? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
Photo credits
- Headlight photos are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images by:
- Ethan Llamas (Ford Mustang, BMW 3 Series, Lexus LC, Nissan 370Z) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Yu Chu Chin (Porsche 911) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Vauxford (Audi R8, VW Golf, Volvo XC90, Jaguar F-Type, Ferrari 488, Aston Martin DB11) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Elise240SX (Tesla Model 3, Mazda MX-5) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Tokumeigakarinoaoshima (Lamborghini Aventador · CC0, Toyota Supra · CC0, Nissan GT-R · CC BY-SA 4.0, Honda Civic Type R · CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Christopher Ziemnowicz (Dodge Challenger) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Alexander Migl (Chevrolet Corvette, Mercedes-Benz S-Class) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- MercurySable99 (Jeep Wrangler, Mini Cooper) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- M 93 (Fiat 500) · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Dietmar Rabich (VW Beetle) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Delta 51 (Land Rover Defender) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kevauto (McLaren 720S) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 根川孝太郎 / Negawa Kotaro (BMW i8) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- CEFICEFI (Audi TT) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- OWS Photography (Alfa Romeo Giulia) · CC BY 4.0
- Dinkun Chen (Chevrolet Camaro) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rules & what counts
Cars by Headlights — Rules for the Ultimate Petrolhead Quiz
This is the hardest quiz in the garage: 30 cars, each shown as nothing but a tight crop of a single headlight. No grille, no silhouette, no badge — if you can name a car from one light cluster, you've earned the petrolhead title.
It's more doable than it sounds, because lighting is where designers hide a car's signature: pop-up lids, halo rings, hammer-shaped running lights, split-level clusters. The set spans classic icons through modern LED-era supercars, hot hatches, and EVs, so every era of headlight design gets its moment.
How to play
- Type the model name — matching runs live on every keystroke, and a correct answer flips the card to reveal the car.
- You don't need the full formal name: well-known short forms like "Miata", "GTI", and "911" are accepted, with or without the brand in front.
- Solving a card also reveals a generation hint, so you learn exactly which version of the car you were squinting at.
- This is rated 5/5 difficulty — leaning on Give Up your first run is normal, and it shows every answer you missed.
- The timer counts up from your first keystroke, and runs autosave, so a refresh won't cost you your progress.
What counts in this quiz
- 30 recognizable production cars, each represented by a photo cropped to just one headlight.
- Answers are model-level: the model name is what solves the card, and popular nicknames for a model count too.
- The mix runs from classic round lamps and pop-ups to today's sculpted LED signatures — recognizing the era is half the clue.
What's not included — and why
- A bare brand name never solves a card — this is a model quiz, so typing just the manufacturer gets you nothing.
- Badges and wordmarks were deliberately kept out of frame when the photos were cropped, so there are no logo clues hiding in the shots.
Good to know
- Pop-up headlights died because of pedestrian-safety regulations — the last two cars sold with them were the Lotus Esprit and the Chevrolet Corvette, both in 2004.
- BMW's "angel eyes" halo rings debuted on the facelifted E39 5 Series around 2000 and became so iconic that aftermarket kits spread them to almost everything.
- Volvo officially nicknames its T-shaped daytime running light "Thor's hammer" — one of the few design elements a brand names after a Norse god.
- People really do see faces in cars: headlights read as eyes, which is why designers talk seriously about a car's "expression" — friendly, aggressive, or sleepy.