Finding this rare surviving set of aftermarket headlight covers on a Volvo is another “CC-Effect” example, as I was just thinking about them the other day, when I wrote my 1983 T-Bird Turbo Coupe CC. They were popular in the early-mid eighties, as the sleek aero look was already common in Europe, but stupid federal codes kept them off US cars. I haven’t seen any in ages, and these look like they need a good scrubbing. No wonder most have been tossed.
It just drove me nuts how the sleek new ’83 aero-Bird looked with those pathetic exposed lights. Headlight covers were outlawed in 1968, when a number of cars lost their beautiful and tapered headlights, including the Jag XK-E, Fiat 850 Spider, VW Beetle, Porsche 911, and a whole lot of other cars, almost all European.
I found some clear plastic covers (no lines on mine) in an ad in the back of one of the buff books, and ordered a set asap. They attached to little velcro tabs that had adhesive. Seemed a bit iffy, but then the wind is always pushing against them. I thought they made a big difference looks-wise, and probably imagined them making a perceptible difference in its aerodynamics. Kind’a like how your car runs better after washing it.
Coincidentally, it was Ford that petitioned the Feds in 1981 to toss that rule overboard. Undoubtedly, Ford wanted to make the most of their big push into the aero-look. The feds relented in 1983, too late for the ’83-’84 T-Bird. But the 1984 Lincoln Mark VII was the first car in the US to take advantage of the new rules, and it ushered in the aero-headlight era. Not a minute too soon.
Headlight covers never really worked they go yellow and light wont shine thru or you hit something substantial and they break a decent stone will break one, Polycarbonate headlights saved the day and got rid of these useless covers.
How are polycarbonate “composite” headlights an improvement? They also go cloudy, get cracked by stone-hits, and if the glue holding them together fails anywhere, then they get condensation inside and eventually cloud-up on the inside or the reflector tarnishes.
Sure there are polishing kits for headlights now, but for the other problems your only solution is buying fairly expensive replacements.
I’d prefer sealed-beam headlights with an easily replaceable cover (or no cover) versus composite lights if I had a choice.
Yeah, not a huge fan of composite headlights. My ’98 Grand Prix got so bad, one of the lenses literally fell out while I was driving. The replacements weren’t too bad. I put a bead of silicone around the seam before I installed them, they lasted the rest of the time I owned the car.
I’ve had many cloudy polycarbonates on mid 90’s to mid 00’s Chrysler products. My luck on late 90’s to mid 03 GMs has been much better. Lenses are still clear and not cracked.
Thank you. What ever was wrong with good ol’ sealed-beam units?
I don’t understand how carmakers get away with producing this crap today without getting recalled. There is no excuse because the manufacturers can build these right. If you ever see a Beretta, Corsica, or ’91-’94 Cavalier, its composite headlights won’t be cloudy because they are made of glass.
+100 I once had a truck on the highway throw up a hunk of concrete that hit the front of my 66 Fury. One new sealed beam later, all fixed. I always kept a couple of them in the garage for an emergency fix. Now, the clear polycarbonate is constantly clouding. I have to polish the ones on my 93 CV about twice a year with polishing compound. The Chrysler units from the 90s were really awful.
Ditto. Bring back 7″ round units and call it good! Aren’t we getting to be old curmudgeons? Or is it “carmudgeons”?
You know, as much crapola as GM was building in those years, the glass composite housings on the cars you mentioned (and plenty others) were actually really high quality, well designed pieces. I know there is probably some weight savings advantage to the newer style ones but they turn yellow so quick and it really ruins the look of the car. I never tried one of those polishing kits, but when I used to do work like this we would wet sand them down and then spray a layer of clearcoat – huge pain in the ass, but they did come out nice. Wish they would just go back to using glass…
The European pedestrian impact safety standards that all carmakers have now adopted will never allow any glass lenses on the front of the vehicle.
I’m with you, the glass headlamps were actually quite good, especially when protected by a 1/8″ thick layer of the plastic coating rock guard (I have this on my 1996 Passat with glass E-code headlamps).
Oh yeah. I had a set of the infamous GTS from Autozone smoked headlight covers on my Beretta in HS. I thought they looked good with the black grille, and the corresponding all black factory taillights and filler panel. They only lasted about a month though, quite obviously to anyone over the age of 16, they made it nearly impossible to see at night.
I made a set for my ’82 Cavalier Type 10, and also had a matching cover over the license plate recess on the rear (which I got pulled over for and had to remove “on the spot!”).
Funny that you show these covering sealed beams; I remember these more from the time after aero headlamps appeared.
The early aero headlamps were made of thick glass, and new car dealers would literally ram the plastic covers down your throat when you’d bring your car in for warranty work or service: “These are ‘only’ $59.99 for the pair…you get a rock in one of those lenses, and it’ll set you back $119.95!”
