Were 986/996 headlights stylish back in the day?

[kk2002s]

Love the Function, Do NOT like the Form
I like round head lights on basically any car and personally I think the 987 is what the 986 should have started life looking like

The Modular Function is so easy to deal with that the "Go not Show" part of me likes them.

Comes down to - unless I want to fork out $4-$5,000 to do the 987 conversion, then I think I'll just "Love the one I'm with"

[SJEFFB986]

The headlights were way ahead of their time and they are still super cool looking! Timeless headlights and sheet metal....not many rides can claim this distinction.

[BIGJake111]

To personally rate water cooled lights

1. 987.2
2. 997
3. 986 litronic
4. 991
5. 981
6. 996 and 986 halogen
7. 996.2 (I don't like the shape at all)
8. 987.1

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by BYprodriver

I believe you are right on all points. The 1st "modular" light assemblies I saw were on a 2000 996 & I had never liked Porsches other than 928s.
I loved the "modular" light assemblies because they disrupted the body & paint less being all in one unit. Making for more uninterrupted spans of paint, especially important on a small convertible.

The design of the 996 had a drag coefficient of 30, the 993 is 34, thats a big improvement & the 996 is wider! I'm sure the headlights are a big contributer to the improvement.

[jacabean]

Japanese take on a mk2 conversion . I think the mk 2 lights look the best .

[Jamesp]

Why don't the 987's have these lights? They are soooooo much better than 986/987.

[fusionist]

I think the original poster is correct. They were stylish when they came out. I remember the first time I saw them I was amazed at the update. You could see the 911 headlights inside them, but everything was smoother. There were design books that picked this for the cover:

[Porsche9]

I remember when the 986 and then the 996 came out I was disappointed about the move away from the traditional round headlights but appreciated the new tech and the design possiblities for the rest of the car due to the new headlight design. From my perspective the design, especially with the amber turn signals, has not aged all to well but I may be influenced by Porsche going back to more traditional headlight shapes for the Boxster and Carrera.