Six cars that had 6 headlights | GRR

1. Citroën SM

It’s only fitting that one of the most innovative cars ever made should also be the first production car to be built with six headlamps as standard. At launch in 1970, the wondrously streamlined SM was graced with an impressive bank of six headlights, provocatively set behind a curved pane glass (though not for North American market versions, which were spoiled by an unsightly quartet of circular lamps). The inner self-levelling pair swiveled in unison with the car’s ultra-direct, one turn lock-to-lock self-centring Diravi steering. This pioneering lighting feature being inherited from the facelifted shark nose Citroën DS of 1967. The short lived V6 SM-based Maserati Quattroporte II of 1974 (only six examples of which were built, mainly due to Citroën relinquishing its ownership of Maserati in 1974), also used the SM’s swiveling six-lamp set-up, further enhanced with the optional addition of an elaborate headlight wash/wipe system; never available for the SM. 

2. Alpine A310 Series I

When Alpine-Renault added a second model to its partner its solo A110 Berlinette programme in 1971, the dart-like A310 (using a four-cylinder 1.6-litre Renault 16 engine) initially wore six Cibie rectangular headlights, set behind a pair of flush glass panels on the V-formation flat nose cone. Too underpowered with its original Renault 16 motor, the A310 was facelifted in 1976 to add more potent V6 power using the Renault 30’s shared 3.0-litre PRV V6. The Series II’s front-end was modified, deleting the distinctive SI’s six headlamp arrangement to reduce to a more cost-efficient four lamps, repositing the third set of fog light units as costed options to the lower front bumper spoiler. The revised A310 V6 finally had the performance to match its sporting looks, but sadly its appearance was compromised by the lesser lamped, revamped front end.

3. Lamborghini Marzal

Renowned Turin coachbuilders Bertone stopped passers by in their tracks at the 1967 Geneva Motor Show with its wild Lamborghini Marzal prototype. A sensational four-seater GT, the Marzal not only stole the show with its funky space age metallic silver bucket seats and fully-glazed roof and gullwing doors, but also the very first use anywhere of a row of six oblong headlights. This one-off Bertone show car was never developed to be a production model, but rather as an attention-grabbing follow-up to the amazing Lamborghini Miura that Bertone had designed and introduced the previous year. The striking Bertone Gandini designs of the Miura, along with the Marzal, really helped to put Lamborghini on the map as new exclusive sports car maker to sit up and take notice off. Although the Marzal sadly never made production, this prototype acted as the inspiration for Lamborghini’s fabulous quad-headlamp Espada four-seater GT, of which more than 1,200 examples built over a successful ten-year production run from 1968.

4. Vauxhall Silver Bullet

At the 1973 Earls Court Motor Show, Vauxhall finally addressed its lack of a true halo performance derivative in its worthy Viva HC range by presenting an exciting new Firenza coupe, to tackle the UK market’s dominant Ford Capri and ‘hot’ Escort variants; Mexico, RS1600, etc. This appealing ‘new’ Firenza revived the poor-selling and short-lived 1971-73 Firenza model name (a two-door fastback coupe version of the Viva HC), with the add-on of a distinctive slopping nose cone, soon affectionately nick-named the ‘Droop Snoot’.  Encouraged by a very favourable reception by the public and contemporary press alike to the Earls Court Firenza Droop Snoot ‘prototype,’ Vauxhall eventually put this 2.3-litre performance coupe into limited production in late 1974, available in one colour only (metallic silver) and with a single trim level. In the end, due to its unfortunate timing, arriving in selected Vauxhall showrooms just as the 1970s fuel crisis was kicking it, only 204 of the thirsty but fast Firenza Droop Snoot models were made – much lower than forecast.

This left Vauxhall with rather more left-over fibre-glass slopping nose cones than anticipated, so they cunningly used up this surplus stock by making a handful of very limited edition SportsHatch models based on the stylish Viva HC estate bodyshell, but oddly never actively promoted by Vauxhall. The ‘regular’ Firenza Droop Snoot used the same four Cibie-sourced rectangular headlamps as the facelifted Alpine A310. However, before the quiet 1975 introduction of the SportsHatch model, Vauxhall’s Luton Design Studio built a unique prototype version of the three-door estate model, known as the Silver Bullet, using the Droop Snoot’s performance 2.3-litre engine and a plush, experimental black leather interior.

Unlike the limited-production four-headlight SportsHatch, the Silver Bullet featured a unique six-lamp front end, as illustrated; this one-off prototype still existing today in the hands of a lucky private enthusiast.

5. Bertone NSU Trapeze

Unveiled at the 1973 Paris Salon, Bertone’s one-off Trapeze concept car had a dramatic up-swept curved windscreen and aerodynamic side profile, recalling its landmark rally-dominated wedged Lancia Stratos, designed and built by the Italian carrozzeria a couple of years earlier. The unique Trapeze used a mid-mounted rotary Wankel engine, taken from the advanced NSU Ro80. Due to its compact size, the rotary NSU engine enabled Bertone to unusually create a mid-engined car with seating for four full-sized adults, the rear pair of passengers sitting either side of the small longitudinally, centrally-placed motor in an unusual trapezium formation.

This gave the added advantage that the rear passenger seats were out of line with the front seats, which enhanced the driver’s rearward visibility. The two front seats, set very close together, allowed the rear passengers to also stretch out their legs fully in the space created between the front seats and the door. Hidden under two flaps that fell away when the lights were switch on, the Trapeze employed six small oblong headlamps to reveal an aggressive and purposeful face.

6. Albar Sonic

Okay. Strictly speaking, I’m cheating a little here as in its original, Swiss home market form, the extravagant Albar Sonic had no less than seven headlights, hidden under a drop-away panel. As seven lights aren’t allowed under British law, however, when UK imports by the obscure London-based Albar importer – One-Six-Two Engineering got underway in the late 1980s – they modified to the Sonic’s front end to take just six lights. In its standard form, the Sonic was a self-build kit car based on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis and engine, although most were sold with a more potent, and suitable, Porsche motor. The star of the obscure 1986 film ‘Killing Cars,’ the Sonic underwent a number of updates, reducing its revised headlight count to a mere four, before its marker, Albar, inevitably went under in the mid-1990s.