Mounting a headlight along the center-line of the vehicle is one of those recurrent ideas that seem offer plausible advantages with a minimum of technical difficulty, but for some reason simply don’t become popular, either with the public or with designers. But there have been a number of production cars that have tried it, and they are subject of our encyclopedia entry for today. We want your help compiling a list of all the cars with a center-mounted headlight.
The Caveats (there are always caveats):
- Single-headlight cyclopes or third-eye overachievers are both allowable.
- “Headlight” means “headlight.” It can be auxiliary in nature, but it must be something intended primarily to provide forward illumination, not just a marker/position light or glowing hood ornament.
- Likewise, it needs to be conspicuously in the center of the vehicle: in other words, lighty-uppy stuff that’s only vaguely centralized and multiple element light bars that uniformly traverse the whole front of the vehicle don’t count, even if there is technically a point of illumination along the center-line.
- Production cars only. No concept cars, one-offs, customs or race cars.
- Original equipment only. No aftermarket accessories.
- Trucks, both light and heavy-duty, are allowed, as long as they are road-legal. No construction machinery, mining equipment, or lawn mowers.
- As far as motorcycles go, you know that chuckle-then-slap animated GIF? It’s just waiting for YOU, pal.
Difficulty: Medium Rare. For some of you, the low-hanging fruit on this one is already out of reach.
How This Works: Read the comments first and don’t post duplicates! Bonus points for adding photos.
Image Sources: wikipedia.org & bbc.com.
Does the first gen Mercury Sable qualify? http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/48/4621/25119810001_large.jpg
…multiple element light bars that uniformly traverse the whole front of the vehicle don’t count, even if there is technically a point of illumination along the center-line.
I’m guessing no.
Exactly the car I was thinking about when I wrote that exclusion.
Oh. I had something different in mind for traversing, multiple element light bars.
http://31.media.tumblr.com/124ba1ae65f29c165b74558ce5b22527/tumblr_mqc2n7FO701ru7sz3o1_500.gif
What are the rules this week about ‘airborne equivalents’?
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n107/DB6Mk2/Turbinlite.jpg
(Douglas B-20 Havoc ‘Turbinlite’.)
Bristol 404
Courtesy Imbed,( though I did get 404 Not Found for a while) 🙂
http://only-carz.com/data_images/models/bristol-404/bristol-404-10.jpg
Peel P50
http://cdn.trendhunterstatic.com/thumbs/peel-trident-and-peel-p50.jpeg
Lincoln Model L
http://m3.i.pbase.com/o3/53/935853/1/129536213.LHeRVcBe.IMG_8596.JPG
Are you sure that’s OE? Those turning center headlights were a popular add-on. Here’s a nearly identical one on one of my boss’s Studebakers:
It’s a grey area. Production chassis, but cooachbuilt bodies allow for some variance in execution. The next one constructed might have had no extra lights, or two extra.
http://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Lincoln/30-Lincoln-L_DV-10-MB_001.jpg
http://www.classycars.org/Lincoln/Lincoln.1930.Model%20L.jpg
http://www.velocityjournal.com/images/full/2010/512/ln1930dualcowlphaeton51235330.jpg
http://www.velocityjournal.com/images/full/2010/512/ln1930dualcowlphaeton51235330.jpg
Zis 112
woops… this definitely falls foul of the “no concepts” rule.
Abarth Biposto
http://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Fiat/52_Fiat-Bat1_DV-11-AI_a002.jpg
Low hanging fruit in the ‘light trucks category’; the Scammel Scarab
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/British_Railways_Scammel_Scarab.jpg
…and DEFINITELY qualifying as a ‘light truck’ (and definitely NOT getting me a slap in the ‘motorcycle category’) is the Reliant 7cwt
http://www.3wheelers.com/1949Reliant7cwt.jpg
and early versions of the Piaggio Ape
http://www.cars-pics-db.com/pics/piaggio/piaggio-ape-d/piaggio-ape-d-03.jpg
I’m wracking my brain trying to conceive of how that severely-recessed light could have any sort of decent spread.
I know; and when the rest of the vehicle is a series of such rational design choices…
I don’t think it would have been too much of an issue, due to the (lack of) speed of the truck!
Tatra T87
http://www.mzv.cz/public/81/d2/35/612399_522775_Tatra_T87.jpg
and early models of the Tatra 603
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Tatra_603_IMG_6762.JPG/420px-Tatra_603_IMG_6762.JPG
Early 1980’s Subarus had a flip-up headlamp under the Subaru badge.
http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/274_Subaru-Leone-GL-1600-wagon-cyclops_Subaru-BRAT-640×426.jpg
http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Subaru-Leone-GL-1600-wagon-cyclops-passing-light1.gif
We petitioned my dad so hard to get a GL in 1984 but he bought a Buick Century instead. Good thing for him – Ontario road salt melted most GLs into oxidized heaps by 1989. Instead, Dad just had to suffer through multiple changes of steering rack and CV joints.
But why settle for only three lights when, with judicious application of both dealer-supplied and aftermarket accessories, you can have no fewer than seven!
WHAT?! I had no idea!!!!! I now have a feverish desire for an old GL
I had completely forgotten about that.
