Top Car

130 TOPCAR.CO.ZA|January 2016``````The last thing you wantif trying toshake off the cops is distinctive tail-ligh ts. But we love ’em, especially these. ByChris ChiltonCoolesttail-lightsTop 10The1BMWZ8The lookwasblatantly pi nched fromBMW’s classic 50 7;the cabin created in apara llel universe whereit’s always 1958, exceptwith microchips. Yet amidall this retro-rehashing, BMWhad the fore (or rear-) sight tograft on some of the slimmest, coolest tail-lights ever seenin the pr e-Millenniumera..2 MEAn upmarket Mustan g spin -off usingRCURYCOUGARmost of the samehardware, Mercury’s ponycar got a stretched wheelbase and moreposh, with hidden front ligh ts and some verycool sequential rears copied from the earlierThunderbird, that pulsed in the direction youwere in dicating. So cool, Carol Shelby nabbedthem for his modded ’67 Mustan gs.``````3 MASERATI^32 00GThough they look ed identical,Maserati’s raw 3200GT was radically re-engineered in 2002 to become the muchbetter Coupe, swappinga twin-turbo V6(and optional auto) for a naturally aspira tedV8 (and optional robotised manual). Sadlythe best feature of the orig inal didn ’tmake the transition – the oh-s o elegantboomerangrear ligh ts.4’59 CADILLACFifty-nine was the peak, quiteliterally, of Detr oit’s obsessionswith fins, but the showy sheetmetalappendages wouldn ’t have look edhalf as loud without that year’s twin-rocket-flame shapedlamps at eachside. For 1960 the ligh ts were neatlyintegrat ed into a pair of distinctlyatro phie d fins.``````5 MAThe striki ng threads of illuminatZDAFURAI ionon this 2007 concept car look ed like ashower of sparks ligh ting the midnightblackness of the Le Mans 24 Hourrace the concept longed to contest.Sadly, there were more than sparkscoming from the Fu rai whenTop Gearbarbecued it during testing for the TVshow in 2008.``````10 MCLARENP1You can’t truly appreciate howsens ational the P1 look s until you’ve seenone at ni ght, imposs ibly slendertail-lampswrappingaroundthe rear facia like aneon motelsign on Route 66. But this is aMcLaren, so there’s scienc e involved too:conventional ligh ts would have stoppedthe colossal amount of heat the V8generates escaping.``````8 DODGECHARGERChargers almost alwayshad cool lamps, but it’s not thefour circles of the much-admiredBullitt-era ’68 that the 320kphmodern version references.Instead it’s the full-wid th ligh t barof the very first, back in 1966,combined with a bit of Dukes’-spec ’69 for good measure.``````7 MKYou want1 CORmash with that?TINAFord’s iconicpie ligh ts, or Pye,if you remember the period hi-fibrand, are as recognisable as theLotus version’s green stri pes, andturned up on TVR’s Grantura inan early bit of kit-car scavenging.BMW’s 02 series riffed on thesametheme.``````9 LAMBORGHINI ASTERIONLambo lamps werelamentable until Sant’Agataturnedthe wickupon the Murcielago to create thetrick Reventon. Now they’ve settledonaninstantlyrecognisable motif, you’ll still beableto tell a Lamborghinifromlessersupercarsevenwhen electrification finallysilencesthe V12 –thoughthat’s not happening just yet.``````6 AUBack in 2013 Audi gaveDISWARMOLEDus the first taste of the OLEDtechnology it productionised in timefor the recent Frankfurt show. Thebizarre Swarm ligh ts look like they’descape up the road if your lamp evergot smashed in a fender bender.Worth Googling for a video if youmissed them first time round.