So I am aware that in 1957 both 1 headlight lamp per side and 2 headlight lamps per side were manufactured on many vehicle brands because not all States had allowed the use of 4 lamps. My question is WHICH States did not allow the use of a 4 lamp system in 1957 ? I have searched all over and found one reference that claims only 3 States did not allow the 4 lamp system in 1957. Anybody know for sure what States said not allowed ? Thanks,Oldmics
Chrysler and Nash also had the new headlights early. I think it's a big mystery, which states. Should be a fun research project for an aspiring law student, eh?
My dad was a Lincoln - Mercury dealer in 1957. I remember what a big deal it was that you could order the Quad Headlights on the new "Big M" They were awesome looking. My mom got a new dk. green and white station wagon that had the quads and in the spring time he got a new black with a white roof Turnpike Cruiser hardtop with the quad light option. Dad also had a drag car 57. It was a plain looking dark metallic gray 2 door wagon. I think it was called a Commuter model. it was boned out, no frills and I remember it had a 3 speed stick on the column and dual exhausts (throaty) and it flew like a rocket ship in my little 12 years old mind. Only had the normal pair of standard headlights. I never knew what engine it had as I Was too young to understand things like that. He and his brotherinlaw Ted, raced it in the Northeast. I remember thrilling times riding in that Merc.
I have to wonder if the notion that some States had not yet approved quad headlamps in '57 is true. Given that most cars I can think of in '57 that had quad lights also came in the one per side version. i.e. Mercury, Chrysler, DeSoto..... But what is also true is that the upscale models, like New Yorker, got the quads and lower line models came with single per side, i.e. Windsor. Typically, new features like that were inducements to buy the 'top of the line' . This prompts me to think this State approval issue could be one of the Urban Legends or aka Old Wives Tales.
Hey, Ricks Garage Respectfully how do you know Nebraska was one of those States? I don't think it was a "wives tale" as there are a bunch of references to the manufactors building both styles of lamp configurations. Ford,Chevy,Chrysler,Mercury and more built a limited number of 57 dual headlite (per side) cars that you can discover thru a serious Google search. Oldmics
I respectfully disagree that Ford and Chevy built ANY production '57 models with four headlamps. '57 Ford front fenders were designed with "eyebrows" wide enough for dual lamps, but that is understandable since '57 was a totally new body design and these cars are designed years in advance and the '57 body style was destined to be a carryover into '58. Vendors like J C Whitney wasted no time in offering dual headlight conversions for many cars. And soon after the '58 Fords hit the market, rod/custom books of the period had '57s with '58 headlights swapped in. In short, I have never seen any evidence to support the claim that 4 headlamp systems were illegal anywhere in the USA upon there introduction on some models in 1957. The fact they weren't used by all makes and models is no different than the staggered introduction of 12 volt electrical systems between 1953 and 1956 for American cars of the period.....some got it sooner, some later.
Research.......I am a vehicle fire and mechanical failure investigator and lived in Nebraska for 10 years and stayed in a Holiday Inn Express........
" Early in the morning late one night A car drove up with Four headlights." Bo Diddley.....more or less.
Probably a combination of fear*/resentment** of change and scl****** legislatures. *FOUR HEADLIGHTS!! They’ll blind oncoming drivers and create mayhem and death on the roads of our fair State! ** “four headlights??......nobody needs four headlights! By the time we get around to changing our vehicle code, this ‘fad’ will have p***ed” Ray
I believe some Cadillac Eldorados had 4 lights in 57. In Minnesota it was the same deal when they went to amber front turn signal lens. It was illegal to change a car to amber that came from the factory with white or clear lens, until they changed the law. Don't think it was ever enforced though.
I was under the impression that California did not allow 4 headlights in '57. It was obvious that several cars could mount 4 headlights. But didn't until '58. Just my memory. May or may not be correct.
Starting around the middle of '56, this subject is covered by many of the "mainstream" Detroit new car type mags like Motor Life, Car Life, Auto Age, & Motor Trend. Then, as now, states each had their own code ... some accepted new ideas, some didn't. The Rod & Custom Dream Truck had quads before any new '57 cars, and many feel the "California customizers" were the originators of the trend ...
