The new Tesla Roadster doesn’t just have space-age tech, like compressed-air thrusters that make it hop and spin (supposedly), or fans that help keep it glued to the road. It also has something that feels like a throwback to the past.
We’re talking about hidden headlights. They’re not the classic pop-up lights that rise out of the bodywork, a design that has all but disappeared under modern pedestrian-safety regulations. Instead, the new electric supercar hides its low- and high-beam headlights behind a movable cover that drops out of the way when the lights are switched on.
It’s an old idea with a modern twist. Let’s take a closer look.
When we talk about hidden headlights, or what we in America call pop-up headlights, we usually mean lights that mechanically or electrically rise out of the bodywork when switched on. The design disappeared from cars like the first-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata and eventually went away altogether in the early 2000s, with the end of the Lotus Esprit and Chevrolet Corvette C5.
The new Tesla Roadster takes a different approach, which its creators call pop-down headlights. In a video interview with Top Gear, Tesla chief engineer Lars Moravy and designer Franz von Holzhausen show how it works: The high- and low-beam headlights sit behind a panel that drops down when the lights are switched on.
Rather than having the lights pop up from the hood, Tesla keeps them tucked away behind the front bodywork. It’s a subtle difference, but one that helps preserve the Roadster’s sleek, uninterrupted front end.
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