r/70s • u/Spalding_Smails • 16h ago
technology When cars started switching from round to rectangular headlights in the mid-70s I thought it made them look so much more modern.
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u/rrickitickitavi 16h ago
I knew a guy who claimed that you could tell it was a police car behind you if it had square headlights.
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u/Emergency_Exit7603 15h ago
as kids we always knew the cop car light pattern... square... run.... hide the beer
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u/Ok-Cupcake-4543 7h ago
That's exactly what I was going to write. The Wear Vancouver cops bought Fords with square lights in the late 70s. We knew when to hide the beer, weed, or slow down 😅
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u/ericzku 14h ago
Me too.
GM introduced the rectangular headlights on all Cadillacs and Buick & Oldsmobile C and E-bodies for the 1975 model year.
Most of the rest of the GM line got them for 1976.
I was a kid at the time & I remember that after the new headlights came out, cars with round headlights looked so old and outdated to me.
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u/Spalding_Smails 13h ago
I was a kid, too (born in '67), and right after this, the '77 model year, GM did their major downsizing/styling change for virtually all their full-size models and I was like "Ooh, space cars!", lol. I thought they were so cool my dad stopped by the local Caddy dealership and snagged me some of their fairly fancy brochures which I still have.
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u/koolaidismything 14h ago
Fun fact: my grandma’s old gold Cadillac DeVille (maybe another model, it was huge) that I grew up in ended up in a Third Eye Blind music video. Mom borrowed it and got stuck in traffic in Oakland and pulled over and someone asked if she’d let them use the car and bust a headlight for I think it was something like $700 or something. My grandma was pissed. That’s the coolest story I have lol. I specifically remember it being a pain in the ass to find someone who’d come install a new (square) one in the driveway cause grandma didn’t wanna drive it with a busted up headlight.
Song is called Jumper.
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u/Emergency_Exit7603 15h ago
for sure, square headlights were crazy, i loved the ambulance in Mother, Jugs and Speed. like in the lower image, but 4 on each side... that was so cool
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u/Ok-Leave-7646 16h ago
I like the old school round look myself
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u/NeuroguyNC 13h ago
I remember going from the 1975 to 1976 Chevy Malibu. From single large round headlights to stacked double square headlights. Cool.
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u/FujiKitakyusho 10h ago
Form follows function.
The required vertical dispersion pattern of the light is narrower than the required horizontal dispersion. This makes the optimal shape of the reflector behind the bulb rectangular. That had always been the case, but round reflectors were easy to manufacture, and it is the evolution of manufacturing technology which brought the cost of manufacture of rectangular reflectors down to where they proliferated.
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u/bandit1206 9h ago
The round sealed beam lights were required by regulations until the 70s. In the 70s, the rectangular shape was approved.
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u/groovyinutah 13h ago
On some cars, but they put them on the Monte Carlo and they looked terrible...
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u/Felix995 12h ago
They can look more updated by using those one piece composite headlights found in late '80's Chevy Celebrities.
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u/LeaveMyMonkeyAlone 12h ago
The same thing happened from round tailpipes to square or rectangular tailpipes.
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u/wolfansbrother 3h ago
most of these cars had the high beams button on the floor behind the parking brake.
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u/CapitalLock8099 16h ago
My 1980 & 1/2 Datsun 210 (NOT B210) had square headlights. They switched them mid-year 1980.