Lighting Upgrades for Cars from Different Generations.

The lighting equipment used on various automotive vehicles over the years has changed dramatically over the years. While angel eyes headlights might be beaming out of a modern day sports car, half a century ago headlights were much less pronounced in terms of power and effectiveness. Because cars are collector items as well as the dream purchases of many classic car aficionados, vehicles from generations ago still share the same roadways with cars that just came off the dealership parking lot for the first time. With so many different types of cars on the road, all of different ages, it can be hard to know what types of lighting upgrades to pursue. Hopefully, the breakdown provided by this article will serve as a useful guide to you as you approach your upgrade project.

Recent Cars
Cars that have been released since the mid 1990s are all quite a bit more technologically advanced than cars of any previous era. Whereas in the 1970s almost no cars were equipped with computer chips, by the turn of the new millennium almost all cars were. Nowadays, a recently released car can be equipped with any number of headlight options. While halogen headlights are still commonplace, upgrades to HID lights are growing in frequency, and other options such as projector headlights and halo headlights have grown in use as well. Whether you want radiant purple headlights with increased efficiency or just a set of standard halogens, you can equip any recent car with the lighting equipment you desire.

Cars Past Their Prime
Vehicles from the 1980s and earlier are starting to reach that age where basic technological upgrades cannot compensate for the lack of features contained in those cars compared to modern vehicles. While most vehicles from this era are still equipped with conventional halogen headlights that are still on the road today, many have older style headlight arrays that make changing out headlight types more difficult. Consider, for example, the installation of HIDs in a car from this era. While certainly possible on most vehicles, it’s far more likely you’ll have to cut into the body of the car, and perhaps use additional components to make the headlights function with the car’s equipment, such as wire harness adaptors.

Classic and Antique Cars
When we get to cars of this age, usually you want to avoid lighting upgrades that attempt to modernize the vehicle because, frankly, they can’t be modernized. Besides, if vehicles this age have survived this long, most potential owners would want to preserve the original look and feel of the car, not alter it to add some angel eyes headlights. For these types of cars, lighting upgrades should focus on revitalization, not replacement. If you can find a reputable dealer of old-style headlights that work in your car’s setup, that’s your best bet going forward in keeping your car looking just like new, even if it is approaching 70 years old.