Headlight Wipers

[Leins]

Possibly a strange topic for some, but I’ve always had a fascination with headlamp washers, and in particular systems that involve wipers. I’ve had a couple, namely a Saab 900 and an E30 BMW. Some other manufacturers like Volvo and Mercedes were well known for them too

However, this evening I randomly found the following image of a Talbot Solaro, and it got me thinking about what other cars are there where headlight wipers were available



A few others that spring to mind:








Any other obscure ones?

[Dapster]

Great topic but one for the the oldies I think considering they've not featured on any new cars for 20 years or so


As far as I can remember, the Peugeot 604 was the only one with 2 wipers on each headlight


The RR Camargue had 4 as well, but one for each light like the quad headlamp BMWs of the day




As a kid I remember visiting some family friends in Denmark in the 80s and their mk1 Granada had headlight wipers - may have been a local requirement as although I've found this pic, I've never seen another


Smallest car with wipers as standard? Lancia Y10 I reckon?


Fiat 125 with the wipers centred in the headlight and the mechanism rotated 180deg to sweep the lights


Saab's original 99 had the best set up, pretty much 100% of the lens cleaned



I thought it was pedestrian safety regs that killed them off but apparently not - development of plastic lenses which scratch easily, cost and weight of the kit and better washer tech has seen them off.

[DarrenO'D']

I bought an old isuzu trooper that has headlight wipers too, don’t seem to be able to find new rubbers very easily though !

[Screenwash]

Rolls Royce Silver Shadow had them back in 1980 - more of a big brush than a thin rubber wiper blade to cover both round headlamps.

My 2001 Volvo V40 had them, but not it’s 2003 successor.

As alluded to by an above poster I think they were more prevalent on everyday cars in Scandinavian countries?

[Puddenchucker]

[snuffy]

Ive had headlight squirters on 2 of my cars now but Ive never once seen them squirt because you cant see them from the driver's seat of course.

I've sometimes wondered if they reaaly do pop out and do anything?

[gt40steve]

They were a requirement in some markets.

[Mabbs9]

My Dad had them on his Sierra Sapphire GLSi. And my Grandad on his Cavalier Coupe (same shape as the Manta). Very cool I thought.

[vikingaero]

I had them on my Saab 900, and on my Dads W124 Merc. I remember the Merc replacement blades being expensive for two tiny pieces of plastic/metal/rubber - maybe £22 for a pair back in the mid 90's.

They were definitely better than just washer jets - you could see the arc of the cleared lens with them, and washer jets just sprayed whatever it could off the surface still leaving a thin layer of dirt.

[Sway]

snuffy said:

Ive had headlight squirters on 2 of my cars now but Ive never once seen them squirt because you cant see them from the driver's seat of course.

I've sometimes wondered if they reaaly do pop out and do anything?

Give your windscreen a good clean at night, and you should notice a drop in headlight output due to the wash.

[heisthegaffer]

OP, i feel the same as you, theres a certain thrill about cars with headlight wipers.

Some Fiat Tipo models had them as did the Croma. Regata too.

My fathet had a Fiat Strada from 81 to 85, a super 85 that had head light jets and when i saw them work i was so excited.

Interestingly and possibly not a surprise but when i googled Fiat Tipo headlight wipers as I couldnt remeber if the def had any, theres a lot of talk of them not working very well at all

https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/headlight-wipers...

[MattyD803]

Obviously plenty of Volvos had these too....my dad had a 1989 Volvo 740 with them when I was younger, but I think they were pretty much across the whole range at the time, including the 340? I guess this was driven by a requirement of Scandinavia, much like daytime running lights?

[Matt_T]

Can I just highlight how impressed I am with Dapster's reply above. Leins posts at near enough midnight, and within 45 minutes, Dapster has produced a small encyclopedia on the topic. Have you been waiting for this moment long?

[vikingaero]

Matt_T said:

Can I just highlight how impressed I am with Dapster's reply above. Leins posts at near enough midnight, and within 45 minutes, Dapster has produced a small encyclopedia on the topic. Have you been waiting for this moment long?

I think Leins and Dapster should collaborate on their next topic: Cars with cantilever wipers.

[R26 Lee]

Jeez if your car had head lamp wipers back in the day you had some spec!

Seems like it was an 80s saloon thing to have.

Back when car head lamps were made out of glass too, no head lamp polishing was needed!

[Quhet]

Cars with headlight wipers do look cool AF.

My old Saab had them. Never thought they worked until it snowed and I saw the blue streaks of fluid. Fairly effective tbf.

[TommyBuoy]

snuffy said:

Ive had headlight squirters on 2 of my cars now but Ive never once seen them squirt because you cant see them from the driver's seat of course.

I've sometimes wondered if they reaaly do pop out and do anything?

Had them (washers) on an S2000 - not fantastic with the roof down - rapidly removed the fuse on them...

[98elise]

Mabbs9 said:

My Dad had them on his Sierra Sapphire GLSi. And my Grandad on his Cavalier Coupe (same shape as the Manta). Very cool I thought.

Unsurprisingly the Manta also had them



I had them on my 1984 GTE

[Clad-Hach]

Amazing to think headlight wipers were so commonplace, yes they were a bit of a gimmick but they worked well and did a job...and they look good too.

When xenon's appeared we got headlamp skooshers instead of wipers, but they weren't quite the same...but I do like the Porsche chrome button ones they look quite neat.

[Leins]

vikingaero said:

Matt_T said:

Can I just highlight how impressed I am with Dapster's reply above. Leins posts at near enough midnight, and within 45 minutes, Dapster has produced a small encyclopedia on the topic. Have you been waiting for this moment long?

I think Leins and Dapster should collaborate on their next topic: Cars with cantilever wipers.

Some great responses, and I agree @Dapster that is a fantastic post. A lot of info there I didn’t know

On the subject of cost, I changed all four headlight rubbers on my E30 about 15 years ago and I seem to recall they came in about £20 each!

Close to the subject, I do like a headlight washer too, especially the ones where they are staggered so you don’t lose all light. Can’t remember what car I had where that was the case, might have been an E92 335d. I also had foglight washers on an E34 M5, brilliant for draining the tank quickly!