In my opinion hidden headlights would make a lot of sense now when headlights are made of plastic that degrade and become opaque from UV exposure

I am a 70s child so these videos bring back a lot of fond memories for me. I am sure that many of your GenX viewers/subscribers feel the same way. Thank you Adam for putting in all the time and effort to share your passion with us!

The 65 Riviera's clam shell hidden headlights were fun to watch open and close at a car show a few weeks ago

My first car was a used '69, dark green with white interior. I recall during Nebraska winters I would casually drive up icy, snow-packed hills, with stuck cars and trucks all over the place. People would look with amazement at how it could go through snow with that 455 sitting over the drive wheels.

Manually operated flip-over retractable headlights on Opel GT (loved that car!)

Several comments. I actually prefer the styling of the '68-69 Toronado's to the original 1966. The '69 Headlamps grille covers would always dependably open during the snowy great lakes winters typical of that era. Finally, with the disc brakes and the 455 the '69 Toronado was a superb highway cruiser. In '72, I had the opportunity to do a wintertime drive of my father's '69 Toronado from Traverse City, to Detroit/Windsor, then across a snowy Canada, to Montreal, for a skiing trip with our destination in Stowe, Vermont. The '69 also handled the snowy roads of Vermont's route 100 amazingly well. That '69 made wintertime travel speedy, safe, and effortless....and that drive and that subsequent ski trip were both amazing lifetime memories for me. Definitely the '69 Toronado was one of my truly great car experiences. BTW the manually operated rotating covered headlights of my later purchased, and much loved, 1970 1.9 liter OPEL GT always opened no matter the weather, encrusting ice storms never prevented the Opel GT headlights from opening. Adam, you have a great channel. Cheers.

65 Buick Riviera hidden light were the sweetest

I had a 1967 Thunderbird. This is the best arrangement, solidly mounted headlights that stay properly aimed, protected by metal covers when not in use.

I like the way the grill rotates out of the way and that (as you mentioned) they did make the headlight area look presentable.

'68 and '69 are still lookers, but the '66 was the best, IMO.

That’s kool! I never saw the entire grill retract like that. 😎👍

That orange Ferd at 5:15 is me when I woke up this morning. Too much partying.

My wifes 89 Accord had pop up headlights. While that is not as cool looking as the 60s and 70s cars with hidden headlights it still gave the car a more aerodynamic look. Wish I still had that car as it was super reliable. The tin worm ate it up.

I actually prefer this design. Thanks for sharing

My dad had a 66 Riviera he bought new and I was lucky to drive later in the mid 70's. I can still hear the distinctive sound of those headlights in my head. They never had a single issue in the 20 years we had that car. I kind of think the 70 Toronado with the non-hidden headlights was pretty nice too.

Those 3 cars are gorgeous

I think the '68 Toronado was the best looking Toronado ever. I never cared for the sharp front end on the earlier models and on the '69 the slopes of the rear window and trunk lid differed more than they did on the '68 making for a more creased look. The honeycomb grille also looked better. The concept of rotating the grille out of the way rather than popping up or rotating the headlights themselves is a much better engineering solution. Moving power cables is never a good idea and with a moving headlight, there is a good chance of misaligned beams over time.

Love hidden headlights, so cool

The Opel GT was another unusual, but effective design for hidden headlights. Manually operation via “pistol grip” lever made these a somewhat unique process, with both headlights flipping L to R in unison. Not dependent on electricity or hydraulic action, these were fairly dependable until the gears attached to the headlight bezel wore out.

I know Adam likes the original Toronado front end best, and I realize these models were probably trimmed down by cost cutters. But, I really like this design. The headlights are cool, and that overheat feature is cool also! I wonder how many technicians were tricked into thinking there was a headlight issue when the high temps were actually to blame. But, on the other hand, most owner probably didn't realize the light covers were up in super hot situations...

My family owned 3 Toronados over 5 years - a Lt. Blue 1969, Bamboo 1971, and a Brown w/ White 1972. Great cars!

Love it when you feature cars from this era. Thanks!

