Here’s Genesis – the first car ever with pop-up headlights. Maybe. Revealed to a stunned public way back before the Second World War in 1936, the Indiana-built Cord was a hugely innovative machine. The first American car with independent front suspension, only the second (after one of Cord’s own products) to feature space-saving front-wheel drive, and housed in the beautiful front wheelarches, hand-cranked pop-up headlights. Around 3,000 of these stunning machines were produced between 1936 and 1937, before the company sunk.

TG’s pop-up headlight rating: 14/10

This is awkward. Because also in 1936, while Cord was wowing America, Alfa Romeo was revealing this: the latest of its cars to bear the famous 8C moniker. And yep, those are hand-operated pop-up headlights. Alfa chose to design its headlights to sit within the main bodywork instead of the wheelarches. Or rather, Turin coachworker Carrozzeria Pinin Farina did. Lovely work.

TG’s pop-up headlight rating: 9/10

Perhaps the cheapest, cutest way to bag a set of pop-up headlights for yourself (and a rather enjoyable small sports car thrown in for free). The original Mazda MX-5 didn’t just nod to the Lotus Elan for its handling and small size. It also pinched Lotus’s pop-up headlights for the front design. Can’t say we blame them – cootchie-coo!

TG’s pop-up headlight rating: 12/10

Lamborghini truly mastered the art of the pop-up headlight. From the Miura right up until the facelifted Diablo over 40 years later, every Lambo had a variation on the theme. However, only the early Miuras teamed the pop-up lights with the iconic ‘eyelash’ strakes, which makes them our favourite Lambo lamps.

TG’s pop-up headlight rating: 11/10

Back to the history books for another slice of Americana – the Buick Y-Job. Yep, concept cars also had silly names as far back as 1939. Anyway, this techno showcase is significant for being the first car to showcase powered pop-up headlights, raised and lowered electrically instead of being handled manually by a willing servant.

TG’s pop-up headlight rating: 9/10

Oh yes, it’s not all classics and supercars here, folks. Pop-up headlights have adorned more than just bedroom wall material. Take this wedge of Swedish magnificence: the magnificent Volvo 480. Phwoar. The front-wheel drive three-door Volvo sports-hatch for the 1980s yuppie-about-town who also wanted fuel efficiency and safety. No wonder it never really found its feet.

Anyway, Volvo wanted a low nose for maximum slipperiness, but needed taller headlights to comply with boring regulations. Result: the logical motorised solution, and some of the most incongruous pop-up lights around.

TG’s pop-up headlight rating: 8.5/10

One of the longest-running proponents of the pop-up headlight religion here. From its launch in 1976 to its demise 28 years later, the Esprit rocked pop-up headlights. That meant it had a low nose, which in turn bestowed upon it the wedgiest supercar profile of all time. It was killed off in 2004, at the same time that Stateside, the Chevrolet Corvette C5 was being wound down, signalling the end for pop-up headlights in the new millennium.

TG’s pop-up headlight rating: 11/10

Fine, we’re cheating. We could’ve had the Porsche 928 or Ferrari F40 for some simple pop-up headlight car porn. But we’ll use the ‘hidden headlight with motorised cover’ loophole (it’s in the Official Top Gear Rules, section 37B paragraph fourteen) to shoehorn in a mention of Jaguar’s wildest-ever car. The XJ220 may have given up its four-wheel drive and naturally aspirated V12 engine when it went into production, but the hidden headlights with their body-colour shades were indeed carried over intact from the concept car. Why has no tuner thought to bodge a set of these for an F-Type yet?

TG’s pop-up headlight rating: 7/10

They’re back! Pop-up headlights for the 21st Century, thanks to Ares Design. The Ares Panther is a rebodied Lamborghini Huracan inspired by the DeTomaso Pantera. If you’re wondering what that’s like to drive, and how the most excellent headlights work, you’d do well to keep an eye on the next issue of Top Gear magazine, on sale next week…

TG’s pop-up headlight rating: 15/10