The polycarbonate lenses that started appearing some time later are a mixed bag. While they don’t break as easily when hit by gravel, they do cloud. But I have noticed that the covers seemed to disappear not long after glass headlamp lenses did. In fact, I’m not even sure if any new cars still use glass lenses.
First car I owned with the glass composite headlamps already had a broken fog light lens, I scoured junkyards looking for another one, and found another good lens that I didn’t need at the time, but grabbed anyway. I was replacing a headlight bulb in the parking lot at school, (used 4, 9004 type bulbs), had the assembly sitting face down on the bumper to change the bulb out, was opening the package for the new bulb and watched in horror as the whole thing went crashing to the asphalt below-face first.
I picked it up, and the only thing broken was that damned fog light lens. I don’t remember if I ever did find another unbroken lens for the bulls-eyed one.
Great topic! Back in 80 I installed them on my 80 Mustang 2.3 Turbo, after painting the grill and headlamp surrounds in the body’s color. I believe they were the GTS smoked black covers, held on by quarter turn Dzus fasteners. Of course, that required carrying a flat blade screwdriver in the car to remove them at sundown! But they did their job in giving the Mustang a different look. There must have been a slight aerodynamic advantage to them, too.
Now, today, these composite plastic lamp covers are crap, plain and simple. I’d just as soon see a return to the sealed beam headlamps so we can be spared being blinded by the 10,000 different OEM reflector designs coming at you at night. Not to mention the loss of lumens on your own car when your plastic covers turn yellow; oh, and yes, they all turn yellow! Right now, I’m looking at the prospects of pricing out 2 headlamp composite housings for my 2000 New Beetle, TDI. That or try the temporary fix of using an aftermarket headlamp restoration kit. Either way, it’s totally uncalled for in having to worry about one’s headlight cover, no?
For the sake of design, we’ve been given this junk to deal with further down the road when it comes time to have to replace the cover thanks to their cost cutting ways in accounting. No, I’l take the quaint GTS smoked pvc headlamp covering some good ole sylvania sealed beam headlamps. HID and LED light replacement costs will be another bill coming due soon for the modern day driver!
Biggest thing I hate about modern lights are the shiny clear covers on turn signals with highly reflective surrounds. They are often impossible to see in the sun. Almost all modern vehicles are guilty of this.
I’ve had cars with such poor headlights for so long, that I was flat amazed at how good the headlamps were on my ancient ’77 Chevelle, after I put in the same brand/type of capsule that’s in my ’95 Explorer. To go from an SUV that has headlights that can be outdriven at 30mph even on high beam, to a car that light up road signs about 3/4 of a mile away and give good even light across the pavement at a usable distance AND not blind people is a joy.
Sealed beams get the knock and some rightly so (7″ rounds and the 4×6 rectangles suck), but the quad rectangles in my book are solid hits. I guess the ability to indivdually adjust each bulb for optimal aim is key.
We still sell a few sets here in NZ, but mostly these have gone the way of the dodo. When I started in the industry we sold heaps, as NZ roads are commonly chip-sealed, and accordingly stone-strike is very common. This was, of course, a bit of a problem in the days of glass headlamps. The poly headlamp guards acted as a sacrificial barrier, and even though they usually were broken by a stone strike, they usually dissipated enough energy to avoid damage to the lamp.
Of course, nowadys with the advent of polycarbonate headlamps being much stronger and less brittle it really isn’t the consideration that it once was.
Remember the gen1 Ford Sierra covers – one huge piece of plastic that covered the entire front from side to side. My folks had one on their Sierra back in the day, and I put one on one of my Sierras in the late 90s. They screwed off quickly and easily for cleaning. Time was when they were on every second car here, hardly ever see them now.
About 10 years ago, I had a 93 Deville that somehow the right headlight got hit with a rock that was still lodged in the assembly. Being completely from another planet, I never dreamed that repair would cost $ 363. But happily, my comprehensive paid for most of it. A far cry from a Kmart sealed beam.
When I bought my little LeBaron convertible last winter, the first thing I thought of was headlight covers. (It doesn’t take much to amuse me.) I didn’t really give it much practical thought, but it might jazz the front end a bit. Give it the Kimperial flair.
Looks really nice on the T-Bird. On another note, I needed to replace the alternator on my 78 Eldo. Today,after getting a new “rebuilt” one, I found that the pulleys didn’t match. The belt would not fit. Fortunately, the store still had the core, and installed the old pulley on the “new” one. Well, I’m getting to be an expert on alternator repair for old Eldos, off and on twice in the same day.
Not much work, but I’m getting too old for this stuff.
