Hood-Mounted Driving Lights

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

I'm not talking about the horn-grill lights here, but the auxiliary lights that were actually mounted to the hood of the car. They're seen on early 911 rally cars and on some 73 RS's and were made by Cibie and Marchal, I think. Were these actually offered as an option by the factory?

pwd72s · 12-30-2001, 04:48 PM

After this post, somebody will drop in and correct me, I'm sure. But back in the olden days, when the 911 was a "new" car? The only pics I saw of cars with these lights were factory supported rally cars...were probably placed there by the factory competition department for events like the Monte Carlo rally. Or, could have been added by the competitors themselves. I doubt that such lights were listed as an option for street cars.

Doug Zielke · 12-30-2001, 07:09 PM

Is this what you have in mind, Curt?

Elford and Stone havin' fun, 1968 Monte-Carlo

pwd72s · 07:34 PM

Great pic Doug! Those are exactly the lights I was thinking of, one of the pics I remembered. And gosh, note the rear fender flares? Could this have been a 911SC prototype...back in '68?

I mean, dig the plate number!

Jack Olsen · 08:05 PM

How about in color? This is Pelicanite Eric Linden's (user name Soterik) car:

It's a 67S, I believe, and it makes me think the yellow lenses would look cool on my black car. Click on the picture for a bigger version.

cary · 12-30-2001, 08:26 PM

There is a guy that advertises in Pano and Excellence. He has everything. But have your wallet open.
I asked about a WRC ( world rally championship ) style light cluster that "slips" on the hood. He had one left. $1500. A little too expensive for a shop decoration. Wouldn't use them much. That was without lights.

campbellcj · 12-30-2001, 09:01 PM

Cibie-Marchal "Oscar" lamps; with the proper 911 hood brackets, I don't think I have seen a set go for less than $800-900 recently. Concours sets more; NOS sets even more yet.

Probably not worth it at all from a pure functional standpoint. This is a "coolness factor" only item IMHO.

Early_S_Man · 12-30-2001, 11:41 PM

Yeah, those 'Super Oscars' look pretty neat ... and a couple of the factory rally cars had FOUR of THEM on the hood ... which messed up the esthetics badly, but looks weren't the point, millions of candle-power WAS!

nick-moss · nick-moss's Garage

Cibie Oscars (around 6" diameter) and Super Oscars (8") were standard aftermarket spot lights which were fitted to all period rally cars with a swivelling hemi-spherical mounts. The Porsche bonnet mount lamps were special in that the rear housing of the lamp had a flat section to mount directly onto the bonnet of the 911.

GeorgeK · 12-31-2001, 03:37 AM

These Cibie lights (they also used Marchal optics) were originally built for the Citroen DS. They were an option at least in '73, possibly other years. The point was as Warren said, to add candlepower. they take up to 100W bulbs with the correct wiring.
I'm still debating on wether to put mine on the hood, for aesthetic reasons..
GeorgeK

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

Thanks for the info guys. -- Curt

Saffs · 12-31-2001, 07:16 AM

I used to have some Super Oscars on a '71 BMW 2002. They looked great and were very bright. They were the spot lights to have in the '70s, in the UK.

nick-moss · nick-moss's Garage

Just to prove that it can be done with standard Cibie Oscars which are about $100 each in the UK

Click here for a large image

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

I guess this was a decent buy last night on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=599716392

eurotech@together.net · 01-03-2002, 01:58 PM

I don't want to turn this thread into a classified but......... I have a NOS set of these lights for similar money. E-mail if interested.

Woody · 01-03-2002, 02:07 PM

That was an excellent deal. I have a set on my '70. All the 911's in the movie Lemans have them. I,ve seen them go for $800 U.S.

jimbo · 01-04-2002, 11:58 AM

My 71S Euro came with them as option when delivered new in Paris.

eurotech@together.net · 01-04-2002, 12:45 PM

Jimbo, Do you know for a fact that this car came from the factory with the lights,or could they have been dealer installed?

Soterik · Soterik's Garage

There is a local 67S that the 2nd owner has quoted to me that they were on the car from new per the 1st owner...same mounting area, and also a car from France.

There was a 67S on EBay about 2 years ago that also had a similar mounting, and this car was also from France. Again, the owner claimed that they were on the car since new.

There is no listing of this light in the 67 parts books, 67 accessory books, 1968 Sports Purposes Brochure (#W-351e), or in my fathers old price list (my father was an independant dealer at the time...) for this particular option.

Probably was dealer installed...yet in my opinion, this still is valid as original....Dealers were the factory agents...

regards,
Eric

1970_Pete · 01-04-2002, 04:26 PM

Hi Soterik - sorry for the OT reply, but I wanted to ask what color your car is, as pictured in this thread. I think my euro spec 1973 2.4s is the same color, unfortunately the paint code has been erased on the door pillar - I wondered if you could help me out with the name of the paint.

Thanks in advance
Pete