(first posted 2/20/2017) Last week’s Citroen C6 article by William Stopford reminded me of how much I loved that model’s rear lights. My very positive response was not unanimously shared, which has led to today’s QOTD: what are the best taillights ever? You can choose from any form of transportation, or even static display cars. Factory or aftermarket, old or new. Your choice may be based purely on aesthetics, or on how well they did their job.
Now my favourite taillights ever in the history of the world are the 1967/68 Glamorbird’s, and there are others that come to mind as well. But rather than bore you with more of my own opinion (no, I insist), I’m going to turn this question over to you – our very learned CCommentariat.
And these are definetly hors concours
What I like about the DS are not the break lights, but the turn signals. The ones on the berline that way up on the roof, recessed into a chromed housing, are superb.
But the ones they put on the convertible are just as (if not more) amazing.
It’s not necessarily the break lights, but the weird metal frame around it with the triangular apotheosis at the bottom. How will it be explained to future generations?
How will the DS be explained to future generations? One car so totally out of step with the mainstream, yet so successful, so well regarded by those in the know – yet in many ways a design and technological dead end? Only Citroen could pull that off!
The point is that the DS will still be remembered by future generations because it was so unique it all of its design choices. It explains itself…
Fluted to remain visible in inclement weather:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/1973-1980_Mercedes-Benz_450_SEL_(V_116)_sedan_(2016-01-29)_02.jpg
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Testarossa Tailights. I don’t care if they aren’t round, they just look cool.
Of course, my love of big American cars knows no bounds, so of course, I have some taillights from those. I thought the rear lights on the Roadmaster sedan were pretty cool.
The ’67 Thunderbird’s taillights are nice, but I prefer the more dramatic ’66.
+1
+1
I’m a sucker for simple, round taillamps. In addition to the Ford afterburners mentioned above, round lamps work very nicely on early C4 Corvettes, the Opel GT, and any one of a number of Ferraris. Not to mention the sweet ones pictured below on the ’65 Impala (and the simpler quad-lamp treatment on more mundane ’65 Chevies wasn’t bad, either)
I’ve always been a sucker for the ’68 Impala’s taillights.
Something about the taillights inside the chrome bumper on the Big Chevys just works. I like the ’73 taillights as well….
I’ve always been a fan of those as well!
I always like these
I always liked the 504.
Chevrolet Impala. It was a signature styling element for this car.
I have to say I like those better now than I did at the time.
That 62 esque rear styling does look neat, I actually really liked these when new, being a fan of the 96 SS(I didn’t realize these were just rebodied Luminas at age 11). I just wish they used three lights per side like a proper Impala.
I own a 2005 Impala……178,000 miles with no plans to sell it…..The taillight designs on the 2006 and newer Impala are very unimaginative……
Well, you guys have hit on just about all my faves (among some not that noteworthy ones…) So I’ll just add this. It’s not just the tail light, it’s the everything.
My Porsche Macan’s tail lights are a work of art.
+1 Macan tail lights are elegant and stylish.
I was always smitten with these Audi 200 tail lights.
One more- Fiero taillights with light-up PONTIAC badging.
Love the light up insert. The brake lamps are rather plain. But when coupled with the middle portion, adds distinction.
These.
Beat me to it. (sort of)
I remember seeing these upside-down on a VW-based beach buggy and thinking what an inspired choice they were.
As a kid, I thought the Mk1 Cortina’s taillights were the coolest – dunno if I’ve grown out of that. The 3 separate strips of taillight on late 90s/early 2000s Fiat Bravas were a nice touch whose novelty has also worn off on me.
I think my overall fave is 60s/70s Beetle “1200 style” taillight. Simple, elegant, not trying too hard.
Always liked the circa 1990 Dodge Colt wagon ones. Even though I just noticed they have the turn signal shaped into “arrows” pointing the wrong way which is usually a “how is that allowed?” headscratcher.
Ahem. Are we forgetting what is ALWAYS the answer?
+1- These taillights are part of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) collection, providing a legitimate (though not absolute) claim to greatness.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/91740
Reminds me of the old AI forums, where the answer IS always Miata.
For me, the NA MX-5 cluster has always elicited the response – organic.
Some great ones there for sure, Cortina, Monaco, Galaxie
I nominate 1939 Ford teardrops as applied to a 1932 Ford
I like the MN12 Thunderbird taillights too.
I’m a big fan of the MN12 T-Bird lights. I had a ’94 (actually the ex’s car) and a ’97, and these LED taillights were gorgeous to see at night. The Cougar’s too as XR7 Matt stated above.
Not so fond of the rest of the car, but the tail lights belong on something new.