Hidden headlights went away long before headlight design made the very expensive modern advancements with HID and LED and whatever else. Modern headlight assemblies are much more expensive than hidden ones ever were. There is a lot more design flexibility now, and some look really cool. Most are just themeless blobs though.

although this vid is about hidden headlights, I have to say that ordering a Toro with buckets and console, while cool in every other period car, was a mistake as it covered up the best feature, that flat floor. Best option was the Strato-bench and column shift, so that the flat floor really made itself known and your SO could snuggle up

My cousin had a 68. She had it for 15 yrs. The hidden headlights never failed. It was a black on black on black and it was one pretty car. It was also a sleeper. Her husband would pull up to redlights next to a mustang or charger and smoke check in em!

These cars are just so Beautiful. I remember them well while growing up in the 1960's. At the time these cars came out I was 11-14 years old. Riding in the Toronado is something I can never forget.

Loved the look of the 1968 and 1969 Toronado. They are my favorite. I can't imagine the cost associated with model year changes back then.

That’s actually beautiful. The only other car I can think of with well finished hidden headlights when activated was the 81 Imperial with the chrome bezel and rectangular lights while the Mark VI still had ROUND headlights. Someone else mentioned the 65 Riviera clamshell headlights those are beautiful also. Awesome video!

Major thing overlooked about the hidden headlights was that the round (later square) sealed beams were federally mandated. So to get a really unique look, you had to cover them. Today, yeah all about $.

When I was a kid in the late 60s sometime I don't recall the exact year my family rode from Oklahoma City to Chicago in a late 60's Toronado around Christmas time. I remember going through some pretty bad snow storms in Missouri and Illinois and the the front wheel drive Toronado had no trouble just plowing through the snow. It wasn't our car but a friend of my father's car who was making the trip and he decided to hitch a ride with him since we had family in Chicago. I don't recall those 68-69 Toronados but I remember the 66-67s well. I think it was one of those we made the trip in.

These are my favourite. Love a '68 Toronado!

This is so iconic, 60s tech, James Bond-ish, with the kind of style long-gone from today's charisma-free wheels.

When GM was at the top of their game in innovation, and building these 3 different absolutely gorgeous cars!! My 6th grade teacher had a new 1969 Toronado, sky blue, and he knew that I liked cars, and would loan me his keys, to retrieve stuff out of it for our class. I really appreciated that he encouraged my appreciation for his beautiful car!

Mopar had moving grilles to reveal headlights. 68-69 Charger, I think

Consoles seem to waste the flat floors.

my dad had a 1969 ford country squire..had the hidden head lights the grill over the headlights retracted ..i was four when he got it..and i thought that was just the coolest thing!

This car is beautiful whether the headlights are on or not. I can't say the same of most of the 1980s cars with hidden headlights

The 1968 and 1969 Oldsmobile Toronado's were nice-looking cars (NO vinyl tops please!!!) even though the heavy-looking loop bumpers took away from the design. Loved that beautiful, veneered center console and ball shifter. That console should have been standard equipment in keeping with the Toronado's sporting personality over a Riviera or Eldorado which were more personal luxury than sporting. Those flip-up grilles had the potential to be detrimental to your air conditioning condenser, transmission cooler, and possibly the radiator, when they were flipped up in the night driving mode by leaving those components vulnerable to flying road rocks and debris. Bad design in my eyes. I even thought so at 7 years old. I was a child of both the 1960's and 1970's (born 1961), so I remembered these 1966 through 1970 Toronado's well. My two uncles sold Oldsmobiles up though 1972, when they switched the dealership to Lincoln-Mercury's in1973. (W.O. Bankston Oldsmobile - Dallas)

Stranger hidden-headlights: How about an early 70's Opel GT? The headlights rotated on a spindle parallel to the centerline of the car.

Agree with your take on this. The moving grill I’d never seen!

They are cool. I never realized the configuration of these. They almost take on the look of the Firebird when the grills open. Truthfully I do not know that I ever remember seeing a ’68 in person.

