Molded In Headlights

A 1913 Pierce-Arrow Model 48-B-2 Seven-Passenger Touring. In 1913, Pierce-Arrow introduced its now-famous fender-mounted headlights, molded directly into the crown of the front fenders. Patented by the company, this radical design set Pierce-Arrow apart from all other manufacturers of the era and is recognized as the first use of molded-in headlights on a production automobile. Photo courtesy of RM Sotheby's.

A close-up of the fender-mounted headlight on a 1913 Pierce-Arrow Model 48-B-2. Photo courtesy of RM Sotheby's.

The 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow, one of only five built and unveiled at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. Designed by Phillip O. Wright on a V-12 chassis, the Silver Arrow was a bold Art Moderne statement with its flowing fastback roofline, inset door handles, and molded-in headlights. Marketed under the slogan “Suddenly it’s 1940!”, the futuristic show car was decades ahead of its time, though its radical design proved too daring for Pierce’s conservative clientele. Photo courtesy of RM Sotheby's.

Introduced at the 1934 New York Auto Show, the 1934 Chrysler Airflow was Chrysler’s radical attempt to bring aerodynamics, or “streamlining,” to mass-produced automobiles. Designed with input from Orville Wright, the Airflow featured a wind-tunnel-tested body, passengers moved between the axles for better ride quality, and innovations such as a raked “safety glass” windshield. Its partially faired-in headlights reflected the push toward integration, though the design was too advanced for buyers of the day. Despite its commercial failure, the Airflow influenced the future of automotive design, foreshadowing both unibody construction and the widespread adoption of molded-in headlights. Photo courtesy of Revs Institute.

Ralph Lysell’s visionary streamlined automobile as featured in the Daily News Sun on November 4, 1934. Teardrop-shaped and equipped with fully faired-in headlights, Lysell’s car embodied radical design principles, including a rear-mounted engine, gearless transmission, and a one-piece stamped frame. Engineered to run on either crude oil or gasoline, the car promised remarkable fuel economy, up to 40 miles per gallon on crude oil. Planned in multiple versions with outputs from 40 to 160 horsepower, it was heralded as being close to completion on Long Island, but the ambitious project never reached production. Accounts vary as to why: pressure from the U.S. auto industry, a devastating flood, or simple lack of funds. Today, it remains one of the great “what-ifs” of early automotive history.

Introduced at the 1935 New York Auto Show, the 1936 Cord 810 stunned the public with its radical Gordon M. Buehrig design and technical innovations. It featured front-wheel drive, a semi-unitized body, hidden door hinges, and a one-piece hood. Most famously, it was the first production automobile to feature retractable headlights, hidden within the front fenders and operated by hand cranks on the dashboard. The Cord’s bold styling, with its horizontal grille louvers and concealed headlamps, made it one of the most advanced and iconic American cars of the 1930s. Photo courtesy of RM Sotheby's.

The 1936 Lincoln Zephyr, one of the first mainstream American cars to embrace full aerodynamic streamlining. With its teardrop profile, V-shaped grille, and headlights blended smoothly into the front fenders, the Zephyr set a new design direction for Ford’s luxury division. Rear fenders hugged the body, skirts covered the wheels, and even the taillights followed streamlined principles. Affordable compared to other streamlined luxury cars of the 1930s, the Zephyr was both a commercial and design success, helping to popularize molded-in headlights and integrated styling. Photo courtesy of The Henry Ford.

The Southern California Plating Company's 1935 Ford Phaeton, restyled by Frank Kurtis and George DuVall in 1936. Known as the Southern California Plating Delivery Truck, it was one of the first customs to feature hidden headlights, a pair of Woodlites molded into the apron between the grille and fenders. Combined with its Cord-inspired grille, DuVall windshield, and smooth streamlined details, the car became a rolling showcase for SoCal’s chrome work and a landmark in early custom history.

Just a year after the Lincoln Zephyr introduced streamlined luxury to Ford’s lineup, molded-in headlights became available to the general public with the 1937 Ford. For the first time, an affordable, mass-produced car featured headlights integrated smoothly into the front fenders, signaling the end of the free-standing headlamp era and bringing modern styling to the common man. Photo courtesy of Gooding Christies.

Marquis Hachisuka's 1937 Lincoln Zephyr, restyled by Bohman & Schwartz of Pasadena. Completed as early as 1936, the Zephyr was fit with some of the first known fadeaway fenders of the tack-on variety, making it an important step in the evolution of streamlined customs. Combined with the Zephyr’s factory-molded headlights, the Bohman & Schwartz treatment emphasized long, flowing body lines that influenced both luxury coachbuilding and early custom design.

