Hide-Away Headlights?

[djsnoflake]

Originally Posted by Gary B

Would be cool, but to many moving parts....why do you think they dumped the flip lights on Vettes? Less stuff to break and more cost effective.

I heard they did it to make the car more aerodynamic. Now we have 4 theories

[Matching Numbers]

Thanks guys for all the replies. I know I would have trouble from time to time with my 67's hide-aways. I would have thought by now GM would have had some better technology for doing hide-aways. Didn't know about the laws. I think it gives the 2010 Camaro an awesome look (seen some photoshop pics) . It is something I will be definitely looking into after I order mine.

[franknbeans]

It's illegal to have hide away lights on cars now. . Hence the none on the Vette's anymore.

[Mr_Draco]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Really? The last I heard, it's about European laws. Interesting.

I don't know about Europe but I know it is here in the US so it may be both countries.

[Mr_Draco]

Originally Posted by franknbeans

It's illegal to have hide away lights on cars now. . Hence the none on the Vette's anymore.

Vette's never had hide-aways, they had flip up lights.

[franknbeans]

Dude, same difference. . . the headlights where hidden weren't they?

Law states the the headlighs can not be hidden. (or flipped up, if that is better for you)

[theholycow]

Ok, so I wanted to read up on the actual law, because I've never heard of it. I did a quick search and came up with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_headlamps

US laws now permit aerodynamic headlamps, relative to which hidden headlamps represent added cost, weight, and complexity as well as reliability concerns as cars age. Internationalized ECE auto safety regulations have also recently incorporated pedestrian-protection provisions restricting protuberances from car bodies, making it more difficult and expensive to design compliant pop-up headlamps.

So, if that's the whole story (and I'm certainly not saying that it is, just proposing that IF it is), then they're not illegal, it would just be that new US laws made them unnecessary and new international regulations made them more difficult.

[Codefive]

Originally Posted by Matching Numbers

When are they going to offer Hide-Away headlights on the Camaro?

Gm? prolly not gonna happen. BUT ...
Moss Fesler said they are working on a hide-a-way system now and hope to have something out soon.

[Speedfreak]

Originally Posted by Mr_Draco

Actually GM ditched the flip up lights on the vette because federal regulations make them illegal now due to pedestrian safety laws.

the ignorance coming out of dc shows no boundries

[Mayhem]

I remember seeing hideaways on the 1st gen? But that is a little different imo anyways than the ones that flip up like on vette's.

I wouldn't want to imagine an attempt at flip up's on a 5th gen. The old school hideaway style with a heritage grill would be veryyyyy nice to see... I've seen claims of more than 1 company working on aftermarket versions of this? So I don't imagine it will be long before something is available.

No idea how laws/regulations vary in different places in regards to something like this though.

btw, were the lights not still somewhat visible & more or less functional through the hideaway portion of the grill on the 1st gen?

I am no expert, & am not claiming to be an authority on any of this btw!

[Camaro_Corvette]

Originally Posted by Mr_Draco

Actually GM ditched the flip up lights on the vette because federal regulations make them illegal now due to pedestrian safety laws.

I believed it was to make the car more global since hideaways are illegal in some countries in europe

[Andro]

There history

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by Speedfreak

the ignorance coming out of dc shows no boundries

DC did not make them illegal.

Don't get me wrong, the ignorance coming out of DC indeed shows no boundaries, but in this case that's not what's going on.

Originally Posted by camaro_corvette

I believed it was to make the car more global since hideaways are illegal in some countries in europe

Look at post #21 in this thread. I did the research. The issue is mainly that they used to be necessary but now are not.

It used to be illegal to have them too low or going too far up the hood, which required flip-up lights if the car was going to be shaped that way. Now they can run further up the corner of the car so they are no longer needed.

I think they're illegal in Europe as you say, but that's not new. What's new is that they're not required for that shape car in the US anymore.

[chevy dude]

Why can't you guys ever think outside the box???Who says hide-away headlights has to be functional?For me it was the look of them when they were closed that gave the "hide-aways it's appeal.Who cares if they open & close or not?Just to have that look in the front grille on my 2010 Camaro is what i want:droo l: