Taillights used to define a car because, decades ago, you could ID some vehicles simply by being behind them at night.
That disappeared in the 21st Century when every SUV became a clone of every other SUV, but back in the 60s and 70s the taillights were a dead giveaway.
Jerry Sutherland
These examples are going to go in chronological order, so the first one is a 1960 Mercury station wagon.
You could never mistake this car for anything other a ’60 Merc long roof because the lights were vertical, curved, tall and unmistakable.
The 1962 Impala was an unsung hero in the legendary 60s Impala lineup, but it was a great example of the three taillights setup that told the world you could afford a high-end Chevy.
They were easy to spot, but at night you had to be relatively close to ID a ’62 Impala. It was worth the trip.
The 1965 GTO was one of the finest examples of a Goat for many reasons.
One of them was the taillights because they were like a work of art at night. Pontiac built them into the corner of the quarter panel and extended them into the rear just above the rear bumper. They had that wraparound curve that made them perfect.
The ’66 Charger speaks for itself.
There was nothing on the road that looked like a 1966 Charger at night because the wall-to-wall lighting would illuminate Boston.
The 1968 Thunderbird carried on that wall-to-wall taillight tradition two years after the Charger.
This was done with so much intensity a ’68 T-bird’s taillights would light up Los Angeles—Ford clearly won the battle for mega lumens in 1968,
The 1969 Buick Electra nearly had wall-to-wall lighting, but the license plate broke up the line.
That didn’t matter because the ’69 Electra was a red-light warrior at night—GM was on its game.
The 1970 Imperial told the world Chrysler was ready to take on any battle of the taillights.
It’s hard to not see something as large as a 1970 Imperial, but if you were driving on a foggy highway at night, you’d never miss those massive taillights.
The 1970 Duster was more subtle.
They came with two thin, recessed horizontal taillights that told you, “That’s a Duster up ahead!”. Dusters were never the same once they lost those classic taillights.
The ‘77 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ debuted at a time when taillights weren’t as much of a bold fashion statement with most cars.
That didn’t matter because Pontiac brought its A-game to the battle with two massive taillights riding high–if you didn’t see them at night, you were either drunk, stoned or blind.
Fittingly, the last car is another Thunderbird.
T-birds were well known for their amazing taillights in ’64 and that tradition continued in 1979. The ‘79 Thunderbirds had enough candle power to turn your neighborhood into a red-light district. It was an amazing feat.
Here’s the lesson. If you want to see distinctive lights at night in 2026, head straight to Roswell, New Mexico and Area 13, because today’s generic SUVs took all the fun out of the game.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
CLICK HERE to Follow us on Pinterest
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER
CLICK HERE to Like us on Facebook
CLICK HERE to Follow us on Twitter