The 1937 Kurtis Tommy Lee Special, a one-off boattail speedster handbuilt by Frank Kurtis for Los Angeles radio heir Tommy Lee. Inspired by the newly introduced Cord 810, the car featured Cord fenders, a DuVall vee’d windshield, and fully faired-in headlights molded into the front end. Powered by a massive 318 cubic inch twin-cam Offenhauser engine producing an estimated 300 horsepower, the car was designed as a streetable race car and was timed at 130 mph at Muroc Dry Lake without fenders. Costing $25,000 to complete, it was one of the most expensive American customs of its time, though its rough racing motor made it impractical for daily use.

The Phantom Corsair, designed by Rust Heinz and built by Bohman & Schwartz in 1937. Based on a Cord 810 chassis with a Lycoming V8, the futuristic aluminum coupe featured fully faired-in headlights molded into the fenders, seating for six, and a low, flowing silhouette unlike anything else on the road. Planned for limited production at $12,500 apiece, the Corsair remained a one-off after Heinz’s untimely death in 1939.

The 1938 Buick Y-Job, often credited as the auto industry’s first concept car. Designed under Harley Earl, it featured a long, low hand-built body packed with innovations, including concealed headlights, power windows, a power-operated convertible roof, and aircraft-inspired brakes. Known as the “Fireball,” the Y-Job wasn’t just a showpiece — Earl drove it as his personal car for years, showcasing futuristic styling and hidden headlamp design that would influence American automobiles for decades.

An early custom job photographed at Southern Speedway in 1938. Based on a Ford Model A roadster, Modifications include fenderskirts on all four corners, removed running boards, sunken and molded in headlights, a custom nose, ripple bumpers and a chopped, split windshield. The door reads "Ran's Auto Works." Photo by Aldo Chiappero, courtesy of Found Film Society.

Bob Fairman's 1936 Ford 3-Window Coupe, restyled in the 1940s while Fairman was working for Jimmy Summers in Los Angeles. Featuring a chopped and channeled body, sectioned hood and grille, and custom fadeaway fenders, the coupe also sported molded-in 1937 Ford headlights. It was supposedly built around 1943-1944.

Captured through the lens of George Barris, this photo showcases what seems to be a beautifully restyled 1937 Chevrolet Tudor Sedan that features one of the defining elements of early custom styling: Fadeaway Fenders. In the 1940s, fadeaway fenders became a hallmark of the custom car movement. George Barris believed that adding fadeaway fenders instantly set a car apart, stamping it as a true kustom. The modification created a smooth, uninterrupted bodyline, eliminating the visual break between the front and rear fenders. Both Sam and George Barris were huge fans of this look, and it became one of their signature styling cues in the early years of Barris Kustoms. Beyond its striking fadeaways, this custom Chevy features several period-perfect touches: sunken and molded-in headlights, fender skirts with 1941 Buick trim, whitewall tires, and a set of flipper hubcaps. Photo by George Barris, courtesy of The Brad Masterson Collection.

Gene Garret's 1936 Ford Convertible in progress, restyled by Harry Westergard in 1943. Westergard molded the headlights onto the fenders, installed a Packard grille, and removed the running boards for a cleaner look. Other modifications included a chopped windshield, custom steel top, ripple bumpers, and shaved deck lid. As one of Westergard’s early molded-headlight customs, Garret’s Ford helped define the smooth style that became a Northern California trademark.

Jack Odbert's 1936 Ford Convertible, restyled by Harry Westergard in the 1940s. Another classic example of Westergard’s early Sacramento style. Subtle and elegant, Odbert’s Ford showcased Westergard’s trademark approach of blending luxury-car elements with streamlined bodywork, helping establish molded headlights as a hallmark of custom car design in Northern California.

Molded in headlights, also known as fender-mounted or faired-in headlights, refer to automobile headlamps that are integrated into the body or fenders of a car, rather than being mounted externally on stalks, brackets, or a connecting bar. This design feature marked a significant step in the evolution of automotive styling, moving away from the utilitarian, carriage-derived look of the early 20th century toward a more streamlined and unified appearance.

Factory Origins

Pierce-Arrow (1913)

The American luxury manufacturer Pierce-Arrow is credited as the first automaker to introduce molded-in headlights. In 1913, the company debuted its new line of cars with headlights built directly into the front fenders. This radical design eliminated the traditional separate headlamp units mounted on a crossbar, creating a cleaner look that was both distinctive and immediately recognizable. Pierce-Arrow patented the idea, making it an exclusive hallmark of the brand for the next 25 years.

Pierce-Arrow’s fender-mounted headlights became one of the most identifiable styling trademarks in the industry. They gave the cars a unique character, allowing them to be recognized even at night by the glow of their headlamps. The design was retained and refined until the company ceased production in 1938.

Other Early Experiments

Although Pierce-Arrow pioneered the concept, most automakers of the 1910s and 1920s retained traditional free-standing lamps. A few coachbuilders experimented with streamlined designs that partially blended the headlights into the bodywork, but none rivaled Pierce-Arrow’s level of integration or mass production.

