> What is up with that? What function is it supposed to serve? Some people
> don't know when to stop accessorizing....

These eyebrows (more like eyelids on this van) are a stupid idea but
very trendy in Europe (which includes Britain)... they cut off part of
the headlight beam! No function at all, unless it's to cause an
accident. A bit like those masks you often see on meathead US pickups.

>  The lights, on the other hand, appear to be of the European spec. The
> ones that actually illuminate more than ten feet.

European lights are actually not terribly good, and Aussie journalists
often bemoan this because kangaroos are a real menace on the roads at
night. However they are far better than the candles offered in USA.
What you call "European" lights actually are world-market. The US gets
US-only lights. Canada gets halogen lights, even in American cars, and
has done so since at least the mid80s, so T3 halogens should be
available to US buyers from wreckers here. The best stock lights I
have driven with were the H4s on a Japanese-market-only 1988 Nissan
Skyline R31 diesel; length, spread, brightness, whiteness, no bright
spots or holes.