Allow Pop Up: Cool Models from the ‘90s with Pop-Up Headlights
It is generally accepted that the last mainstream new car available with pop-up headlights was the 2004 Chevrolet Corvette, though more than a few will argue that Lotus deserves a mention with its same-era Esprit.
But the styling feature has popped up (pun intended) again on a relatively new machine thanks to an outfit called Result Japan. That company plans to roll out pre-orders of its Neo86 at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, a car which blends old-school AE86 styling with GR86 modernity. It looks good - but what about some vehicles from the 1990s which have pop-up headlamps?
[Images: Darren Brode/Shutterstock, Sue Thatcher/Shutterstock, JoshBryan/Shutterstock, Torkgaur/Shutterstock, Natursports/Shutterstock, Glebiy/Shutterstock
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To be blunt, there are far too many to count or even be briefly mentioned in this short gallery, such is the wealth of good-looking cars with pop-up headlights from that era. This will also be a problem for later in the week when we look at the ‘80s and, to a lesser extent, the ‘70s. Witness most cars from Japan at the time, especially ones with two doors and impossibly low-slung hood designs.
The mighty Mazda RX-7 springs immediately to mind when talking about cars from the ‘90s with pop-up lights - and, in fact, when talking about ‘90s cars in general. The third gen car (or FD, to chassis code nerds like us) is the epitome of Japanese car styling from the middle of that decade, somehow looking good with those headlights in both the open and closed position. This was not true for everything of the day; similarly aged Mitsubishi 3000GT looked kind of downcast with its lamps open.
The precursor to the aforementioned Corvette C5, the wedgy C4, deserves a mention simply for how its pop-ups sprang from their homes. Instead of just rising from the dead like most, they rotated along the short axis, meaning the sealed beams were pointing towards the driver when stored away instead of at the ground. We mention the C4 as part of the ‘90s since it stuck around until 1996, even though it first appeared in ‘84 and had a restyle in 1991.
Other ‘90s goodness with pop-ups? The Mazda Miata (nee MX-5) shown above must be listed, if for no other reason than being one of the cars that even non-car people can imagine in their minds when pop-ups are mentioned. Ferrari stayed in the game longer than most, with the 456 being an awesome grand tourer with the feature.
Meanwhile, Porsche showed up for duty that decade with the 968 and BMW held the look with its bonkers pretty E31-era 8 Series. The latter still looks great today, its headlights cutting narrow slots through the Autobahn at night.
