When Porsche 911 /912 rally activities started actively in the late 1960 it became necessary to have more light on the road. The Porsche choice was the French Cibie halogen lights which were the best at the time. The Cibie Pallas lights were first time used in the factory rally cars in Monte Carlo in 1968 in Vic Elfords car and then in 1969 in all four factory cars. Gerald Larousse 911 R in 1969 was also using these lights. In the 1960´s and -70´s a lot of different lights were used in the different rally cars: Hella, Bosch, Marchal, Lucas, …etc, but Cibie Pallas lights became a legend and integral part of early Porsche 911 rally history.
Cibie Pallas lights were originally developed for Citroen DS 19 Pallas model which was launch in 1965. This was the new luxury version of the DS model. Porsche started to use the lights sometime in 1967/1968 Â and they were available as option until 1976. Since then the G- model rally cars started to use the Cibie Oscar lights.
We have installed quite a few Cibie light sets. During the restoration processes we have found several cars which have had these lights installed. We have not found any official istallation instructions, but it seems that the original factory installation was next to the driving lights. The rally cars typically had the lamps installed on the front hood on the same hight as the main lights and in line with the bends on the hood.
These lights divide Porsche enthusiasts. Some like them some don’t. We like them a lot and for us they are part of the Porsche 911 heritage.
Source: Carreraclassic