Interesting Miata headlights

I found this Miata on Craigslist. I have never seen flush headlights done like this, I'm not sure how to feel about them. They remind me a bit of BMW CS lights.

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/2831189171.html

Bonus strange MX6 ad.

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/2832387624.html

Well your link is to an MX-6, but those "Miata lights" are just Nissan 300Z lights crudely wedged into a Miata.

Worth noting it might be one of the weirdest ads i've ever seen...

Fixed the link...left the link for the MX6 since it was so odd.

Good call on the 300Z lights. I wonder how a setup like that could look if done properly.

Ooooh, looks like a Miata wearing nerd glasses...

What works on a Diablo does not work on a Miata.

Nothing looks better than popup lights when they're down. It's that simple.

The MX-6 was produced with two transmission options, a five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic with overdrive. The MX-6 was also known to be a very reliable car, mechanically. 160,000 miles it run great...

Call me asap 614-364-8646

Location: columbus it's ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

LOL

it begs the question: why?

Looks angry.

maybe it's lighter?

looks like a pair of reading glasses on it

Keith wrote: Nothing looks better than popup lights when they're down. It's that simple.

I concur.

What I dont get is.. they had to fill in part of the hood for them and cut out part of the bumper to fit them...

whole lotta work.

Besides, I really dont mind my pop-ups.

Reminds me of a Renault Alpine GTA

I hates them.

Part of what I love about '80s and early-90s sports cars is pop-up headlights.

I think it was a travesty when everything went flush-mount.

I thought they were going to be flush mounted lights like that aftermarket kit they (once?) had for '68 to '76 Corvettes. With that kit, the headlights were retained and the "doors" were replaced with a clear plastic cover that was "dimpled" enough to NOT require the headlights to be raised. I figured someone must have invented the same thing for Miatas.

There is/was a kit for fitting "lower profile" headlights to 1st gen. Miatas. That one worked on the principle that if the headlight didn't have to be raised to the stock height...there would be less drag.

The front end of that Miata looks even more like a Z1 BMW. That's the model that had the doors that "collapsed" into the sills...giving you a sort of British roadster feel/look.

I was going to say it looks Z1esque

The low profile lights make me laugh. The idea is that the car looks better with them. But invariably, anyone who had them would pop them up to show them off - and then they look worse than when they were down. Plus they typically had much worse light output than a set of 7" Hellas. Most things do. So they looked goofier when "on display", cost more money and were a functional downgrade.

There have been a few fixed headlight conversions on the market over the years. There's still a problem with light output, but they do look different. Not better to my eyes, just different.

If the NA Miata were designed with today's technology, it would have exposed lights. The designers simply couldn't afford the sort of lights at the time that would have been required.

I thought there was a Ferrari that went from popups to exposed lights in the last decade. I want to say it was the 550, but I can't find pictures. It was a better looking car with the popups.

Testarrosa went from pop-up to fixed (I think it was re-designated "TR-512" or some such thing at the same time). Really do not like the last refresh of the TR with those fixed lights.

I personally do not like pop-up lights and think the Lotus Elan to Lotus 26R lighting switch should provide plenty of inspiration (very slightly ironic, I think);

The difference between the Miata popups and the Elan ones is that the Miata ones actually work

You're right, it was the Testarossa. Thanks.

And because I've been looking at 550 pictures, I'm just going to leave this here. Why can affordable cars not look this good?

Keith wrote: If the NA Miata were designed with today's technology, it would have exposed lights. The designers simply couldn't afford the sort of lights at the time that would have been required.

the NB miata proved that

Keith wrote: I thought there was a Ferrari that went from popups to exposed lights in the last decade. I want to say it was the 550, but I can't find pictures. It was a better looking car with the popups.

The NSX and 3000gt did the same thing, with similarly unfortunate results.