The 10 most elegant car headlights

Ruxton Model C – 1930

The ambitious but ill-timed Ruxton Model C (introduced as the impact of American Great Depression was really biting) was innovative but unusual in many ways, its bullet-shaped Art Deco Woodlite headlights being among the many memorable features of this exceptional luxury car.

Remarkably low for its time, standing at just 5ft 3in (1.6m) high – around 10-inches lower than contemporary conventional automobiles – the pioneering Ruxton combined front-wheel-drive with a mighty Continental straight-eight engine.

The short-lived Ruxton Model C was the only car to have the (usually aftermarket) Woodlite headlamps fitted as standard, with these distinctive units (notable for not being circular, unlike all other vehicles of the era) also available as a costly option on a handful of other elite American cars of the day, made in very limited numbers by Cord, Stutz and Kissel.

Pininfarina Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Coupe Speciale – 1949

The Pininfarina-designed Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS was an elegant and sticking GT coupe reflecting the style of the celebrated Turin design house’s influential Cisitalia 202 and subsequent Lancia Aurelia B20 GT.

Based on Alfa Romeo’s capable 6C 2500 chassis, the Pininfarina-bodied SS Coupe Speciale was a masterpiece, introducing the first automotive use of four headlamps, truly pioneering for 1949, a clear eight years ahead of the premier American cars to adopt quad headlights, made by Cadillac, De Soto, Chrysler and Nash.

Ford Taunus 17M (P3) – 1961

As mentioned earlier, in 1961 both Citroën and Ford of Germany announced the first cars in the world to be fitted with standard rectangular headlamps, with Cibie supplying the Citroën Ami lights and Hella the Cologne-built Taunus 17M units, both lamps also being later being ‘borrowed’ by Maserati for some exclusive coachbuilt 3500 GT and 5000 GT derivatives.

This important and innovative move away from traditional circular headlights for the first time came as a real godsend to vehicle designers, giving them a new-found freedom and flexibility to experiment with different looks and shapes for the frontal styling of cars.   

Ford of Germany’s British colleagues in Dagenham remained loyal to traditional round front lamps for a while longer, not fitting oblong units until it introduced the first-generation Escort (co-developed with Ford’s Continental cousins for the first time) in 1968, with the rectangular light Capri coupe soon following the following year. 

Buick Riviera – 1965

Introduced for the 1963 model year, the stylish Riviera was Buick’s first ‘personal coupe,’ a pillarless four-seater, inspired by General Motors’ earlier Riviera Silver Arrow concept car. The prototype closely resembled the initial production car, with the exception of the front end, which concealed four vertically mounted headlamps behind opening grilles, whereas Buick’s initial production model had a quartet of exposed round lamps that were mounted next to the grille.

For one year only however, the final 1965 model year, Buick facelifted the Riviera to incorporate the original Silver Arrow concept’s unusual headlamp clamshell arrangement, with the split covers uniquely opening up like jaws from above and below to pleasingly reveal a set of vertically stacked lights.

The ’65 Riviera was the first of a one of a number 1960s sporting and muscle American cars to hide its headlamps behind slide-away flaps, with the early Dodge Charger, Mercury Cougar, Ford Thunder and others covering the lights with faux slide-away grille pieces to made it look like the cars had no headlights at all!

Lamborghini Miura – 1966

As if creating the world’s first true mid-engined supercar in 1966 wasn’t enough, the landmark Lamborghini Miura also pioneered the use of ‘dead fish eye’ pop-up-style headlights, as later featured on a few other sports cars with mixed success, such as the Porsche 928 and Reliant Scimitar SS1.

When switched on, the Miura’s exposed headlight pods were pushed up, out and angled vertically towards the road, without the need for any lamp covers, as found on most subsequent mid-engined supercars with pop-up lights, including the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer, Maserati Bora, De Tomaso Pantera, plus Lamborghini’s own Muira-replacing Countach.

Opel GT – 1967

Although the sporting Opel GT featured regular round headlights, it's how the lights in this ‘mini Chevrolet Corvette’ operated and appeared that makes them exceptional. Rather than flip up like ‘regular’ pop-up lamp units, the Opel’s hidden lights both rotated in the same direction, uniquely swivelling clockwise on a longitudinal axis, making for a great and surprising party piece! The lights were manually operated, the driver pulling a large lever alongside the centre console next to the gear shift.

Some years after Opel’s ‘mini Corvette’ ceased production in 1974, the GT’s inspirational larger Chevrolet cousin was launched in its fourth-generation C4 form, with its own uncommon method of pop-up headlight operation, if not quite as elaborate as its distant German relation. When switched on, the Corvette C4’s lights raised (and lowered) to reveal projectors, the pop-up units rotating a full 180 degrees, thus making them almost as mesmerising to watch in operation as the older Opel GT.

Citroën SM – 1970

When Citroën revamped the frontal styling of its revolutionary 1955 DS in 1967, the model’s successful reworking made it look even more advanced, distinctive and shark-like, incorporating new, dual under-glass headlamps, with the inner pair turning in unison with steering inputs.

Fast forward to 1970 and Citroën pulled-off yet another coup with its ethereal Maserati V6-powered SM, a svelte and swift long-distance grand tourer coupe of exceptional grace. The SM’s smooth and wide front end was dominated by a set of six small oblong self-levelling headlights, set behind glass (along with the front registration plate), with the inside lamps turning in harmony with the ultra-sharp steering, a feature borrowed from facelifted DS, and now more recently associated with a handful of top-end luxury cars.

Alfa Romeo SZ (ES30) – 1990

By 1989, when the wild Alfa Romeo SZ was first revealed in concept form, most contemporary car headlamps were either circular or rectangular. Not so for the startling Alfa Romeo though, as its lights were as surprising and different as the rest of this unique coupe.

A sextet of small square horizontal front lights gave the SZ a purposeful, aggressive; almost menacing, face. Sourced through Italian OEM component supplier Carello, the Zagato-assembled Alfa Romeo’s square lamp units also found a home on the front of the Lancia Hyena coupe, Aston Martin V8 Zagato and Lagonda S3 models.

Alfa Romeo went on to revisit the SZ’s horizontal ‘six lights in a row’ format with its 2005 159, Brera and Spider models, with round lights substituting for the ES30’s small square items.

Bugatti Chiron – 2016

Bugatti’s Veyron-replacing Chiron hypercar went considerably further than most of other automobiles in all aspects with its mind-boggling performance and finely-crafted engineering and technology.

This included the Chiron’s headlights, which stretched to eight individual units to out-do the competition, with a large, distinctive lamp cluster shape, and the daytime-running lights having signature square-profiled surrounds to announce the (very rapid) arrival of the Bugatti in the rear view mirrors of all lesser machines.

The Chiron’s tell-tale eight illuminated headlamp rims took their lead from the four semi-circular daylight running surrounds pioneered by BMW some years earlier on its popular 3 and 5 Series models.

Volvo S/V90 – 2017

Be it the McLaren 720S, Audi R8 or numerous other note-worthy current cars, in recent times, the shape, design and darkness-dissecting power of modern vehicle headlights have made huge strides.

Today, Swedish premium car maker Volvo’s lamp designs (both front and rear) particularly stand-out, being not only state-of-the-art, but amusingly also reflecting the Company’s Scandinavian roots by subtly incorporating ‘Thor’s hammer’ into the headlights across most of the current Volvo model range.

These ‘hammers’ help give new Volvo cars a unique ‘family look’, with arguably the ultimate examples appearing at the front of the range-topping S90 saloon and V90 estate models.

Ruxton image courtesy of Bonhams.