Great memories. My Dad would get Mom's Oldsmobiles used as he couldn't stand driving off a lot in a new car. Mom got 2 Toronados, I think a 68-honeycomb grille for both. My friends were impressed with the front wheel drive - no hump on the floor, and the rolling cylinder speed-dial. I enjoyed driving them

Perhaps I am wrong, but I think I read that automotive certification requirements basically banned hidden headlights. I always thought they were great looking. I had a Porsche 928 where the two lights were on one metal rod, and if the motor failed you could remove a rubber cover and a knob was located on top of the motor that allowed you to put them up manually. Great video!

Wow! The length of that upper radiator hose looks like at least 3' long! My parents drove a 1972 Fury III wagon with every option available. 100mph easily which my mother did a couple of times when my brother was in trouble with women! The Fury had hidden head lamps with doors that opened. When closed the front of their wagon had a black grill with horizontal pattern if I remember correctly. It was the 1st car I drove with my learners permit! At 4'10" & 110# I did not fit well behind the wheel despite the cars tilting wheel. I preferred my bicycle! Later my father found an old Ford Falcon for me to drive but still had to have a boat cushion to see over the steering wheel. These cars you show have absolutely gorgeous exterior paint finishes!! I prefer my 1980`s S10`s as they fit my small stature perfectly with no cushions!

Of the various vehicles I’ve owned over the past 4+decades, I never did acquire a Tornado, of any year… really did want one (and yes, always liked the front end styling of 65’s & 6’s as well) but after seeing this ‘69, I’d be very content with this or the ‘68’s!! Of the years riding & driving &, eventually owning, my grandparents’ ‘75 GMC Palm Beach Motorhome w/Tornado front wheel drive w/Olds 455, @ an average weight of about 12.5K Lbs, i can definitely attest to how well those road/handled.. ample supply of HP & Torque!! Drove & loved that Motorhome all over the U.S. of A.’s western half! Fond memories, many. Can only imagine how that powertrain would feel in a car! Owned a ‘69 OPEL GT 1900; now THOSE headlights were ‘interesting’! Fun to flip out/in

My favorite is the '67. Gorgeous cars.

On that 68 when the grills move out of the way it looks like a 67 -69 Firebird.

I've never been a big Mopar fan, but I think I'd have to give the top prize for style (particularly when open) to the 1966-67 Dodge Charger. As you can find on YT, their headlights were mounted in buckets that rotated 90° with electric motors. About half of the grillwork's vertical chrome bars swung up to be replaced by the lights with IDENTICAL chrome bars around them... When the lights were on, they literally looked like they were set into a fixed grill like any other Dodge. 👍

I remember falling in love with the first 66 Toronado I ever saw when I was a kid. I still love that car.

I actually think that the 1967-1969 Camaro Rally Sport had about the strangest hidden headlights that I remember. You talk about ice on cars here in the northern states and specifically the hidden headlights. Today we have a new problem. The LED lights don’t build up heat therefore they won’t melt ice and road slush off of them. I was watching a KZfaq review of a vehicle and it mentioned headlight heaters. Another option dealing with headlights was the useless headlight washers on the 1969 Chevrolet’s. My friend had a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Rally Sport equipped with the washers. I remember Chrysler products in the early 70’s had headlight washers with a brush that would go across the light to scrub it.

Hi Adam, I am and have always been an art deco nut which is really strange for someone who grew up in the 70s. Favorite marque being any Packard before 1941, when most kids had a Ferrari poster on their wall. That being said, been a really big fan of your channel for a long time. Nobody gives big sedans any love, so glad you do. 1935 Cord Beverly and Westchester sedans had hidden lamps (maybe the first?) and they were cranked out by hand cranks on each side of the car. I think also that headlights were not turned off by closing the doors. I look at Olds Toro and Eldo and see a Cord trying to get out, the wheel design, front wheel drive, fast, sporty,. This is not surprising to me given that execs back then probably lusted over thirties cars in their youth. A friend had a 68 Eldo and I found it really (boomy?) inside, lots of road noise, not very Cadillac at all in my book. It had a mono leaf rear suspension like the Chevy II, so lots of noise transmission. I also thought there was something from the thirties trying to escape from my 1971 Grand Prix. (My first car.)