I'll bet it got enforced occasionally when someone tried to be "clever" and installed red, green or blue bulbs in their park or turn signal lamps.
Perhaps these states looked upon as such. "We must protect are emergency services from a flood of calls that UFO's have arrived!" Case in point. War of the World when Orson Welles scared the nation in 1938 via radio. Then in 1953 the movie was made depicting the horror that people felt was happening when it wasn't during the radio broadcast. Did Quads look alien back then?
I remember reading something about quad lights and state laws in popular mechanics or similar. It also discussed the new fuel injection that would be offered by chevy, pontiac, chrysler, and amc. Obviously, some things changed.
Oh boy ... San Diego, 1966. Painted the inside of the park/turn lens on a '57 Dodge with a mist of Chevy Orange for that new amber look. Made it clear to El Cajon before getting stopped ... somehow escaped a too low ticket by having military ID.
What happened is the Feds changed their rules in '57 to allow four smaller headlights, but not all the states (most who had state laws that mimicked the Federal regs) immediately followed suit. So 2-3 states had laws on their books that prohibited four light systems. The manufacturers dealt with this is various ways. GM only offered one car with them in '57, the top-of-the-line Cadillac El Dorado, which I ***ume wasn't available in those states. As the rest of their lines were still using the last-major-update '55 bodies, they didn't lend themselves to four lights and GM held off until '58 when they did a major restyle update to adopt them. Ford Motor Co used several different methods. While Ford did major restyle in '57, Ford cars didn't get four lights, and Mercury only offered them on some models. Lincoln still used the 7" round lights as the 'main' lights, but added the smaller lights as 'fog lights', giving the appearance of four lights and skirting the rules. Chrysler was the largest adopter; the Imperial, Chrysler, and Desoto lines all got four lights, but when they discovered they weren't legal everywhere, quickly designed conversions back to 7" round for those markets. The Imperial versions are extremely rare. Dodge and Plymouth still used the 7" round lights, but got prominent round turn signals that gave the appearance of four lights if not the function. Nash was the only other US manufacturer to use them in '57, and only on their top-of-the-line model. This was the last year for the Nash nameplate. When it was discovered that some states had differing regs, pressure was brought to bear and by the time the '58s were introduced, those states complied with the federal regs. This wasn't the only time the majors ran afoul of state regs; the new-for-1960 full size Fords were found to be over allowable widths in some states (by a fraction of an inch), but this wasn't noticed until well into the year.
In the GM lines, Olds, Buick and Cadillac all got new bodies for ‘57,not carry overs from ‘55/‘56. And for Chevrolet/Pontiac there are serious claims that the ‘58 body style was originally scheduled for ‘57 model production. The story goes that major production problems for the upper lines put such a squeeze on GM, it was decided to carry over the basic ‘55/‘56 Chev/Pont body structure, with a facelift, for ‘57. That seems credible, given that Olds, Buick and Cadillac were all two year run body shells (‘57/‘58) and Chevrolet/Pontiac were ‘58 only. No logical reason for that from a marketing or cost standpoint that I can think of. That made amortization of ‘58 Chev/Pont tooling a tough financial proposition, further exacerbated by the 1958 Recession that really cut sales from that and the next two years as well. By ‘59,everybody was back on the two year body run. Ray
In the MOPAR lineup for ‘57, all new body shells...”Suddenly it’s 1960”....but it was the lower lines, all Plymouth and Dodge, and the cheaper versions of DeSoto and Chrysler that had single headlights. Common manufacturer marketing ploy to up sell from the economy version to the more prestigious top of the line model.....(more $$$ at minimal cost) but the design of fenders at the headlight area were clearly intend to accommodate quad lights when the time was right. By ‘58 the new quad lights would have been expected across the board and so they were included. Ford in those years was often behind the curve in adopting new tech, but even their ‘57 models were clearly intended for quad lights in the near future. Ray
I'll dispute the highlighted part. With a bit of looking you can find both headlight versions in all trim level models, but the 7" round versions are a bit rare, particularly the Imperial. Chrysler clearly intended these to be a signature feature of the 'upper line' cars, but had to scrabble when the legality issue showed up.
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