May 1, 2020 - August 9, 2020
From the time of the first horseless carriages to the contemporary car, the development of technology in automotive lighting has been astonishing. These vehicles help to tell that story.
Vehicles scheduled for upcoming exhibitions may be changed for others at any time.
Shining Bright:
Advances in Automotive Lighting
“Horseless-carriages and bicycles were lit by kerosene lamps.
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Late 19th century
“Kerosene and acetylene gas lamps used as main lighting source on vehicles.”
Circa 1900
“First Reliable Electric Bulb for Vehicles; Philips light bulb with a vibration resistant tungsten filament.”
1906
“Electric lighting first used on motor vehicles.”
1908
“Hispano Suiza and Cadillac used the first fully electrical Bosch lighting system including with alternator, regulator, battery, switch and headlamps.”
1913
“First lighting regulation adopted in state of Massachusetts”
1915
“All headlamps now generated a spot beam.”
1925
“Sealed beam headlights introduced. ”
1936
“All vehicles built in the U.S. were required to have 7’’ round headlights sealed beams.”
1940
“Asymmetric low beam from Bosch introduced only in Europe, significantly improved vision at night from 195 to 260 feet.”
1955
“Quad 5 ¾ inch headlight system developed in U.S.”
1957
“First halogen lights used on European cars, the technology came to the US by 1979.”
1960
“First mass production hidden headlights introduced on 1963 Chevrolet Corvette.”
1963
“H4 Halogen Dual Filament Bulb; Bosch introduces a H4 dual filament bulb headlamp with one reflector for both beam modes: Main and dipped beam.”
1971
“Replaceable car light bulbs returned to use in the USA.”
1983
“1st Projector Type Headlamp- BMW 7-Series with aspheric inner lenses and reflector surfaces in the form of a three-axis ellipsoid, with the bulb at the focal point. ”
1986
“Xenon-Light; A new era in vehicle lighting started Electronic controlled and ignitor switched high intensity discharge bulbs were used the first time in series cars’ ”
1991
“Halo lights introduced by BMW to create a distinctive brand face.”
2001
“First Fully Electronically Camera Controlled Adaptive All-LED Headlamp started in series production for Audi A7. ”
2010
“LASER- the BMW i8, the first Laser High Beam on the road. Audi announces at the same time its first Laser High Beam in the Audi R8 LMX model.
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2014
“First MATRIX Headlamp on the Road; The matrix module with 84 pixel in 3 rows was engineered and developed for Mercedes-Benz. Series production started in early 2017.”
2016
“First Camera-Controlled LASER Headlamp with Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB); 2nd generation intelligent LASER-modules and integrated safety control concept.
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