I owned three Ford XLs, two '68s & a '70. Both hardtops had hidden vacuum powered headlamps that worked flawlessly. The only other car I owned with flip top headlights was my '68 L-88 Vette & never had any issues with those. From a design standpoint, it made all four cars look so much better with the headlights hidden. Great memories of cars that had character & stood out.

I don't know if hidden headlights are legal now. I know they aren't allowed to move. Not sure about covering them. But with modern vehicle design being so hideous. I don't think hidden headlights would help regardless 😂

Probably the slickest looking Toronados for the entire run of the nameplate. I think the weirdest and ugliest hidden headlights belong to the 80-83 Lincoln Mark VI. Especially when they had those optional touring lights on the headlight covers. Yuk 😝

Had a 1969 Tornado and really liked that car.

I always enjoy your videos. I'd say we have similar tastes in automobile beauty. I owned a 1967 Ford Thunderbird 4-door. It also had hidden headlights with a door that rotated 90º up and out of the way to reveal the bulbs. It also had a defeat mechanism, which allowed one to be able to keep these doors open all the time.

Great video, one of the few old-car channels currently worth watching on here. I didn't realise those 68/69 Toronado grilles were also thermostatically-controlled for cooling purposes. Interestingly, this was pioneered on the 1932 Rolls-Royce 20/25 where the vertical slats opened wider when a certain temperature was reached.

A continuing favorite; Adam, thank you for the in-depth video! I love the 1968 & ‘69 most.

I didn't know about them opening when the engine got hot. That's cooler 😎 than the lights themselves,!

I really love how much knowledge and detail you give us on all your videos. Excellent vids.

‘69 Ford XL had “fail open” doors. Vacuum held them closed, heavy torsion spring opened them. I once crushed a tool carrier when I disturbed the vacuum tank…

The retractable Toronado grill was pretty cool! Beautiful cars 😍 Thanks for sharing these!

Thank you Adam. Thank you for another Oldsmobile Toronado video. I have a few things to say. The egg crate grille was offered in 1977 and 1979. It went back to a 1966 look in 1980. My 1992 Toronado has hidden headlamps and they are noisy when opening and closing but work fine. It also has the 1966 grille theme that runs to the taillamps like the 1966. Mine also has bucket seats. I owned three bench seat Toronados before the current 1992 model. The bucket seats became standard in the mid to late 1980's. Thank you again.

Back in the 70's I had the opportunity to take a road trip in a 67 Toronado. Wonderful car. I used to own a 69 Delta88.

A hidden headlights story. The Channel Uncle Tony's Garage had a project where they swapped a Slant Six into a Miata (1). They called the Miata Blinky because if they turned the lights on one headlight would pop up normaly. The other one would pop up. Go back down and then pop up again. 1) Why? He's a Mopar fanatic.

Very cool . I had a 1966 Dodge Charger the headlights were in rotating buckets with an electric motor for each headlight . It also had 4 bucket seats & an electro luminescent dash 😮 amongst other funky things . Basically mini neon tubes that illuminated the dash very similar looking illumination to modern cars 😃

The retracting Toranado grill was pretty cool! Beautiful cars 😍 Thanks for sharing these!

Had a good chuckle at the duct tape securing the brake booster vacuum fitting. These are not hard to find, nor are they expensive.

My dad bought a 1968 model new. Olive hardtop without the center console. Dad planned a cross-country “break-in” trip LA to Pittsburgh. Guess what issue came up in Arizona? 😂 The lights were on but not very bright it seemed. Those moving grills weren’t moving! 😅 Dad flagged a local Oldtimer and he had some wood in his truck. They propped open the grills with chocks of wood!! The rest of the trip was fine - but always a little embarrassing pulling in somewhere! 😅😲

Love those side bolsters on those buckets! These cars all looked great. Especially like the Rivieras .

The '66 Tornado is really a stunning car.

Front-wheel drive with longitudinal V8 and chain-driven axel barreling through the sump - how many cars can claim that

The moving covers were a good idea. Compared to actuating the lights, less moving mass and no risk of shifting headlight alignment.

