Wheels: Campagnolo and Cromodora

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

In AD7-195 Dave Pratt asked about the difference between Campagnolos and
Cromodoras, presumably the wheels popularly but unofficially known as
"Turbinas"
which were offered on GT Veloces and Spiders in the early seventies, patterned
after the wider ones first used on the Montreal.

Campagnolo is, I believe, an older company well known in the bicycle specialty
market, and (in my experience) their wheels were rougher castings, presumably
sand castings, a process which is well suited to small-scale specialty
production, while Cromodoras were injection-molded die castings, a more
capital-intensive process suited for volume production. The Cromodoras are
magnesium, the Campys probably aluminum as magnesium is more risky in open
air. Whether this is reflected in a weight difference in the wheels I do not
know, but it should be; magnesium is about 2/3 the weight of aluminum. The
Cromodoras will be easier to keep clean, and should be inherently well
balanced because of the precision of the process, although the sand castings
can be equally well balanced by a bit of careful hand-work. The Campagnolos
would be earlier, which might earn points in an authenticity concours if the
judge knows the difference; some appear to be earliest, with one purely
styling detail showing more hand work. The Cromodoras will be easier to find,
as they were used on Spiders for a few years after the coupe production ended.
I certainly agree that both are more subtle and original than the BWA, which
was an inexpensive popular aftermarket wheel sold on its flashier design as
well as low price.

I had thought, as Dave seems to, that "Campanatura" was a model name but wiser
polyglots convinced me that it is simply the Italian term for offset,
('bellness') stated in millimeters after the word. A caution is that there is
an extremely similar Cromodora wheel for the Alfetta, which has a different
bolt circle (98 mm instead of 108) as well as a different offset. The Alfetta
type can also be recognized by the complete opening between each of the
'turbine blades', while the 105/115 wheels alternate open and closed backs on
the pairs of 'blades'. Something to remember when finding bargain wheels at
swap meets.

At the time of an undated brochure that I have Cromodora claimed to make
original equipment wheels for seven manufacturers, from Ferrari to Simca. They
made the five-spoke "Daytona" style (which they claim to have originated, for
Ferrari, in 1973) for the aftermarket in eight sizes for Alfas, Fiats,
European Fords and Chryslers, Opels, BMWs, Porsches, Volkswagons, and Mercedes
(another wheel to be cautious about at a flea-market) and also showed twenty-
eight other styles of aftermarket wheels for Mini-Minors and Renaults as well
as most Italian and German cars. Definitely industrial, not old-world cottage
craftsmanship.

John H.

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