ice and let it pop up, or do they commute on side lights until the engine warms through and the lights pop up ..... or have these got sufficient power to pop up no matter what the weather?
mat205125 said:
Whoosh! Slight tangent!
What do owners of top up headlight cars do when they go out in the morning, it's dark, and their cars are ice cubes? Does the heat of the lamp quickly thaw the ice and let it pop up, or do they commute on side lights until the engine warms through and the lights pop up ..... or have these got sufficient power to pop up no matter what the weather?
On the 200sx (s13) there was a button which enabled the headlamps to stay 'popped up' when the engine was off to get round this problem. Obviously this required some forward thinking! What do owners of top up headlight cars do when they go out in the morning, it's dark, and their cars are ice cubes? Does the heat of the lamp quickly thaw the ice and let it pop up, or do they commute on side lights until the engine warms through and the lights pop up ..... or have these got sufficient power to pop up no matter what the weather?
mat205125 said:
Whoosh! Slight tangent!
What do owners of top up headlight cars do when they go out in the morning, it's dark, and their cars are ice cubes? Does the heat of the lamp quickly thaw the ice and let it pop up, or do they commute on side lights until the engine warms through and the lights pop up ..... or have these got sufficient power to pop up no matter what the weather?
There shouldn't be any problem - the electric motors that pop them open are pretty powerful and I wager the extensive winter testing that the cars would have undergone when new would have quickly highlighted any potential problems. What do owners of top up headlight cars do when they go out in the morning, it's dark, and their cars are ice cubes? Does the heat of the lamp quickly thaw the ice and let it pop up, or do they commute on side lights until the engine warms through and the lights pop up ..... or have these got sufficient power to pop up no matter what the weather?
markmullen said:
Sam_68 said:
The other issue with pop-ups is the length of time it takes to activate them if you need to flash your headlamps in daylight as a warning. You can, of course, wire driving lights to flash when you headlamps are not raised, but then you've got to mount the driving lights the statutory 600mm to beam cut-off above the road surface, which kind of defeats the object.
On the 928 the full beam for flash is set into the bumper, only the dipped beam are popups.mat205125 said:
Whoosh! Slight tangent!
What do owners of top up headlight cars do when they go out in the morning, it's dark, and their cars are ice cubes? Does the heat of the lamp quickly thaw the ice and let it pop up, or do they commute on side lights until the engine warms through and the lights pop up ..... or have these got sufficient power to pop up no matter what the weather?
They dont freeze up. The biggest problem is actually getting in the car. But the lights have never failed to pop up. the gaps around them are quite big...What do owners of top up headlight cars do when they go out in the morning, it's dark, and their cars are ice cubes? Does the heat of the lamp quickly thaw the ice and let it pop up, or do they commute on side lights until the engine warms through and the lights pop up ..... or have these got sufficient power to pop up no matter what the weather?
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