It is really original to have tail lights on a large household appliance.
Admittedly biased…
Looks like an iron!
No, *this* taillight looks like an iron. 🙂
Rocket!
I’ve always been a big fan of these.
I’ll vote for the ’65 Skylark; the taillights are awesome except when one of the six panels goes dark. Then it looks like someone with a missing tooth.
I will admit that I was a total fan of the “wall to wall” taillight fad of the mid 60s. The 66 Buick Electra and the 66-67 Charger come to mind too.
Also a favorite of mine. And I like the “W” shaped ends of mid-1960s Buicks a lot. I wish my ’65 Wildcat had full width taillights like that!
When I went to college, I would always park in front of a large window to check the tail lights in the rear view mirror, so see if all lights worked.
With no exception all it took was to open the trunk and swipe the hand along the rear side of the tail lights and they would all go back to working again.
I did the same with my ’68 Wildcat!
Fiat Bravo always worked for a basic class segment economy box
+1
here’s said “economy box” (cheek 😀 ) at sunset in the lowlands, I loved its rear lights
I’m not sure which are my favorite taillights ever, but this is definitely my favorite QOTD ever.
+1.
Right now, the new Dodge Dart has my favorite tail lights.
Previously mentioned, the 1961 Ford and the recent Cadillacs have great tail lights, also.
Another good one that I don’t believe has been mentioned is the 54-55 Kaiser.
1966 Lincoln Continental. Simple, effective, and gorgeous.
Since Don says “any form of transportation” here’s a hammering V8 with 8 taillights on each side and 8 taillights on top.
I always liked the tails on my ’66 Tempest (pic not of my car):
And I replaced the USDM tails on my Fit with the JDM parts, which have illuminated lenses on the tailgate (reflector-only on the USDM part). Kind of Volvo-like, though.
Nifty. That also got you proper (amber) turn signals.
I always thought the trapezoidal tail lights on the Citroen CX integrated well with its rear design. I also like how the lens colors are distinct for all functions (red tail light, red brake light, red rear fog light, clear backup and amber turn signal lenses).
https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hmn/2013/08/1962-Ford-Thunderbird-Hardtop/3728331.html#PhotoSwipe1487640027273
Love the bullet bird afterburner taillights.
I am really surprised no one has mentioned the ’61-64 Chevrolet round tail lights, although there was one mention of the ’65. In the day they were the most modded tail lights of all with some of the cars sporting up to 10. And some were manually sequential with driver controlled switches. At the same time front fender well amber colored lights and rear axle bright white lights on cars with jacked up rears especially with chromed covers were popular.
I have a soft spot for these
[img]http://autoguide.com.vsassets.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/restored-1978-range-rover-classic/1978-restored-range-rover-classic-20.jpg[/img]
There are two categories, as far as I’m concerned: pre-LED and LED.
In the “modern” LED category, my choice has to be the 1st series Maserati 3200 GT.
And for the pre-LEDs, the 1969-74 Peugeot 504 CC (coupe/cabriolet) by Pininfarina.
Yes, yes, yes! You beat me to it on these!
They were replaced with utterly generic versions – what a shame!
Ferrari. So simple. So elegant. So Brutal. So Ferrari.
1972-73 Ford XA Falcon sedan. I had one as my first car and the tail lights are my favourite design detail on the car.
A close second place would be the 1971 Dodge Charger R/T or SuperBee.
Yes! I was thinking the exact same thing Marlin.
Maybe that’s why I also like the ’68 Dodge Coronet
Very nice
I’ve got a XB, and this part was softed with the revision from XAs.
My dad had an XB when I was a kid. Not as nice as XA, but better than XC!
1969 Plymouth Satellite/Road Runner.
Little known factoid about the 1969 Plymouth musclecar taillights. The Road Runner and GTX were actually different, with the GTX getting lenses that were set further in, while the Road Runner got lenses more flush with the rear decklid.
That sort of detail always amazes me. So often back then car makers made little detail changes like this that weren’t obvious to maybe 99% of the people who saw them. Nowadays we just don’t get those little trim level distinctions.
The Maserati GranTurismo (and the Dodge Charger/Challenger as mentioned earlier).
E-Type Series I, with the lights above the bumper.
Love these!
And the Volvo 850/V70 wagons.
In 1990 these tail lights were a revelation.
I’m amazed that noone has yet said “59 Impala”. They are absolutely unique and not nearly as over the top as some of the contemporaries (Imperial, Caddy, I’m looking at you.) To put it another way, flashy in a very purposeful American sort of way, not gold leaf and crystal chandeliers. As hard to miss as they are, they are a very simple shape.