I also had tinted covers on my bright red 1980 Mustang. Along with tinted windows, a bra, louvers, chrome wheels, No Fear and Oakley stickers in the windows, and red pinstripes all around the black body molding. This was circa 1993, obviously one of the most tasteful eras for mods IMHO. Made that 88 HP gutless wonder look so much faster. Oh yeah, i think I had Mustang stickers on the door handles too.
What a PITA those covers were, Like Michael above I also had to remove them at night to see anything. I don’t remember the brand, but I had to drill slots in the nose for them to go into. The bra was the dumbest thing I put on though, it caused more damage than it prevented.
What about the Dodge Magnum from the late ’70s? It had headlight covers. How did it get around the law against them? Wait — I just answered my own question. Apparently the covers were retractable, so it was the same legally as a hidden headlamp New Yorker.
The aerodynamics of headlight covers may be counter-intuitive. When the 3rd generation F-bodies came out in 1982, the Camaro with recessed square lights actually had a lower drag coefficient then the Firebird with popup lights. One theory was that the are was a low pressure vortex. To add insult to injury the later TPI engined IROC-Z was more powerful than the contemporary Trans-Am because the Camaro’s higher hoodline allowed a taller intake manifold.
one of the best perx on my ’95 Z28 is the 4 quad GLASS headlites!
surprised at all the kudos to glass lites on here!
I’m not sure if it’s still the regulation in Europe, but for a long time they banned polycarbonite headlamps, most likely because of the fogging and yellowing with age, so for certain cars that were offered for sale in Europe you may be able to get glass headlamp assemblies, as long as your state inspection doesn’t check for the DOT part number on the headlamps.
Also, don’t order lamps for the UK or other RHD markets since they will blind oncoming motorists if used on the opposite side of the road.
I had headlight covers on my ’82 Escort GT. Only instead of trying to find custom fit models for mine (for all I knew they didn’t exist), I hit the local auto parts store and got a couple of sheets of clear plastic and cut my own. After a couple of cardboard templates to get the fit tight, they really looked good.
I wish they still used glass headlamps. My 1987 Cutlass Supreme had glass Bosch composites and they looked (and worked) like new.
My recently departed 2002 PT Cruiser had plastic headlamps that were so badly dulled that nothing I tried could clear them up. I thought of replacing them, but in order to do that I would have had to dismantle the entire front end-no thank you!
Now my Alero, if I ever have to replace them, it’s going to be a breeze! Two tabs that you pull up and the entire lamp module just slides out. I love it, but still wish they were glass…
Some of the clear aftermarket covers were pretty cool, but I absolutely hated the crap out of the dark “smoked” GTS ones that were everywhere in the mid-90’s. They made them for taillights on plenty of cars too… ughhh. How were these even legal? Maybe it was because enough bozos swore they didn’t have any effect on the strength of the headlights, something I remember getting into an argument about in high school. Bras were just as stupid… thankfully good taste prevailed in the end. Now if we could only get rid of these stupid bumper diapers people hang off the back of their cars…
Bumper diapers? What the hell are these?
They’re designed to protect your bumper from looking shitty after people scuff it up trying to parallel park badly.
They protect it by making your car look shitty with an enormous bag hanging off the back of it. “Protect” is pretty subjective depending on what part of the bumper you’re talking about, though.
I remember seeing a number of cars with these when I was in Staten Island and Brooklyn back in September. Sure looked tacky, but knowing what I know about most NYC drivers, I can kind of see why you would want to use these…So glad no one ran into my little Escape while I was there!
The stereotypical IROC-Z drivers loved those stupid smoked taillight covers! They were real popular on vehicles, especially trucks.
The real ball-scratchers are those who pasted those on red vehicles — their taillights kind of blended in with the body color to begin with but ohhh….it looks so much better now. NOT.
Who needs brake lights or turn signals anyway?
Well that depends on the car. If you have black trim and tinted windows they can look pretty nice. And I would argue it can still be easier to see the lights through than the clear shiny ones found on almost all new vehicles, which can all but disappear in the sun.
Taste is subjective. I could offer my opinion on the color of the car in your avatar, especially for a man, but I won’t 😉
Yes only a bozo would drive with smoked headlight covers on at night. At the time there wasn’t anything illegal about having them so long as you removed them at night. Taillight covers were made illegal about the time I was going to buy them if I remember right. I think a lot of those laws changed in the 90’s.
Between those and the bra, not the smartest things I’ve ever put on a vehicle, but certainly not the dumbest fasion statements I’ve made in my life either. Remember that was also the age of hot pink tailgate nets, pinned pants, and zubaz. Taste can be relative.
Gah. That picture brings back unpleasant memories of my wife’s Mazda 626. It had very expensive, easily broken contoured headlights. Those aftermarket covers were a lot cheaper, and I’d replace them yearly. Even so, I still had to pay for several headlights which were expensive enough that the thought is still painful. Composite plastic has it’s drawbacks but at least you can get through a couple of winters without replacing them.