where do I get some "bug-eye" driving lights?

[cegerer]

"For those of us not too concerned with originality ...."

The Cibie Oscars might make a reasonable modern approximation. The Cibie Tango's are close to the horn grill lights as well. -- Curt

http://www.cibielights.com/cibie/cibie.html

[nick-moss]

The factory rally cars had black lights. That ST isn't my car, but I did buy a set of lights from Eric Linden. His Pelican handle is Soterik

[GeorgeK]

Dave,
The lights alone are sometimes on Ebay. Be careful with the mounting tabs, because the same light was also used on some BMWs, but with different tabs, rendering them useless for our lights.
GeorgeK

[Early_S_Man]

For those of us not too concerned with originality..are there fair approximations of more modern units ( less $ for cheap b&stards like me) to consider ??

Will,

Have you looked at the Hella 4000 lamps?

At 8.75" in diameter, I consider them to be a modern logical successor to the Cibie Super Oscars, and they can take 130 Watt H1 bulbs, in the case of the driving and 'Euro beam' versions, and 130 Watt H3 bulbs for the fog lamps! Around $96 each from www.offroadwarehouse.com ...

The steel housings won't have a problem with heat from the 130 Watt bulbs!

[RPMClassic]

Heres the shot of my rally car. These are all Marchal units.

[nostatic]

jeeezus...do you have a small nuclear reactor in the back seat to power those?!?

btw, I'm diggin on the single light on the roof in one of the above pictures...

[Early_S_Man]

Todd,

Assuming that only period-correct 100 Watt bulbs are used ... and that the two outboard Oscars are fog lamps ... the load for high beams + driving lamps would be only 600 Watts (400 Watts on low beams + fogs) ... leaving 170 Watts of surplus alternator output to run the ignition + running lamps!!! If 130 Watt bulbs are in there ... all bets are off!

If all of the Oscars are driving/spot lamps ... the 800 Watt load on high bems would be a bit taxing for an 770 Watt alternator ... I don't think a little 31 Amp-hour Miata battery would cut the mustard very long! Better strap on a 2nd alternator ... like some rallyists did ...

At $1500 per pair ... those Oscars exceed the value of a lot of 911's from that period!

[RPMClassic]

For what its worth, I am running dual gel batterys in the stock location. All the cables to starter and alternator have been upgraded to a higher copper loaded wire from Anchor. The alt and housing have been updated to late 80's spec.

Over kill indeed, but I have never had a problem running these. Granted, the car is void of other draining creature comforts - no AC, no big stereo set up etc. This car loves to run and is a blast to drive. The only threat is that ( with all the lights on) the frozen lake will melt when the car is running on its period correct STUDDED snow tires.

[Early_S_Man]

RPM ...

Nice car, and I didn't suspect any problems ... especially with a late 980 Watt alternator!

How many fogs/spots/driving Oscars in the setup, and what wattage bulbs???

Personally, I have always preferred the Super Oscars in this setup ... and will be cloning it with 130 Watt Hella 4000's , soon ...

[nostatic]

what are the ride heights on these rally cars, and are you/they doing anything special with the suspension?

[RPMClassic]

Sam -

I am ready to trade when you are! That is one HOOOOOOT pic.

[RPMClassic]

They don't make gel batteries with enough AMP reserve to keep those lights powered!

[MarkP]

I assume you guys have seen these for sale on ebay, but if not:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34207&item=2409094664&rd=1

Sam, I can only imagine the jpg's you have stored on that hard disk

[ZOA NOM]