1930s Developments

Chrysler Airflow (1934)

The Chrysler Airflow, introduced in 1934, was one of the first American production cars outside Pierce-Arrow to experiment with partially integrated headlights. While not as fully faired into the fenders as Pierce’s design, the Airflow’s lamps were recessed into a more aerodynamic housing, reflecting the growing influence of streamlining and Art Deco design.

Lincoln Zephyr (1936)

Ford’s Lincoln Zephyr was one of the first mainstream American cars to adopt headlights integrated into the fenders as standard equipment. The lamps were no longer mounted on separate bars but instead flowed with the body lines, signaling the industry’s gradual move toward full integration.

Cord 810/812 (1936–1937)

Another milestone came with the Cord 810/812, which featured retractable, hidden headlights mounted in the front fenders. Operated by hand cranks inside the car, they were among the first examples of concealed lamps on a production vehicle. While not molded in the same sense as Pierce’s design, the Cords advanced the idea of blending the headlamps into the overall body form.

1940s: Industry Standard

By 1940, most major American manufacturers had transitioned to molded in headlights. The change was influenced by both styling trends and new U.S. government regulations, which required headlights to be mounted at a standardized height. The separate, bar-mounted lamps of the 1920s and early 1930s disappeared, replaced by headlights that were fully integrated into the fenders and front sheet metal.

Custom Car Culture

Early Adoptions

Customizers of the late 1930s and early 1940s were heavily inspired by factory streamlining trends. When molded in headlights became more common on new production cars, builders began adapting similar ideas to older models, welding and reshaping fenders to house the lamps.

One of the most significant early examples was the Southern California Plating Company's 1935 Ford Phaeton, restyled by Frank Kurtis and George DuVall in 1936. Known as the Southern California Plating Delivery Truck, this radically modified car became a rolling showcase for the company’s chrome work. The phaeton featured a Cord-inspired grille, DuVall’s signature vee’d windshield, and most notably, hidden Woodlite headlights mounted in the apron between the fenders and grille. Unlike traditional lamps, these headlights were smoothly integrated into the body, giving the front end a futuristic appearance that anticipated postwar custom techniques.

Another landmark design was the Phantom Corsair, a futuristic concept car designed by Rust Heinz of the H. J. Heinz family and built by Bohman & Schwartz in 1937. Based on a Cord 810 chassis with front-wheel drive and powered by a Lycoming engine, the one-off aluminum coupe cost approximately $24,000 to build. The Corsair featured fully faired-in headlights molded seamlessly into the fenders, along with a low, flowing body that seated six passengers. Marketed as a prototype for limited production, its development ended after Rust Heinz’s untimely death in 1939.

Both the SoCal Plating Ford and the Phantom Corsair demonstrated how customizers and independent designers were not only keeping pace with factory styling but also experimenting with concealed and fully molded headlamps years before the mainstream industry adopted them.

Frenched Headlights (Late 1940s – 1950s)

By the late 1940s, the custom car movement had developed its own version of molded in headlights, known as frenching. This process involved recessing the headlights deeper into the bodywork and smoothing the edges so that the lamps appeared as part of the sheet metal. Frenched headlights eliminated protruding chrome bezels, emphasizing the long, flowing lines of a custom car.

Pioneering customizers such as Harry Westergard, Jimmy Summers, and Sam Barris popularized frenched headlights on early customs. By the early 1950s, the modification had become a defining characteristic of the postwar custom car look, appearing on everything from chopped Mercurys to mildly restyled shoebox Fords.

Lasting Influence

Molded in headlights bridged the gap between factory styling and custom innovation. What began as a radical design experiment by Pierce-Arrow in 1913 became a styling standard by 1940, and through the hands of customizers, it evolved into an art form. Frenched and molded headlights remain a hallmark of traditional customizing, symbolizing both elegance and craftsmanship.

Timeline of Molded In Headlights

• 1913 – Pierce-Arrow introduces the first production cars with molded in headlights, patented as a brand hallmark.
• 1934 – Chrysler Airflow features partially integrated headlights in streamlined housings.
• 1936 – Cord 810/812 debuts with retractable, hidden headlights mounted in the fenders.
• 1936 – SoCal Plating Ford incorporates hidden Woodlite headlights molded into the apron.
• 1936 – Lincoln Zephyr adopts headlights molded smoothly into the fenders as standard.
• 1937 – Phantom Corsair debuts with fully faired-in headlights molded into the fenders.
• 1940 – U.S. auto industry standardizes molded in headlights across most brands.
• Late 1940s – Customizers begin adapting molded in headlights to older cars, leading to the practice of frenching.
• 1950s – Frenched headlights become a signature feature of custom cars.