5 Cars That Make Us Miss Pop-Up Headlights

We really wish that moderns cars were available with pop-up headlights.

There are many things we miss about older cars, but pop-up headlights is up there with the best of them. Anyone who drove cars when this headlight style was popular will remember how unreliable they were. It was not uncommon to see cars driving around with only a single headlight on because one of them was stuck. Cars with these headlights were also a nightmare to crash test. But they were so cool! We still love these lights and here are our favorite mainstream cars that had them.

The C5 generation Chevy Corvette was the last production car to offer pop-up headlights. Therefore, if you want the most modern car that has pop-ups, you need to get a C5. The C5 lasted until 2004, and our favorite is the high-performance Z06. The Z06 was built from 2001 to 2004, and only came with one engine choice, a 5.7-liter LS6 V8 with 405 hp. This engine was also offered in the first generation Cadillac CTS-V, but that car didn't have the pop-up headlights. Many C5 owners put on standard headlights that make the car look more modern, but we prefer that way the pop-up headlights look on the car.

The original NA generation Mazda Miata was a game changer when it came out for the 1990 model year. The Miata is one of the most iconic cars that featured the pop-up headlight design. Even though none of the subsequent Miata models retained pop-ups, the car has become synonymous with this design. Even non-car enthusiasts can identify the original Miata on the road thanks to its unique front fascia.

Even if they've seen pictures of this car, most people aren't even aware that the Porsche 928 has pop-up headlights. Unlike most cars with this style of headlight, the 928's lights actually pivot towards the front of the car. This means that the lights are always exposed even when they aren't on. The 928 was built from 1978 to 1995, and we think that it is miraculous that Porsche was able to make the car look modern for that entire time. The 928 is still a timeless design, and we love its unique headlight design.

The Opel GT was a very interesting car. Sold from 1968 to 1973, the little German sports car had a unique headlight design that swiveled up sideways. These headlights didn't really fail either because they were controlled by a manual lever on the interior.

Even when pop-up headlights were popular, BMW didn't really rely on them heavily. The M1 supercar used pop-up headlights, but that was a limited run car. The old 8 Series is one of our favorite BMW models of all time and the pop-up headlight design is part of the reason why. This car looked so sleek with this design and still looked good even with the lights up. Pop-up headlight cars look very dated, but we think that the thin lights that BMW used still look good even today. The 8 Series will be revived soon, but we know that it won't retain the old car's lights. The 8 Series will always be one of our favorites, and we can't wait to see the new one.