Any '54s Have Quad Headlights?

[Aaronw]

There is a photo in a book I have and in the background there is a police car with quad headlights. It looks to me like a '58 or 59 Impala, but the photo caption says the photo was taken in '54. Were there any '54 or earlier domestic sedans with quad headlights?

I think the caption is wrong and I now have a build for the new Revell '58 kit.

[Raul_Perez]

To the best of my knowledge, '57 was the first year for quad headlights on Chrysler. GM and Ford followed in '58.

You can check some of the pics at http://www.carnut.com/photo/list/flist.html if you want to be sure.

Regards,

Edited January 10, 2008 by Raul_Perez

[Canada Jeff]

I think you are right, Aaron. As far as I know, quad headlights on American cars began in '58.

Maybe the police car travelled back in time to 1954 and was caught on film?

EDIT: D'OH! Paul beat me to it by mere seconds!! The time travel joke cost me valuable typing time.

Edited January 10, 2008 by Canada Jeff

[Harry P.]

Quad headlights weren't legal in the US until a few years later (1957 or 58, I think).

[Olle F]

To the best of my knowledge, '57 was the first year for quad headlights on Chrysler. GM and Ford followed in '58.

You can check some of the pics at http://www.carnut.com/photo/list/flist.html if you want to be sure.

Regards,

To be nitpicky, I don't believe Crysler really had quad headlights until '58. They had a fender shape that allowed for it, but a '57 Chrysler has dual headlights in wide bezels, and what you see on a '57 Plymouth and Dodge is really a headlight/blinker combo. As far as I know, no domestic cars had quad headlights until '58.

[Raul_Perez]

57 for Chrysler, 58 for the other makes, but it was often on a state by state basis, some didn't allow quad headlights in 57, (& maybe later as well, 57 I know for sure), so in those states, all 57 Mopars had to be sold with single headlights. IIRC, Chrysler had prepared for this, & had single headlight cars sold in those states.

Good and interesting point on the Chryslers, Mark!! If you look at some of the photos of 57 Chrysler cars you can see that they used the same headlamp opening, but with single and dual headlamps in each.

[Olle F]

57 for Chrysler, 58 for the other makes, but it was often on a state by state basis, some didn't allow quad headlights in 57, (& maybe later as well, 57 I know for sure), so in those states, all 57 Mopars had to be sold with single headlights. IIRC, Chrysler had prepared for this, & had single headlight cars sold in those states.

Interesting, I have never seen a '57 Mopar with quad lights so I assumed that the fenders were just prepared for the change on the '58s. You learn something new every day.

[Raul_Perez]

Thanks for the pics Raul. I could remember in my "mind's eye" how the 57 single headlight Chryslers looked, & remembered that they used the same opening, but couldn't figure out how to explain it.

Pics are courtesy of http://www.carnut.com/

It's always a great source of stock and custom pics for just about everything imaginable...

[Aaronw]

I did not know it was illegal prior to '57-58. That would explain why everybody jumped onto that styling change at the same time.

Thanks, the author musy have got his dates wrong. There should be a law that book authors must consult with car guys before publication. Cars and computers are two items that can really date a movie or photo.

[Harry P.]

I did not know it was illegal prior to '57-58. That would explain why everybody jumped onto that styling change at the same time.

Quad headlights, as mentioned above, were legal in some states but not others at first. Once they became legal across all states, they were quickly adopted by the big 3. No carmaker wanted to be left out of this latest styling rage. I think Cadillacs were the first American cars to offer them. At the time, they were considered symbols of automotive "luxury", like whitewalls and full wheel covers. Everybody wanted them, and the carmakers quickly obliged. In just one quick model year, even a lowly Ford or Plymouth offered "quads".

[Jon Cole]

It happens!

CHEVY Police cruisers, (ca. 1956) ANN ARBOR PD. ONLINE PHOTO TAG... 1956? Looks like the AAPD doesn't know automobiles very well.

[Aaronw]

It happens!

CHEVY Police cruisers, (ca. 1956) ANN ARBOR PD. ONLINE PHOTO TAG... 1956? Looks like the AAPD doesn't know automobiles very well.

