10 Most Iconic Cars With Pop-Up Headlights

Ah, pop-up headlights - how we miss you. Thanks to stringent European passenger impact regulations, there hasn’t been a car with pop-up headlights offered in the United States since 2004, when both the Lotus Esprit (yes, they were still making it) and the Chevrolet Corvette both sold their very last pop-up models. Once the preferred choice of automakers seeking to improve aerodynamics and styling while still satisfying bizarre federal edicts concerning sealed-beam headlight assembly height and shape, pop-ups are now as distinctly retro as a manual choke and - dare we say it? - a clutch pedal. 

Let's take a quick look at 10 of the most iconic cars with pop-up headlights to have ever graced American roads.

1. Mazda Miata

The first-generation Mazda Miata - otherwise known as the NA - was available with pop-up headlights from 1989 to 1997, but its replacement, the NB Miata, was restyled to offer a more 'modern' body-flush headlight design when it appeared on the scene as a 1999 model. In addition to being known for its lightweight platform, excellent handling, and affordable fun, the Mazda Miata also spent years befuddling secondhand owners unsure of why they needed a button at the top of the center console that popped up the headlights without turning them on (it's for cleaning them).

2. Chevrolet Corvette

The Chevrolet Corvette has had a long history with pop-up headlights, having offered them on every model built between 1963 and 2004. One of the most easily recognizable cars with pop-up headlights, the Chevrolet Corvette's wind-swept shape and fiberglass body panels naturally lent themselves to this type of forward lighting, and there was much lamentation and gnashing of teeth amongst enthusiasts when the C6 Corvette went on sale without them. The last version of the Chevrolet Corvette to offer pop-ups - the C5 - remains one of the best high performance bargains on the market, especially when found in Z06 form.

3. Cord 810

We're taking you way, way back to show you the very first car to be sold with hidden headlights: the Cord 810. This front-wheel drive elder statesman hit showrooms in 1936 and quickly became a must-have for wealthy autoscenti drawn by its power (the Cord featured a 125 horsepower V-8 engine along with the availability of coupe and convertible models), its innovative design, and its cutting-edge styling. Like nothing else available at the time, roughly 3,000 were built over a two year period, making them amongst the rarest of cars with pop-up headlights.

4. Toyota Corolla AE86

If you've ever even dipped your toe into the drifting scene, then you'll know how popular the Toyota Corolla AE86 hatchback has become with fans of this exciting sport. Blame Initial D, the Japanese anime starring a Toyota Corolla AE86 tofu delivery car that moonlighted as a drift legend in its spare time. Largely ignored by American buyers when it first came out - it was just another economy car in the mid-80s - in recent years it has become an object of desire, with clean examples trading for many multiples of what their used values were like in the 1990s. If you want this pop-up headlight dorifto-machine, get one now before all the clean ones have been pasted sideways into tire walls.

Photo by 2igata

5. Ferrari 308

The Ferrari 308 certainly isn't the most valuable member of the Prancing Horse family to feature pop-up headlights, nor is it the quickest. It just might be the most famous, however, thanks to a certain TV show that aired between 1980 and 1988 called Magnum P.I. that featured a mustachioed Tom Selleck "solving mysteries" from behind the wheel of his millionaire benefactor's Ferrari 308. The pull of the 308 remains strong today, as it's perhaps the most affordable way to get behind the wheel of a two-passenger Ferrari, and not quite as expensive as some of its contemporaries to maintain.

6. Porsche 944

Speaking of affordable European sports cars: the Porsche 944 is the least expensive classic model from the German company known for building some of the most engaging high-performance cars out there. The Porsche 944's pop-up headlights heralded the largest-displacement four-cylinder engine ever to be manufactured (reaching 3.0-liters in later cars) along with the availability of a turbocharged model that is still capable of turning in impressive lap times compared to more modern metal. Collectors won't be sleeping on the 944 forever, so find a clean example and enjoy the pop-ups before prices reach the same silly level as 80s-era 911s.

7. Lamborghini Miura

The Lamborghini Miura isn't appealing because it's a car with pop-up headlights: this exotic beauty turns heads because it's one of the most gorgeous vehicles ever constructed. The mid-engine Lamborghini Miura delivered 350 horsepower from its 3.9-liter V-12 engine, and combined with the car's sultry looks it helped the Italian automaker expand awareness of its technical and styling prowess. Don't bother looking for one of these sports cars today outside of a climate controlled storage facility or a concours lawn, as their values have skyrocketed to the point where the risk of driving one on a public road is just too great.

8. Acura NSX

The Acura NSX shocked the world in 1991 when it offered supercar performance backed by Japanese reliability and a startling level of day-to-day comfort compared to the loutish behavior exhibited by most other halo models of the day. The Acura NSX sported its pop-up headlights until 2002, when it was given a facelift that saw its beams sealed under glass, and was notable for the involvement of F1 driver Ayrton Senna in its development. A V-6 engine planted amidships gave the Acura coupe 270 horsepower until 1997 when it was supplanted by a 3.2-liter V-6 that boosted output to 290 horses.

Photo by WikiCommons

9. Plymouth Superbird

When most people look at a Plymouth Superbird their eyes are drawn more to its enormous rear spoiler than the pop-up headlights concealed by its extended front fascia, but both are equally important in the 1970 muscle car's aerodynamic design. Essentially a Plymouth Road Runner with a body kit intended to help the coupe better compete on NASCAR's high speed ovals, the Plymouth Superbird kept its headlights hidden on the way to total domination of the popular American racing series. Eventually banned from competition, only a small number of Superbirds actually made it onto the street before production ceased entirely, making them a rare find.

Photo by Sicnag

10. Pontiac Firebird

The Pontiac Firebird didn't receive pop-ups until the F-body reached its third generation in 1982, and it would keep them until its demise roughly 20 years later. The Pontiac Firebird combined V-8 muscle with an affordable purchase price, and while it was never allowed to leave the factory with more grunt under the hood than GM's all-important Corvette line-up leader, by the end of its run it enjoyed an eight-cylinder LS1 under its hood that could crank out up to 325 horsepower - a mere 20 ponies less than the 'Vette, and a motor that was ripe for the aftermarket to unleash its full potential.