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REAL, NEW, ORIGINAL Minilites are still available in sizes from 15x6 to 15x10. And they're not as expensive as one might think, considering they are genuine Minilite wheels. Contact me for more info.
REAL, NEW, ORIGINAL Minilites are still available in sizes from 15x6 to 15x10. And they're not as expensive as one might think, considering they are genuine Minilite wheels. Contact me for more info.
Rex
I believe original Minilites were made from magnesium...mine below
I now will have to pull the catalogs for Mini-lite history!
I about to drop cash on some TB-15 tires in 15". Apparently a Vintage Pirelli P7 is now available! I am switching to a 12 bolt 3.73 in the back of the C2, so only will go 185mph!
These are Team III 17". I wanted 15" but when I researched tires I could not find any performance tires in the width and diameter I wanted in 15". So I went 17". I have been running these for about 7 years.
Tom
Looks good! Perfect stance on that car, especially with the side pipes!
These are Team III 17". I wanted 15" but when I researched tires I could not find any performance tires in the width and diameter I wanted in 15". So I went 17". I have been running these for about 7 years.
Tom
Tom
These Wheels are just so right for the C2. the Gray spokes and polished rim are nicely understated.
I've always thought the AMR 17" torque thrusts are just so so (which I have on my 66)
15" Minlite are reproed here in New Zealand if any of you guys are interested. They are only a few kms from where I live. Look to very good quality but so far no 17" http://allports.nz/products/wheels/m...s/15-minilite/
Last edited by Nev Williams; 03-15-2017 at 03:09 AM.
To those of us that came to age during the Trans Am era, the Minilite wheel just speaks road racing and Trans Am. They were the go-to wheel for most of the major Trans Am teams. Even today it is difficult to find pictures of the major players back then without Minilites.
These wheels were magnesium and quite expensive. Not a wheel that many could afford for a street car. It wasn't until companies such as Panasport years later started offering Minilite clones of aluminum that it became practical to run them on street cars. Today there are quite a few companies offering reasonably priced, high quality reproductions of the original Minilite style wheels.
However if you just have to have the real thing, they are available...
PS Engineering (retired) out near Torrance/Gardena had the best offerings of exact reproductions in a durable Aluminum which was what all of the Vintage Racers for so many cars were using. But he sold out his operation to a guy near my Apartment Building south of my house in La Mirada! I have never stopped or checked out which offerings he has continued.
Last edited by TCracingCA; 03-15-2017 at 03:59 PM.
Mini-Lites have been used in the UK since the mid 60s as a performance mod wheel. Made famous with the Mini Cooper and then on TRs, MGs and many other smaller Brit cars. Never seen them on a big banger befor, they do look good on those Vetts.. I have used them on a Healy 3000 and you can get them in Magnesium so very light but pricy.
In the 80's, there was an Australian company called Performance Wheels, that made an aluminum copy of the Minilite. Like the US made Western Wheel, it too was called Superlite, but there was no relationship between the "Superlite" wheels made by Western, and the ones from Performance. When seen side by side, the wheels look somewhat different, the Performance wheel looks much more like a Minilite.
We ran Performance Superlites, on one of the Trans-Am Camaros I crewed on in the 80's. Coincidentally, the 67 Camaro vintage racer I crew on now, races on restored Performance Superlites. Technically they're not really correct for the 67. The Superlites didn't exist in 72, when it competed in the Trans-Am Series, but they look right, and were a lot more reasonable then Minilites.
Performance shut down a few years ago, and all of their molds were sold to TA Engineering, also in Australia. TA offers the Superlite in 14", 15", 16", and 17" diameters and in an assortment of widths and back spaces. They're not terribly expensive either, at about $200 each for the 15x7 Superlite.
Below is the Camaro we raced in 85-87, with Superlites on it, and the 67 Camaro I crew on now. If I remember right, the white car ran 16x10 wheels, the 67 has 15x8's.
I've come that close to putting minilite clones on my 67 several times, and it's still one of my favorite wheel designs of all time, but ultimately for me the wheel looks a tad chunky on a C2 and just right for a C3.
03-14-2017, 10:46 PM
