Quote:
Originally Posted by Sahil  BMW does offer this option abroad...called the High-Beam Assist.
It has a sensor mounted on the windscreen which shifts to low beam when it senses oncoming traffic and then goes back to high beam.
If your dad was manufacturing something like this in the 70/80s, i must say he was way ahead of his times! |
1952 "Autronic Eye" system automated the switch between high and low beams.
As a kid in Bombay of the mid 1960s, I had purchased an Audel's Auto repair guide that described how auto-dippers worked. Still have that old book somewhere.
Automatic headlight dippers were available on 1952 Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles. GM called it the
Autronic Eye. And it was advertised as feature of the year.
The next year in 1953 it was also available on Buick, Pontiac and Chevrolet models. A photo tube looking like the top eye of a periscope sat on the left side of the instrument panel inside the windshield.
In 1956, Ford featured their automatic headlight dipper
AutoDim on Lincolns. Later also Ford Thunderbird and some Mercury models.
In 1959, GM had an improved automatic headlight dipping system called
GuideMatic. This even had a thumbwheel that let drivers adjust the delay after which the headlights automatically returned to full-beam.
All 1959 Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler, DeSoto and Imperials had this Automatic Beam Control dipper. And top line Chryslers for 10 years until 1969.
By the mid-1960s, this feature was dropped on all GM models except Cadillac. Cadillac continued to offering GuideMatic for 29 years until 1988).
Ram