Domestic cars with hidden headlights made an appearance long before the Sensational Sixties.
In fact, the 1936 Cord 810 was the first car built with hideaway headlights during an era when aerodynamics were in their infancy and most cars were built in roughly the same shape as a brick.
Jerry Sutherland
Fast forward to the 1960s when hideaway headlights reappeared on the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and reignited the hidden headlight style on North American cars. The ’63 Sting Ray is an automatic choice on MyStarCollectorCar’s Top Five picks for hideaway headlights because its hidden-from-view headlights were a perfect fit on its sleek and timeless design.
Both the ’36 Cord and ’63 Corvette became automotive legends after they were introduced to the public during their respective model years, but the impact of the Vette was stronger because it spawned a hidden headlight tidal wave and produced some very cool examples during the mid to late 1960s.
Since we have already included the trailblazing ’63 Vette in our list, MyStarCollectorCar will move on to our second addition to our star-studded list, namely the 1965 Buick Riviera. The basic and very cool design of the ‘65 Riviera was unchanged from 1963, but the debut of hideaway headlights on the 1965 version was a grand slam home run decision by General Motors in our opinion here at MyStarCollectorCar.
The ’65 Riv’s hidden headlights were the perfect choice for its overall design and richly deserve a place on our list.
The third addition to MyStarCollectorCar’s hidden headlight list is the 1967 Mercury Cougar. This upscale pony car cousin to the Ford Mustang was destined to stay out of its more famous relative’s sizable limelight because of the Mustang’s incredible impact on the small domestic sports coupe market-but the 1967 Cougar was always cool kinfolk in the Blue Oval extended family.
The main reason for the ’67 Cougar’s coolness was its hideaway headlights that were disguised by a unique front grille design with vertical strips separated by a metal center bar for the logo. The creative genius who designed the 1967 Mercury Cougar’s front end should have been given a big raise in our opinion. The Cougar’s hidden headlights were very cool then and are still cool now.
The fourth addition to our hideaway headlight list is the 1968 Dodge Charger, an iconic car that is arguably the best-looking Charger ever built by Mother Mopar. The first-gen 1966-67 Dodge Chargers that preceded the ’68 Charger also had hidden headlights and present a very solid visual case for them, but the earlier Chargers shared their basic lower body design with the Dodge Coronet, while the ’68 Chargers were a standalone model with their own distinctive style.
Consequently, the 1968 Dodge Charger’s hideaway headlights are a natural style fit, given the ‘68 Charger’s overall design and turned the car into an instant classic-even without its superstar role in the ‘Bullitt’ car chase.
MyStarCollectorCar’s fifth and final member of our hideaway headlight list is the 1967 Camaro Rally Sport. The first-generation Camaros have carved out a significant place in automotive history and their level of popularity has not diminished over the past 56 years.
In fact, the 1967-69 Camaro is a huge part of the car hobby to the point where it has become commonplace at shows, so a ’67 Camaro RS model with its hidden headlights stands out in a crowd of GM’s most famous pony cars.
We at MyStarCollectorCar believe hidden headlights enhance the overall style of a ’67 Camaro because they truly belong on these iconic pony cars. Hideaway headlights on a 1967 Camaro RS elevate their cool factor to a high level in our opinion.
A list of five very cool 1960s-era cars with hideaway headlights is too short so look for a future MyStarCollectorCar article with five more additions to our list.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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