FACTS ABOUT HEADLIGHTS
01
Who was first to put headlights on a car?
Cars used railway-spec oil lamps in jars at first. It wasn’t until 1915 that Cadillac fitted headlights as standard to its electrically equipped models. Even then, it was some years before drivers could switch between high and dipped beam.
02
Which was the first car to have pop-up headlights?
It’s a toss-up between the 1936 Alfa Romeo 8C, and this: the 1936 Cord 810. This slice of pre-war American design gorgeousness only offered 125bhp, so you were never really going quickly enough to need the headlights raised at all.
03
Which was the last car to have pop-up headlights?
Better headlamp tech, pedestrian crash legislation and changing fashions rid the world of pop-up headlights in the Noughties. The Ferrari 456 was killed off in 2003, while the Lotus Esprit soldiered on until 2004.
04
Which car had the first headlights that looked around corners?
Directional headlamps were not, in fact, first seen on the Citroen DS. The Tucker 48 had one slap bang in the middle of its nose, but this too was beaten to market by Tatra, which put a Cyclops eye on the front of the pre-WW2 T87.
05 What’s the best headlight Easter egg?
Probably the one hidden in the 2003 Ford GT’s cluster. Because the retro supercharged V8 supercar was built to commemorate Ford’s centenary, the car’s left headlight was designed with a ‘100’ motif. Can’t unsee it now, can you?
06
How long have Audis been blinding everyone with daytime running lights?
The 2006 Audi S6 was the first to arrive with a thin strip of LED ‘running lights’. Next, Audi added DRLs to the R8 and the A4, and everyone sick of being tailgated had to buy a car with a dimming rearview mirror, or wear sunglasses at all times.
07
What was the first car with xenon headlights?
Xenon headlights work by creating an electrical arc between two electrodes to give off an icy white-blue colour. And they’ve been with us since 1991, when BMW stuck them on the nose of the handsome E32 7-Series.
08
Which was the first car to be sold with laser lights?
The Audi R8 LMX beat the BMW i8 to market with the first laser high-beam lights in a street car. Audi said the LMX’s lights, inspired by its Le Mans racecars, could ‘see’ twice as far as an LED headlight when they illuminated at 37.3mph.
09
Which headlights are the most expensive to crash?
It’s a bit tricky to put a price on this, but a good shout is the Mercedes S-Class. You can have your S63 and S65 models fitted with optional Swarovski crystal-encrusted lights, with 17 in the DRLs and a further 30 in the turn signal.