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Marchel Fog lights 656 vs. 653

inves

Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2005
Messages
12
Location
Mazomanie, Wisconsin
How do the Marchel fog light housings differ between the 656 and the 653 models? The car I recently purchased has 653 housings, with the date of December 21, 1967 stamped on the inside. The bulbs and lenses are missing. Also, are the backsides of the 656 housings chrome? The 653 housings I have appear to look just like the 656's.
 

Kurt

Active member
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Messages
25
On some of the 653 the mounting stud will swing back far enough to mount properly to the grille, if yours do then they are the same. The 656 were not stamped with a part number on the eyebrow like the 653 s

hope this helps,
 
P

PNewitt

Guest
I was afraid that someone would ask that question--after all these years. Kurt knows something that I haven't heard of, which is good info.

I have a 1968 European car magazine that did a review of foglights, and they called it the Marchal 653/656, which I took to mean that the differences were slim.

I DO know that if you put a higher wattage bulb (OSRAM type) that these lights are waaay too bright. They were also a "stock item" on the street version of the GT-40 from Shelby in 1967. They sit just under the headlights. Perhaps that had something about Shelby spec'ing them for the '68 Shelby and GT/CS.

These lights (653?) were also used on the Ferrari Superamerica, and 350GTO. That's what ups their value. Don't park near a Ferrari that needs driving lights! LOL.

The State of California HATED these lights, and deemed them illegal in '68. There wasn't a review authority for things like fog/driving lights then, just an on-the-spot review by the CHP.

Thanks, Kurt, for the info, because there is very little info out there on the internet about these lights.

Paul N.
 

68sunlitgold

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Messages
1,357
The 653's and 656's are almost exactly alike, as I stated in other posts, once they are on the car they are almost impossible to tell from the 656's. A judge would have to get within a foot to notice the "Marchal 653" stamped on the top to tell the difference (see attached pic). Every 653 I have seen also has the "653" and a date ink stamped inside, mine state "653 300 B4" with a date of "11 FEVR 1964" (I also have a set of NOS 656's). So if you can get a pair of 653's cheap I for one would buy them and put them on the car until you can find a set of 656's.

Doug
 

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inves

Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2005
Messages
12
Location
Mazomanie, Wisconsin
Thanks everyone for the replies. For my fog lights, I have two housings that are labeled 635 and 21 DEC. 1967. However, the eyebrows that were on them have no markings on them at all. I assume that I have 653 housings with 656 eyebrows. Also, I have the inside part (reflector???) that is in pretty bad shape, but it looks like it used to be chrome. The lenses that I have are obviously not originals. These lights do not have the bulb holder/wiring. Could anyone give me some more help? What parts do I need to make these correct/functional.
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