For much of the automotive age, all U.S. car buyers had for road-lighting options were sealed beams. These eventually came in round and rectangular shapes, but they were all as flat and upright as a chest of drawers from Ikea. At the same time, drivers in other nations had headlamps that integrated into the design of the car, rather than the other way around. This provided better aerodynamics and as a result, higher fuel economy. We can thank Ford for bringing the composite headlamp to America as it was that company that spearheaded the effort to get the Federal Government to (pun intended) see the light. The 1984 Lincoln Mark VII became the first car legally sold in the U.S, with plastic lensed composite lights. It didn’t take long for almost every car and truck sold here to follow. Now we have headlights that are model-specific, which raises another issue, that being the cost of replacing one should a rock smash the outer lens or time and wear render it so miasmic as to be dangerous. Plastic headlights are the rule not the exception today and that has opened a whole new can of worms that we didn’t have to deal with during the sealed beam days. What do you think, do the benefits of plastic lights—weight savings, aerodynamics—outweigh their downsides? Image: lamin-x
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