By the 1960s, the smoother ‘eyeless’ face with had virtually become de rigueur for any exotic sportscar, such as the Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari Daytona, Maserati Ghibli and Indy, Chevrolet Corvette C3, Lotus Elan, Matra M530, with slide-away lamp covers also becoming a common feature by the late 1960s for many of Detroit’s more prestigious and sporting models, such as the Cadillac Eldorado, Mercury Cougar and Imperial Le Baron.
By the 1970s, almost every a low-slung sports car that needed to comply with the latest headlamp height regulations had pop-up lighting, including Ferrari (308, BB512, 400i), Lamborghini (Urraco, Countach), Maserati (Khamsin, Bora, Merak), Lotus (+130, Elite, Eclat, Esprit) plus most other exotic and luxury machines – plus a few more affordable steeds - including the Monteverdi HAI, Monica 360, Fiat X1/9, Triumph TR7, Matra Bagheera, Bricklin SV-1, Ilinga V8 coupe, and so on, featured hidden headlamps.
This trend continued well into the 1980s and beyond (Ferrari Testarossa and F40, BMW M1, Lamborghini Diablo, Vector W8, Honda NSX, Matra Murena, Mazda RX-7 and MX-5, Toyota Supra and MR2, and so on), and by this time, even volume-selling mainstream family cars and coupes were gaining pop-up lamps, such as the Mazda 323F, Honda Accord and Prelude, plus the Volvo 480, to add some welcome sportiness to these ‘ordinary’ models.
By the turn of the 21st century, however, the fashion for pop-up illumination had begun to run its course. The combination of increasingly advanced strides in headlamp technology, including adaptive headlights that adjust light beams according to the driver’s position on the road, as well as LED lighting technology and fixed light solutions, plus new design regulations regarding pedestrian safety, have virtually made pop-ups a thing of the past.