Now we're getting somewhere...... Imagine the Stanford rendering with a set of pinner redlines. A set of redlines would really work with the black paint and the red interior. To make them really work, go 15x6 on the front and 15x8 on the rear, big/littles and nice low hot rod rake. I love Rivieras, and owned one back in the day. Bill Mitchell and the Boys absolutely hit it out of the park when they designed the Riviera. So much so, that seeing one chopped actually ruins the lines of the car. I would love to see a rendering of a '63-'65 Riviera with a '65-'66 Impala roof. I have always thought that the stock roof was too square and too "bobbed". I think it would look awesome with a nice flowing roof to better match the beautiful front fender shape. Ryan: Please, no wide whites. I prefer blackwalls, but if you decide on whitewalls, go as skinny as you can find. The gold line Vogues would look kinda *****in' against the Verde Green paint........
This is exactly the type I was thinking of for a Riviera. The added visual m*** of the wheel from the lip lacing seems more propotionate to the m*** of the car. I think the offset rim look as used on the sports cars of the time would be out of place on a full sized "grand touring". FWIW, I'm a Monteverdi fan too. Euro cl***, good ol "he man" American TQ and HP. It's gotta be a rush to drive. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it penned by Guigarrio? I'm a fan of his work too.
Ryan, Maybe you've inspired me in some way. With this Euro theme idea. I just got a Nardi 3 spoke wheel from a Jag. I'm thinking of putting it in my Riviera. God knows ya can't find a Buick wood wheel cheap! Bill
This Monteverdi was designed by Pietro Frua and built by Frua and Fissore. It is a great car to drive and really gets up and goes. Powerful and comfortable with a nice center of gravity and the cool growl of the Chrysler 440. .
Indeed. There's another car with some visual m*** and lip laced wheels, and yet it's another true GT. Thanks for the reminder on Frua too, another favorite GT designer. The AC by Frua was very similar in size and scope to the Monteverdis, and another US/Euro hybrid with plenty of big V8 TQ as well. I think we're gettin somewhere...
Hey thanks Nads! Although it's easy to like good stuff. I agree on the AC. Another good car that you don't see many of. .
The Monteverdi Hai 450SS - reminiscent of the Alpine A310 - was not such a fortunate choice to run Borranis - too angular and in general 1970s styling did not work well....
My DD Jag is powered by a 383 SBC. Sorry, no wires, but this thread has me thinking about it! The rear hubs are easy - E-type swap. I think the front hubs from a V-12 E-type will fit the XJS. If so, then Borannis are easy. Now all I have to do is sell a kidney to pay for them.......
Yeah, but oftentimes people that can afford to buy good stuff will buy tacky stuff instead, and it seems that as more money comes in the tackier the stuff gets.
As beautiful as they are, there are some challenges to having wire wheels on your ride. I can remember,when I was a dumb kid (sometimes I still think I'm not so bright); after an afternoon or evening running my wire wheeled MG in an impromtu Mulholland Drive (L.A. Calif.) Gran Prix, I'd have to have my Rudge's retuned. Currently, I'm running a set of Dayton 100 Spoke wires (see photo below). The front ones are back at Dayton, as I write this, having new rims fitted. A madman, driving a Type 35C Alfa Romeo, bounced off me; as he tried to make it three wide, going through the Esses at Sears Point, during last year's Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival The late great Alberto Ascari drove the factory entered car in the 1952 Indy 500. (below) His right rear Borrani came apart, putting him out of the race.
There's a nice featuring on "speed age" magazine on the race... they say it was a rear bearing locking up the real cause and this was used by Ferrari to blamed the wheel. One i spoke with an old man, that claimed to be present at the race, he sworn he had seen the spokes fly away... hehehe, you've got wire wheels so you and I know he was a lier. First the wheel looks intact(so he may flat up the splines), that the spokes are hooks so no way they can fly away, the ******s will go inside the tyres! Thanks for the cool pics
We design and manufacture alloy rim (as well as all other type) wire wheels in UK, www.turrinowheels.com so I hope I can contibute to the lacing discussion. The traditional thin spokes (as on the cl***ic Borranis and our own Turrino wheels) are designed to transmit the forces from the rim to the wheel centre mainly through tension rather than bending. Compe***ion wheels are generally built with a 3 row design where the back row are perpendicular to the axle line in one plane and near tangential to the wheel centre in the other. These deal effectively with braking and acceleration, and the other 2 rows are tensioned against each other to deal predominantly with cornering forces. When you work out how to arrange these in practice then the 'grouping' is often the only way. The dimples have never been cast into the rims but pressed into the required position. You will also see many Borranis (and Turrinos) with no dimples at all. These use thicker rims to allow more rim stiffness and the spoke ******s are countersunk into the material. The earlier Borranis were made from extrusions that were rolled and then welded. They were never cast. I believe we introduced spun rims before Borrani, and they work very well. We still use the welded extrusion method for 3 to 4.5 inch wide rims in the 17 inch to 21 inch diameter range. There are many steel wheels now made (especially in USA) where the spokes are more radially arranged (not grouped) but these require more spokes (and hence weight) to achieve the same result. Some people like the look, others (including me) don't. The new type Borranis for modern cars achieve the same result by using very thick spokes which work by accepting a higher bending load as well as tension. This design was neccessitated by the fact that the brake calipers of most modern cars are positioned much further outboard so there isn't room to position more steeply angled traditional thin spokes without the wheel centre projecting beyond the wheel rim. Not allowed by DOT type rules. We've now found a way to do this (patents pending) and are prototyping new designs for modern cars right now. Alloy rim wheels with traditional spoke lacing up to 22inch diameter and as wide as you like. Will
Probably the coolest first post I've seen. Sounds like Will knows his ****. Now go do an introduction!
My neighbor to my shop in Campbell, Ca. was the Zenith wire wheel co. His mgr. 'informed' me that they had purchased the original Boranni patents, and they would look 'so cool 'on my street roadsters! Methinks, "What??? Borannis, right here in River City???" I took a look. Lowrider style, extraordinaire. I had to p***...
I recently bought a set of 4 15x7 Borrani wires RW 3997 dated 1966. Were offered for1958-60 Corvettes. As near as I can tell they were on one car for a long time and only required a cosmetic cleaning and re-polish. I'm hoping they will fit my '40 Chevy convert. Front spacing will be tight on the front. They are my holy grail wheels for sure.
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