That's the car right there, at least I'm pretty sure it is. In the photo I have it's off in the background so much smaller.

That would be the 4 door version of the Impala correct?

[62rebel]

i'm no Chevy guru but they look like they could be Biscayne coupes by the length of the door, but i could be wrong.

the pic looks like the dept's finest were to get the new patrol cars that year.... only three?

i don't think the big Chevy ws very popular with PD's because of the severe change in handling from the previous models.

then again, PD's used whatever the budget allowed for. sometimes an officer had to provide his OWN car!

[MrObsessive]

That may also be a DelRay which was a cut below the Biscayne for '58. Considering police budgets back in those days..............that's most likely what they were.

[mr moto]

It apppears to be a Delray 2 door.

BTW, if you're looking for old car brochures for reference material try this link!

http://www.tocmp.com/

[Aaronw]

I guess it does have 2 doors, I'm so used to police cars always having 4 that I didn't really notice. The Impala kit would be the same basic car though, its just a higher trim level correct?

Thanks for that link, old car brochures are pretty handy sometimes.

[mr moto]

I guess it does have 2 doors, I'm so used to police cars always having 4 that I didn't really notice. The Impala kit would be the same basic car though, its just a higher trim level correct?

Thanks for that link, old car brochures are pretty handy sometimes.

That's correct, they're very similar. The differences would all be body and interior trim. It shouldn't be too hard to do a conversion. You can see the Impala on that site for comparison or I guess you can just look at the kit. I'm also surprised that it's a 2 door but that's how it looks!

[Raul_Perez]

From the picture, the police car looks like a 2DR sedan. As I recall, the AMT 58 is a hardtop...the difference being the "B" pillar and the full window frames on the doors of the sedan, and not on the hardtop. From the pictures I could find, it looks like the Revell 58 is also a hardtop.

That's not hard to change, and would make an interesting detail for the watchful observer...

[Olle F]

Is the roof line the same on a 2-door HT and a 2-door sedan?

[Raul_Perez]

Is the roof line the same on a 2-door HT and a 2-door sedan?

It might not be, but like my friend Ron says, "it's close enough for the crowd we run with!!"

[62rebel]

the hardtop and sedan bodies were NOT identical at all; the roof was higher and shorter on sedans than on hardtops, and the trunks were different. it might be tough to see from pics but they are very different.

[MrObsessive]

Yes, as Curt mentioned, there's a noticeable difference between the 2 door sedan, and the 2 door hardtop.

Chevrolet wanted to give their new for '58 Impala a somewhat custom look, so they divided up the roofline to create it's unique look. There was a Bel Air hardtop in '58, but's its roofline is shared with the lesser Delray/Biscayne/BelAir 2 door sedans. Note too that the B pillar is a bit more swept back on the hardtop than it is on the sedan.

Chevy referred to the Impala hardtop as a "Sports Coupe" to showcase the difference.

Here's a couple pics I swiped off Google to see the different details..............

(Uggghhh!! Hate those wheels on that type of car!)

And yes, the decklids on the sedans (and the 2 door hardtop Belairs) are also different from the Impala.............the decklids are shorter on the sedan, and the leading edge doesn't "curve" as much as the Impala.

But wait there's more!! If you wanted to do a really accurate 2 door sedan, you'd also have to change the shape of the of the trailing edge of the fins.................they had a different "slant" between the two models as the Impala had triple tailights per side, while the others had two.

[SoCalCarCulture]

Wow - I can't believe you guys have never seen a '57 Lincoln, it wasn't just Chrysler products that had quad headlights...

[Raul_Perez]

Wow - I can't believe you guys have never seen a '57 Lincoln, it wasn't just Chrysler products that had quad headlights...

That's a pretty interesting looking one!! It looks like it has one full sized headlamp for the lowbeam and one of the smaller, quad headlamps for the highbeams.

[MrObsessive]

The final full size year Nash (1957) also had quads.................but the car was so unusual (and mostly unloved) that they've been forgotten.

Pic courtesy of Google........