As I wade through the slow, muddy waters of recovery from my exploded aorta, I’m slowly getting back into the magical and rewarding world of writing about cars, arguably the most important vocation in the known universe. As I ease back into this, fighting the drowsy effects caused by one or more of the dozen pills I have to choke down every day, I find myself drawn to some old, comfortable territory: taillights. Specifically, taillight taxonomy, which is why I feel now is the time to present this previously unexplored corner of taillight categorization: the Layer Cake Taillight.
In the Taillight Community, new taillight taxonomies are not taken lightly, and in order for a new category of taillight to be accepted, it generally must be approved by the Council of Scarlet Light, but since two of the Elders of Scarlet are currently incarcerated and the third is still in his winter coma, I think I’m just going to push this one through on my own.
The Layer Cake category of taillight is one that has largely disappeared in modern taillight design, as modern complex designs are antithetical to the deliberate and confident simplicity of the Layer Cake category. The Layer Cake taillights are, of course, based on the look of a layer cake, with horizontal slabs of the taillight’s component colors stacked upon one another, like the layers of sponge in a layer cake.
The criteria for a taillight being part of the Layer Cake category includes three primary rules:
- Clear, distinct horizontal bands of colored lenses
- A largely rectangular shape
- Some amount of “wraparound” dimensionality
I believe that it is possible for a Layer Cake taillight to be just two colors, or even one, though most examples I could find are tri-colored examples, with red, clear, and amber lenses. Here’s some examples of Layer Cake taillights you may be familiar with, from such diverse makers as Peugeot, Jeep, Chrysler, and even Brazil-market Chevrolet:
The Peugeot taillight’s reverse lamp section doesn’t extend entirely across the taillight, which at first made me consider disqualifying it, but upon reflection I realized that a layer cake often includes a frosting border at the edges, so I think these do qualify as true Layer Cakes.
Colors may be repeated in a Layer Cake lamp, as you can see on that Chrysler Voyager taillight on the left there; in cases where a section is repeated, it’s almost always the red lenses. You may also note the clean simplicity of this taillight design, and, as a reflective, thoughtful person, you likely are also wondering why these sorts of lights are so uncommon, relatively speaking.
Deciding what qualifies as a Layer Cake light is actually deceptively complex; here are some examples of borderline or edge cases that I’m not sure qualify as Layer Cake designs, though they’re close, and I’m certainly willing to hear arguments in their defense.
The diagonal Dodge Colt wagon’s novel lights (upper left) are very Layer Cake-like, but the 45° cant may be a disqualifier, as almost no actual layer cakes have that sort of look.
The 2nd-gen BMW 2002’s taillights (lower left) have a very Layer Cake-like design, but also a vertical amber turn signal area that could be justified as frosting, but may also deviate too much from the Layer Cake orthodoxy.
Interestingly, there’s two Jaguar edge cases here, in the middle, one being a later XJ that has an odd monochrome outer lens that has Layer Cake-like layers, but is covering lens colors that do not follow the horizontal bands.
The earlier XJ design has true horizontal layers of colored lenses, but the overall irregular shape feels too far removed from the cakey inspiration. No one cuts cake in shapes like that!
Finally, we have that Ford Escort taillight on the right, which has a stacked-colors design, but is not really the same as a layer cake, horizontal-bands sort of design. Also, it’s not dimensional, lacking the wraparound element that so effectively emulates a piece of delicious layer cake.
It’s not every day a new taillight taxonomy is identified and announced, so I hope all of you take this with the gravity that it merits. It’s a fascinating category of taillight that has been ignored for far too long, and I hope this humble effort finally gives the noble Layer Cake taillight the respect and position it so sorely deserves.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head to the Ruby Glow to get nice and liquored up, especially with all my pain meds, to spread the Good News of the Layer Cake to all the Taillight Community drunks who will listen.
Wish me luck!
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The 88 Nissans Pulsar NX’s back end would like a word here. Tail light layer cake on an acid trip. That Colt wagon’s got nothing on it! So glad you are recovering Jason, I was having blinker fluid withdrawals and needed my tail light story fix, STAT! A zillion Thanks to you for delivering it, kind Sir!!!
Late 90’s/early 00’s Vauxhalls were styled in a weird, almost anti-style manor with layer cake type tail lights:
Astra:
https://www.autodata1.com/media/opel/pics/opel-astra-g-%5B7554%5D.jpg
Vectra: https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzIwWDk2MA==/z/7Q0AAOSw8TJcSKMw/$_86.JPG
I don’t know if you got either of these in the US as Saturns/Buicks, but they were everywhere here in the UK, though both rapidly entering the realms of ‘rare but nobody cares’ now.
I can’t believe 24 hours has gone by and nobody greeted Torch with ‘ Welcome to the Layer Cake son’.
https://youtu.be/DVYHjEeYGFA?feature=shared
Is Layer Cake not the cult classic film in the US that it is here in the UK?
David’s Jeep taillights are fine slices of layer cake. A little lopsided but many cakes are.
https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/Screen-Shot-2024-01-04-at-9.02.08-AM-1536×1108.png
If it’s taller than it is wide, I think it qualifies. The corner of the taillight is similar to the actual slice of cake when removed. And especially if it’s a tall multi layer cake, a small (therefore tall) slice is plenty sufficient.
New category approved.
