Our ’71 Plymouth Road Runner Gets Holley RetroBright LED Lights

In early 2022, Holley surprised the aftermarket world by announcing that they would sell retrofit, plug-and-play LED headlights for cars, trucks, and motorcycles that were originally equipped with sealed beam headlights. These lights immediately received accolades, including winning the 2022 National Street Rod Association’s Award for new safety-related product of the year. This product has piqued my interest.

As some readers may know, my other car is a 1971 Plymouth Road Runner with a 340 and four-speed that I picked up at a garage sale at the end of April 2022. As time has passed, it has become more of a daily driver for me, and I have accumulated nearly 4,500 miles on it, driving back and forth to work, picking up the kids from school, and hitting various car shows along the way. A few weeks ago, I took my son to some local batting cages outside of town and realized that even though I had new halogen-sealed beams, the light output was not all that great. It was time, and I knew what the solution would be.

Holley RetroBright headlights are, in my opinion, the best option available for older cars. These headlights provide improved lighting and visibility, perfect fitment, and plug-and-play installation. There are some choices, though, so let’s start there. First, I went to the Holley RetroBright headlight website and inputted my car’s year, make, and model. Now that I have some choices for 5.75-inch headlights. First, you need to pick if they are for the low or high beams (the Road Runner has four headlights), and then you have to pick a color. RetroBright headlights are available in 5700k for a bright “modern” white color, 3000k for a nostalgic yellow tint, or a 5700k version with a euro-style yellow lens. I chose the 3000k “classic” white and grabbed the part number for the low-beam versions. The best part of these headlights is that they do not look like funky LED aftermarket headlights installed on Jeep® models or dump trucks. These headlights look like they belong on the car but outperform the original halogens.

I could have bought the headlights directly from Holley; instead, I ordered through Summit Racing as they have a warehouse near me, and ground shipping usually arrives the next day. I admit these headlights are expensive at $189 each, but I believe you get what you are paying for. One of the best benefits these lights provide is a substantially lower current draw for the light produced than a halogen bulb. Anyone with an older Mopar understands what I am talking about, and reducing the current draw by 1/3 is good for the older wiring systems. Overall, I am very happy with the purchase, and now I am saving my money to purchase the high-beams-only units. The Holley RetroBright headlights significantly improve lighting, giving me peace of mind when driving in the old car with my kids at night.