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Again the regulations in India may be a bit different due to the high volume of pedestrian traffic, but in the US, the headlights are not used anymore because they are simply outdated. Lotus was using them until recently when they decided to discontinue the Esprit. Corvette was forced to finally change to a fixed style after the C5 because they needed to keep up with current styling (360, etc). Lamborghini went to the fixed headlights shortly after Audi purchased the company to give it a "face lift" as the pop up style was starting to look dated (at that time, already 8 years old). Keep in mind the dimensions and angle of the nose are unaffected by the fixed headlights when they are retracted (no difference to pedestrians when a majority of driving occurs--during the day!).
I'm not sure if this link definitively answers the question, but it does make the suggestion that the lights were changed for cosmetic purposes--no safety consideration involved. Lamborghini Diablo by Hermidas
I'll try and see if I can find something more definitive as this is an interesting topic! | 
13th July 2007, 20:38