The 68-72 Dodge Chargers had grill sections that would flip up to reveal headlights. When closed, it looks like the grill. The 68's had grill style around the lamps.

Very cool! Never owned a Toronado but loved the styling and looks.

Olds has always been the best car GM built. In my humble opinion. my first car was a 1952 olds holiday sport coupe with clock in steering wheal.

My 67 TBird had a matching grill design around the headlights when opened.

Fascinating. I love that look with the double lamps .. gt, touring,muscle type look.

I've always liked the look of hidden headlights. I’ve owned three cars that had them. ’72 Dodge Charger, ’88 Dodge Daytona and a ’93 Pontiac Firebird(Formula). A few that I really like are the: C2 Stingray, ’66 Riviera(clamshell), ’68 ChargerR/T and the C4 Corvette. They each had their own unique mechanism.

Actually this is one hidden design that makes sense. With the lights behind the grill, at least if the grill failed to open enough light gets through to be able to drive it til it's repaired.

My first car was a1970 Olds Cutlass Supreme with a center console automatic, the same shifter in that Toranado.

67-69 Camaro with the RS option has doors that opened inwards towards the center of the car. The Riviera's 90 degrees was similar to the 63-67 Corvette.

Your 1968 Ford LTD hideaway headlights are awesome too Adam 👌🏻

I always liked the lever-operated headlights on the Opal GT, especially because they flipped sideways. The Porsche 928 is another favorite, with the laid back headlights that pop up, and even have the nice little bullet housings that look nice. The C4 Corvette had neat ones too as they turned 180 degrees and had little aero housings to smooth them out. Finally, the Alfa Romeo Montreal had half-hidden headlights with little grille panels covering the top halves that retracted when the lights were activated.

What a neat car. In so many ways GM in this period was on top of its game and a true world leader. Thanks, Adam for the video and your insights. All the best.

Love the clam shell head lights on the 65 Riviera. Thanks for the great video.

Thank you from Spain for this video!! so interesting 👍🏼👍🏼

Strangest design in my opinion was the 89 Pontiac Sunbird.....that thing had 1/2 covered headlight doors, I remember paying a fortune to get the retractor motors from a junkyard for my fathers car when his failed to open.....thinking back it would have been easier and cheaper to just take the dang headlight door covers off😂🤣😅

The C5 Corvette was the last car to have pop-up headlights. I'm glad I've got my 2002 Corvette C5. Pop up headlights are really cool and I'm sure they'll come back someday.

It's interesting to know that things awesome are things strange. Great flick!😅

If I remember correctly, the area behind the headlamp doors wad nicely finished on my parents’ 1967 Thunderbird 4-door Landau. But maybe I’m mistaken.

Although a very different car than this channel concentrates on I really loved the Porsche 928 series pop-up headlights. Really cool. Great channel, thanks!!

Thank you for recording and posting this valuable educational video.

I remember our 1968 Toronado having those flimsy plastic grill/headlight covers... They were right up there with the crappy Cougar vacuum-operated metal grills when it came to sticking... The '67 Riviera system was pretty bulletproof, will a single and very fast electric motor in the middle. I can still remember the hissing sound of pulling out the headlight knob on the Oldsmobile as well as the Lincoln...

The 1966-67 Dodge Charger headlights are on a two face rotating housing. One side is a continuous grill. Then roll forward like a front flip to reveal the same grill pattern but with headlights. In fact a lot of people think there's 2 grill options for the car because they're often seen with the lights out.

Very good presentation… well narrated (no computer voice, thank you!), well researched. I am not a Toradao fan, but you kept my interest to the end. I learned a lot. Keep it up.

Great car and knowledge, thank you.

I'm not sure why, but I don't think I've ever seen those years and those headlights before. Thanks for sharing.

1985 Corvette, as the headlamps rotated 170 degrees from the clamshell. The coolest hidden lights and my favorite car that I've owned.

Good show. Remember the 1970 Opel GT on how the head lights would rotate. I listen to your channel frequently and enjoy your talks of automobile history. Thanks