Also, judging by the latest Prius, fins are making a comeback!
Maserati Khamsin. The lights themselves aren’t that interesting, I think they are standard Alfa Romeo units. But they are set floating on a clear glassplate. That kind of flair could only have come from Italy at the time.
That is cool.
Those taillamps were 100% illegal in the us. You know what they had to do to sell them here? Talk about cringe:
Aaaaargh!!
I also like the extreme simplicity of the Aston Martin. Looking for pictures I see they had an awful lot of variety on how to mount the rear lights. Perhaps they only fitted what happened to be in stock that day? But for me, nothing makes beauty but the extreme simplicty of one each of amber, red, and clear lights.
They are standard Lucas lights, which were used on many cars including the original Cobras.
I’ve always preferred the taillamps of the DB Mk III which I believe were cribbed from the Humber Hawk:
I’ve mentioned it several times before, but I also think the Oldsmobile Toronado needs a mention, for the clever use of negative area. I actually read the body colored part as part of the rear lights. I wonder if this is the first instance where negative area is used with that intention? It is an extremely beautiful fashion statement.
The negative was meant to be tail light, but the neon “wall of light” units could not be gotten to work reliably. Great pick thought!
I don’t think anyone has mentioned the 1957 Lincoln taillights, the ultimate space age expression of 50’s Lincolns, always my favorite as a 10-year old, and I still love ’em.
One of my Dad’s best friends had a 57 convertible with this same color scheme – I was always wild about it – I’m one of the few who liked the 57 Lincoln more than the awarding winning 56. Turned out to be a very good car – he sold it to his secretary around 64 when he got a new Cadillac Fleetwood (a car that saved his life in a bad accident) and she drove it for many years after.
Having thought about it some more, I have some more favorites from long ago, beginning with the 1956 DeSoto (my grandmother’s car).
And the 1959 DeSoto
Hit the link in my comment below for a version of those you might probably not have previously seen.
And the 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88 and Ninety Eight (yes, I know, I’ll take flak for this, but they were baroque in the extreme, and I loved them)
Just thought of another extreme baroque example, am I stuck in the 50’s or what? The 1958 Buick Limited, a one year wonder, but a tour de force, nonetheless.
A car that really can make a wife jaleux, if he is more concerned about getting the car to shine than her. One of the cars it takes a tooth brush to polish in quite a few places.
You’re not kidding, there must be more chrome per square foot on this car than any other, before or since. I loved it, one of the most imposing automobiles of the 50’s, bar none. There is a guy in L.A., Kris Trexler, who runs a site called http://www.kingoftheroad.net/buick, all about his acquisition and restoration of a ’58 Limited (and some other ’58 GM cars, too), fascinating reading about a nearly forgotten leviathan.
And the 1962 Cadillac (still my favorite Cadillac of all, how I loved those one year only trick taillights, clear under normal driving, but lighted up red or white when stopping or reversing)
I do adore those – very classic. But of course the 62 is probably the fave Cad in aggregate on this site. I want one!
This.
Nice to see my new commuter car getting some love. Thanks Jim.
I wish I was as good a photographer as you (I really need to dig up some of my old Cannon QL17-GIII or AV-1 shots)… I used to take night shots with those cameras and a shot of the Civic Coupe’s taillights at night would really show off how cool these are to see. The up and over the deck lid LED taillight bar really looks nice. I wish they’d have done the same treatment to the sedan (and now hatchback), but I suppose Honda wanted to keep the coupe unique.
So late to the party, my top 20 list is already represented. So, I’ll mention the car that came to mind when I saw the Citroen C6 in the lead photo; the 1963 Olds Ninety-Eight. Not really a favorite, the ’64 Ninety-Eight got the details right on this body. But, the Citroen C6 sure seems to blend the ’63 Olds tail lights with the ’69-’76 concave full-size Chevy coupe back window.
As for irreducibility, nothing in the universe beats these
Unless you only have one.
I love the detailing of the FX Holden’s light. It had quite a distinct pinkish glow at night.
I did consider the Holden, but I double-checked the title of the thread before posting and it says “taillights”, plural, so I decided these were not eligible.
These were offered for a year or so as bottom-line super-stripper Renault Dauphine in the mid-60’s in Brazil, and (thankfully) it found very few takers…
The Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina from 1957 tends to be overlooked and belongs to the darker corners of automobilistic history for reasons I can’t fathom: their interpretation of the cathedral theme in the rear is like no other and deserves better appreciation.
It’s just too lavish, that I chased to have a closer look one night, but then it turned out to be…
1968 Impala/Caprice
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c0/73/2c/c0732c2774d61e1666bad297c41edf47.jpg