Re: Wheels, plus obligatory hi-class sound content

[Scott Fisher <sefisher@domain.elided>]

JHertzman@domain.elided wrote:
> 
> I must raise an eyebrow at the 98mm bolt circle. Never heard of it, prior to
> the Alfetta, which was criticized about the more rapid wear of the smaller
> bearings required by the more limited hub.

Then perhaps someone ought to tell Paul Opiela, president of
International Auto Parts.  I've got a copy of his catalog beside me, No.
29, 1999-2000 Annual Catalog.  On the back cover there are seven wheels
illustrated; the one in the upper-right corner is the GTA replica, about
which the catalog copy has this to say:

"TecnoMagnesio, formerly Campagnolo, is once again making the beautiful
wheel that was original on the Alfa Romeo GTA.  It's an ultra-light
magnesium wheel with the GTA's 4 x 98mm bolt pattern (it won't fit the
GTV or Spider)."

I can find no documentation in my meager library of Alfa lore to say
what the GTA's actual wheel pattern might have been, but I agree with
John's question:
 
> why would Alfa have bothered to go to a smaller hub for the GTA?

Why indeed?  Longer or larger wheel studs, I could understand; even a
larger bolt circle would make some kind of sense.  But smaller is
confusing.  

On looking through other resources, however, I found in the June 99
issue of the ARA magazine, the Overheard Cams, an advertisement for
Sperry Valve Works in Signal Hill, CA, where they offer their own GTA
replica wheel for sale at $275.  The text that goes with it says:

"GTA Replica Wheel, 14 x 6-1/2.  Highest quality forged aluminum wheel. 
Will fit 105 and 115 series cars, finish off that project right!"

It appears to be the same style as the IAP wheel -- sixteen small holes
in the section between the hub (however far apart the bolt holes are)
and the rim, each of those sixteen holes with a small lip.  Lovely,
correct, and not outrageously priced.  Since I now have a 105 *and* a
115, maybe I should acquire a set of these and swap them to whichever
car I'm using at the moment... gee, then it's only $550 per car, a
veritable bargain!

> I won't question Panasports or Minilites for track or autocross use, but
> would question whether they are as natural an aesthetic fit on an Alfa as,
> say, the original style Cromadora "Daytona" star in the same IAP catalog
> group for about the same price.

De gustibus, etc.  I'd thought Robyn Boyar's original request was for
suggestions that went beyond the ubiquitous, if appropriate, Daytona
wheels.

> I would put a Nardi wheel on an Aston, 

I've always wanted to put a Nardi wheel on something, almost anything,
with a DB4 being well near the top of my personal if-I-won-the-lottery
list.  However, the Personal mahogany wheel in my new-to-me '74 Spider
is quite satisfactory, even if the spokes have a matte finish rather
than the jewel-like polished aluminium of a Nardi.

> But if you want to, slip a cassette of a Beecham
> recording of "Greensleeves", or maybe some Purcell, perhaps The Deller
> Consort on "Come ye Sons of Art", into your tapedeck and drive on, James.

I think John and I should, either of us, be better served by
Major-General Stanley's song from Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of
Penzance"...

 --Scott Fisher, who can't *quite* manage a washing-list in Babylonic
cuneiform
   Sunnyvale, California

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