[DeTomaso] - Frog Eyes - was a very long thread that I don't want to continue

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/25/10 19 46 9, wkooiman at earthlink.net writes:


> I think Tom did an outstanding job designing the Pantera.  It isn't just 
> another wedge shaped sports car.  It has several unique features that make 
> it stand out.  One of those is the frog eye headlights.
> 

>>>Although now it's not that popular, it's important to remember that when 
the Pantera came out, pop-up headlights were considered really, REALLY 
cool.   I recently was reading a retrospective on a number of different sports 
cars, written in the mid 1980s, and they still waxed euphoric about how neat 
the whole pop-up headlight thing was.

Only 'special' cars of the day had them--Ferrari Daytona, Saab Sonnet III, 
Corvette, Maserati Ghibli, Bora, Merak, etc. etc. etc.   It was a singular 
design element that seemed to be reserved by the industry for cars of that 
nature.   It set them apart from more pedestrian fare such as the Pinto, Vega 
etc.

It's interesting to note that a handful of cars retain that design today, 
most notably the Miata--another 'special' car.

The original sealed beam lamps are pretty awful though.   I've got 
super-duper whippy dippy Euro Cibie Z-beam round halogen replacements (appropriately 
powered), and I swear I can burn the bark off trees with my high beams.   
The latest generation HID lights like Chris Difani has cooked up, are awesome 
too.   The first-gen low-profile rectangular headlights, which used a GM 
low-beam lamp from a Camaro or something, are a little less inspiring.   They 
throw considerably less light than a big round halogen or HID setup.   I am 
still a bit unsure about the current low-profile round lights that Kirk 
Evans etc. are using now; they are only halogen (not HID), and while they 
certainly look cool, my highly unscientific impression is that they don't throw as 
much light as my stock-size halogens.   But unquestionably they're superior 
to the original stock sealed beams.

Regardless of which style you use, I find it's kind of fun to drive the car 
at night and use the headlight buckets themselves as aiming devices--it 
adds to the driving experience and feels really cool.   That's a highly 
subjective thing of course.

There are a few Panteras out there whose pop-up systems have been replaced 
by fixed lights with plexiglass covers.   I guess they work?   I'm not wild 
about them though....

Mike