Some of the dimensionally „cakiest“ layer cake taillights were on the Bristol 603.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Type_603#/media/File%3ABristol_Britannia_car_at_Filton%2C_England_18July2010_arp.jpg
Yes, they originally belonged to the Bedford CF vans:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/1982_Bedford_CF_campervan_%2810074442923%29.jpg/800px-1982_Bedford_CF_campervan_%2810074442923%29.jpg
they always reminded me of those Neapolitan Ice Cream bricks that came in a cardboard wrapper.
Did someone say Cake?
♫ Stickshifts and safetybelts….♫
Welcome back and a speedy recovery to you Torch!
I can’t wait for this to be one of the new challenges on the Great British Bake-Off.
Prue Leith looks like the kind of person who has some strong opinions about taillights that I think are worth consideration.
I want to see the poor soul who chose that Colt Vista above, with its diagonal slices, as their cake.
Don’t get me wrong, it’d be badass if pulled off, but logistically, it’d be hell.
I propose the early Jaguar XJ taillight be classified in the ‘bundt pan’ genus of the layer cake category of taillight taxonomy.
I’m here for it.
Nothing better than a bit of chrome drizzle too
The first generation Grand Cherokee is a great example of this, perhaps even better than the second gen XJ used as an example in the article. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcQxwRIaR8rTgoof0bH5JiNu2YpgYV1Ea2TQ5C2udn172fy4d7oUoGW3M7v0_-CVow8oVfjsG9bIRbu2hVifuS5HyjVISaseRCmz2rXNH4aUaOk&usqp=CAc
At some point in 2023, I snapped a pic of the 3-layer taillight on an OG RAV4 in my neighborhood and sent it to Torch. Therefore I’m taking credit for inspiring this article.
I wish tractor trailers and the like more commonly had some kind of equivalent for the CHMSL. I occasionally see a handful where, say, there’s a row of 5 lights along the top of the back and the middle 3 double as brake lights, but that’s rare.
I’m not a fan of brake lights that are only “the taillights stepping up in brightness.”
I’m an auditor. I want segregation of duties, dammit!
Yes, especially depending on how bad the wiring is, sometimes you can’t tell.
At work we had a job to mount a prototype project to a semi trailer for testing. I asked about the taillight wiring, if both lights per side functioned as brake lights. He was like “hell no, do you think I’m rich?”
Torch, I’m glad you’re feeling better and doubly glad that you’re talking tail lights, cause I saw some that tickled my brain the other day and wondered what you and the taillight community thought of them.
Modern trucks seem to be doing dual-brake lights. Top and bottom. The ’15-20ish F-series does this and the GM trucks of roughly the same era do this as well.
I believe (but its hard to confirm as no one uses them anymore) that they use one for a turn signal, which is fairly normal, but traditionally the brake light and the turn signal are sandwiched next to each other. Now they’re separated.
It… intrigues me.
While I do love cake, god do I love cake, I think the best taillights are the ones that look like they should be boring rectangles, but are actually four round taillights. I’m thinking face-lifted FC RX7s, R32 Skylines and Rev 3 onwards SW20 MR2s. I’ve no idea what these should be called, and I’m not going to try to guess. I don’t want to be called up by the council of elders. Not again.
I have a pair of the RX7 taillights in my collection. I wish I’d bought the Skyline and MR2 ones when the prices were reasonable.
Before I found the true Torch to follow I was worried that having a small collection of taillights was weird, now I understand it is the way.
I believe these style taillights belong to the ‘glass cooktop’ category.
Let’s not forget about the tail lights of the VAZ-2103 which has the perfect bi-coloured layercake look. An edge-case could be the post-1975 Polski-Fiat 125p, as the rear reflector is a small vertical piece on the outer side of the otherwise perfectly horizontally divided bi-colour tail light.
Hmmm. Would BMW 2002 and old MK1 Cortina tail lights count as layer cake muffins?
We used to have a Volvo 745 wagon with vertical layer cake lights (red, clear, amber, red). One day I noticed that the clear backup light lens on each side was coming unglued from the rear fog light above and the turn signal below.
My mechanic explained that Volvo had used a taillight lens adhesive that didn’t have a lot of resistance to UV light, and since the clear backup lens didn’t filter UV from sunlight it caused the adhesive around just that lens to weaken.
That’s why it wasn’t uncommon to see 245, 745, and 945 wagons with missing backup light lenses but the remaining lenses intact.
Without the lens, it looked like someone had baked a taillight cake but forgotten to remove the cake tin between two layers. And now i’m hungry….
Please take it easy, Jason.
The slumbering elder lives near me and says “Torchinsky is full of shit, the old XJ light* is absolutely a layer cake and the newer Jag absolutely is not. The Colt is a nice try from when Mitsubishi had free sake in the cafeteria. And the Escort is a joke. Peugeot really defined the layer cake category and the implication they may not be legitimate is a travesty. Must be the drugs he’s on.”
* true aficionados use the singular form of plural words. That’s how you can tell they know their stuff. Fashion catalogues will describe trousers as “this is a Scottish Highlands inspired pant made of genuine Highland cow hair cleansed in a bath of 18-year Talisker single malt”
Goshdarnit, I’m hungry now. Let me eat cake.
The earlier Jaguar XJ design does have a Bundt-cake-ish shape, though.
I would argue that to have the designation of layer cake, one criteria should be it has to be more horizontal than vertical. It loses the visual similarities in a vertical stack.
Vertical versions should be designated as multi flavor Jell-O shots or something.