Fiat played around with it in the ’50s. Here’s a Fiat 1100-103 from 1954.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Fiat_1100-103%2C_1954.JPG
Perhaps because it had seemed like such a good idea on the Austin Atlantic?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Austin_A90_Atlantic_Sports_Saloon.jpg/420px-Austin_A90_Atlantic_Sports_Saloon.jpg
You didn’t disallow locomotives.
https://flic.kr/p/dw2zkR
CN 6213 parked outside the old roundhouse in Toronto. It’s a Northern Type U-2-g.
Or tractors;
http://www.ploughmyfield.com/wp-content/uploads/images/2013/08/Show6-600×398.jpg
I want a Ferguson (grey), and I have a Minneapolis Moline U (yellow) and an Allis Chalmers Roto-Baler (orange implement), so needless to say, I enjoy this picture very much!
I suppose “railroad” is a type of “road.” But now you have to list nearly every locomotive ever, smartypants.
Hehehehe…yeah, it would be easier to show ones that don’t have centermount headlamps.
http://lakeshorerailway.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ge-south-africa-evolution-series.jpg
Then this must be allowed too: http://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boat-content/files/2013/02/Nantucket-Lightship-night.jpg
The every so beautiful 1935 Mercedes Benz 500K roadster by Prahl.

http://i.onionstatic.com/avclub/4102/21/16×9/960.jpg
I thought those qualified as personal flotation devices rather than headlamps.
I think the number of terms for them is borderline limitless.
1915 Briscoe
HMV Freeway.
http://files.ctctcdn.com/02276f7a001/ed66bad0-ee2f-426a-8774-03547f90d301.jpg
CityEl
Low hanging: Cyclops and Cyclops II
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v2h1moCPp14/UFcVYEqd97I/AAAAAAAAEI4/1gaD84-WUTc/s1600/Cyclops.JPG
Myers Motors NmG (nee Corbin Sparrow)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Corbin_Sparrow.jpg/280px-Corbin_Sparrow.jpg
http://www.ebikeportal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/sinclair-c5-eletric-trike-2.jpg
Gatso
http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/17825/3.jpg
http://www.uijtenhaak.nl/gatso/images_gatford_and_aero/aero0001-gatford01_600x400.jpg
Zis one…
Restraining myself is taking every bit of rezilience that I have.
The big bus. Years ago, some guy named Ben wrote about it. The comments are a bit of a trip down memory lane…http://jalopnik.com/5457886/whatever-happened-to-the-cyclops
Wow, Manwich. Haven’t thought about him in years. Turns out that he’s stuck it out over there and is still active on Jalo…Kinj…whatever it is that he’s technically active on over there.
Can I get a waiver until it’s actually in production? Also, *technically* not *quite* centre-mounted.
Not centre mounted, but, brilliantly, in line with the driver’s head. Took me a while to realise.
Does it need to be symmetric, or will a singular additional light in the grill count? Super rare Chrysler Super-Lite.
http://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/attachments/113633-2003-superlite-jpg.67553/
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTqXr3s8PshVt8DpLmOWn2ecClDVcn2ayq64EHetqA_EAPNqfWQ
Seeing how far I can push my luck on this one with the Peugeot 402, largely because it gives me an excuse to post a picture of the 402 Eclipse.
Hanomag Kommissbrot (1920´s)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Hanomag_Kommissbrot_Autostadt.jpg/280px-Hanomag_Kommissbrot_Autostadt.jpg
Surprised we haven’t had the Rumpler Tropfenwagen yet. As featured in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
Attention Hooniverse editorial staff…
And now the Rumpler Tropfenauto. Can’t think of another vehicle that used stacked dual centre headlights.
“Vehicles” is pretty wide open. You’d be surprised.
Welp, nobody should be above the law, I suppose…
https://media.giphy.com/media/kTBjwh6IWbLPy/giphy.gif
To be fair to you, I did leave myself open for that one…
Oh, I just found another one: Bruetsch Mopetta (1952) with a 50cc scooter engine.
I knew that I had seen this before, but I took it for a Peel P50 “convertible”. Which it isn´t.
The ’67 and ’68 Shelby Mustangs (some of them, anyway) had separate high and low beam fixtures: The lows resided in the stock outboard locations, while the highs were “floating” side by side in the middle of the grille.
http://cdn.silodrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/1967-Shelby-GT-500-Fastback-New-1200×669.jpg
I hesitate to point this out, but the Rover JET1 Turbine prototype in your opening photo does not meet your own criteria since it was not a production vehicle. The earliest production P4 was the Rover 75 we lovingly call the Cyclops.
Came to post but you beat me. 🙂
😉
The production version had the center headlight, so I’m invoking The Rule Of Cool.
Panhard Dyna Z
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Panhard_DynaZ_1959_front.jpg
Foul!!!! That’s not a headlight. It’s a tongue.
Piaggio Ape 50.
http://cdn.subito-italia.eu/9/5d/75497/ape-piaggio-50–San-Salvo-l75497.jpg
Fiat 1400.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PhkLJ8sG-og/UQqn1DtDiUI/AAAAAAAAAEg/sFitgkxBbXc/s1600/1400+FRONT+DX.JPG
Pretty