[Mk2] [NA] Fixed lights

[osborne0]

I know this has probability been asked before but why has all the top sports cars now got fixed headlights? Years ago all the top cars had pop up headlights like the MR2.

Can anyone post up links to articles I can read on this please?

Thanks

Gary

[Rogue]

Pop-up headlights no longer pass crash testing requirements. Apparently they might hurt someone as they go over your bonnet...



Patrick

[Rowland]

Quote Wikipedia


Pop-up headlamps were introduced in 1937, on the Cord 812. They were mounted in the front fenders, which were smooth until the lights were activated, aiding aerodynamics when the headlamps were not in use. They also provided a means of fitting a large 7 inch round headlamp into an otherwise pointed front end.
Many (more or less) famous cars used this feature, but no current volume-produced car models use pop-up headlamps, largely because they are expensive to construct. The system requires one or more vacuum-operated servos and reservoirs, with associated plumbing and linkage, or electric lift motors, geartrains and linkages of sufficient robustness and precision to raise the lamps to an exact position each time to assure correct beam aim despite ice, snow and age. Some early pop-up headlamps used a lever-operated mechanical linkage (e.g. Saab Sonett III). Fashions have also changed, and greater priority is given to aerodynamics with lamps off and on, further reducing the attractiveness of pop-up headlamps. In addition, recent ECE Regulations contain stringent standards regarding protuberances on car bodies, in an effort to minimize injury to pedestrians struck by cars.

A Mazda 323...yesterday