Wheels ????

[Richard]

Back around 1969 a friend with a 427 Cobra was looking for Halibrand wheels to replace the Star Burst (I think that what they are called) wheels that came on his car. Now Shelby was a Goodyear dealer and we heard they were having a "fire sale" on wheels. I’m sure Ford paid for all of them and Shelby was just making a buck unloading them. So on the appointed day we showed up bright and early at Shelby’s Goodyear warehouse in L. A. hoping to find some deals.

What we found would make most of us cry today, there was at least 200 assorted wheels most of which were brand new still in the box GT-40 wheels all for the “fire sale” price of $45.00/wheel.

There were some used wheels and I bought a pair of 9” wide Trans Am wheels and he found one of what he thought was the right wheel and found a matching one in the showroom.

Other than the fact they have to be Halibrand there are no markings on the wheels and they have a little to much negative offset to be a Cobra wheel (he still used them) no one seems to know what they are for. The are extremely and I do mean extremely light and one knowledgeable person thought they may have been “qualifying” wheels. I’m hoping someone the forum can tell us what Shelby would have used them on.

 

[Mark Clapp]

There were a few "narrow-hip" 427 Cobras made. Maybe they were for those to keep the wheels and tires inside the fenders. See this web page: 1965 Shelby 427 Cobra CSX3134 at Colin's Classic Auto

 

[Phil]

Richard:

Judging by what you said abut the weight of those wheels and the color I would bet that they are magnesium. The difference between an aluminum and magnesium wheel is substantial as far as weight, they are also generally more rigid.
All in all you guys have a great find there, and if you intend on using them I would think of looking into having them checked for cracks and get some type of coating on them to stop any further oxidation
Cheers
Phil

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

There were a few "narrow-hip" 427 Cobras made. Maybe they were for those to keep the wheels and tires inside the fenders. See this web page: 1965 Shelby 427 Cobra CSX3134 at Colin's Classic Auto

The "narrow hip" and most later street cars used the Halibrand "Sunburst" wheels. Keep in mind Halibrand also made champ car wheels and the wheels for the Grand Sport Corvettes. If the are Grand Sport wheels they should be quite valuable.

The Cobra wheels generally have "Cobra II" cast into them from a Dymo label on the pattern.

Look at photos of Champ/Indy cars from the the mid sixties and you will see lots of halibrands.

 

[Scott Calabro]

Richard:

Judging by what you said abut the weight of those wheels and the color I would bet that they are magnesium. The difference between an aluminum and magnesium wheel is substantial as far as weight, they are also generally more rigid.
All in all you guys have a great find there, and if you intend on using them I would think of looking into having them checked for cracks and get some type of coating on them to stop any further oxidation
Cheers
Phil

That coating was/is Dow #7.

There is a helicopter main rotor gearbox repair shop not too far from me that still does it beacause some of the boxes are cast mag.

 

[Richard]

I know this is a very old thread but I thought I would post a possible solution to my original question. I talked to a guy that said they may be the wheels they used on the "spare" tire. Back in the day they had to carry a spare and had to take the spare out and put it back in every time they pitted. So there was no need to use the same "heavy" wheel they used to race when it only had to look the same. Like I said they are incredibly light.

If they are truly only designed to be the wheel for the spare tire I'm glad my friend survived his day at Riverside Raceway.

Hopefully one of our GT40 historians can shed some light on this.

 

[Mike Drew]

The "narrow hip" and most later street cars used the Halibrand "Sunburst" wheels.

True of some, perhaps even most, but certainly not all. Colin Comer's car as pictured in the link above uses four 'front' traditional Cobra-style 15x7.5 inch wheels. I've seen two other narrow-hip cars fitted with those wheels as well. I've also seen a couple with the Sunburst wheels....

As for the wheels that started this thread, I bet they're nothing special. That is, they are nothing more or less than original magnesium wheels, which are special in their own right, but not unique. Magnesium wheels are VERY light compared to aluminum counterparts with the same dimensions.

I stumbled across a single Sunburst wheel many years ago, in the pre-internet age. It was an NOS wheel, never mounted or used, with a slight crusty patina, and a friend had acquired it in a trade and didn't know what to do with it. It was astonishingly light. I sold it for him for $1500 through the national SACC newsletter. I wonder what that wheel would fetch today?

 

[Allan Feldman]

I thought Sunburst wheels were designed by Pete Brock and used when the Halibrands were unavailable on the Cobras. The Halibrands were standard wheels for the MKII. And used to replace the fragile Borrani wires on the small block GT40's before the 6 spoke BRM type wheels came along in 1967?
Regards Allan

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

I thought Sunburst wheels were designed by Pete Brock and used when the Halibrands were unavailable on the Cobras.

Yes...and in a bad logic the "sunbursts" were also cast by Halibrand so the logjam was not resolved.....

 

[Richard]

My friends Cobra was/is a strange mishmash of parts. It wasn't an SC but originally came with an aluminum head side oilier medium riser with a magnesium sidewinder manifold, side pipes and roll bar. The wheels where the "Sunburst" which we both hated. He started looking for a set of Hailbrand's as soon as he bought it. The problem was back then neither of us had two nickles to rub together. Yes he owned a 427 Cobra but back then they weren't worth much.

The first picture is a wheel from a 427 Cobra, the next three are GT40 wheels. As you can see the wheels I posted are more like the GT40 wheels but not quit. Unlike most of the Hailbrand's Shelby used on there cars my friends wheels have no markings like the 3rd GT40 wheel.

The mystery continues.

 

[Johan]

Lola T70