Borrani wires

[Packard8]

Hi Folks,

I stumbled in here via a Google search on Borrani wires and after a hour or two on your search I've concluded there are some very savvy car guys here.

Alas, I don't have a GT40 (one of my dream cars) but I do have a 1963 Avanti R2 (supercharged) with a set of 5 Borrani wires that may be from the early GT40/ Cobra era. The fellow I got the car from said he thought they were from an AC Cobra, which is feasible as the 5 lug spline adapters are the same bolt pattern shared by Ford and Avanti.

The markings on the eight-sided knock-offs read "Route Borrani Milano 42" and an "off arrow" indicating thread direction. The one unmounted spare is stamped inside “ 15 x 7½ K CMR 7 72”. They were steel (not stainless or chrome) painted silver when I got the car, I have since powder coated the 4 on the car.

Any help identifying the age or original application would be appreciated.

Thanks,

John

 

[Jay Cushman]

GT40s and Cobras use 15 x 6.5 and 15 x 8 and are all 6 pin knock offs not 5 pin and these were made in July of 1972

 

[Packard8]

GT40s and Cobras use 15 x 6.5 and 15 x 8 and are all 6 pin knock offs not 5 pin and these were made in July of 1972

Thanks for the information. I thought perhaps the "72" referred to 72 spokes. I'm not familiar with the term "pin"..is that the same as the wheel mounting studs?

Thanks

 

[Mike Drew]

Thanks for the information. I thought perhaps the "72" referred to 72 spokes. I'm not familiar with the term "pin"..is that the same as the wheel mounting studs?

No. Knock-off wheels are attached to the car with a single nut (normally a two- or three-eared spinner), but the spinner's function is just to hold the wheel onto the hub. The actual transmission of torque between the wheel and hub (either for acceleration or braking) is handled in either one of two ways--splines, or pins.

Wire-wheel cars (including Cobras and GT40s, no?) have splined hubs, which engage splines in the center of the wheel.

Mag-wheel cars have five or six large-diameter pins which engage holes machined in the back face of the wheel.

Quite a few GT40s (and Cobras) which originally carried Borranis were later fitted with Halibrand or BRM magnesium wheels. It's my belief that originally they had only spline-drive hubs, but that later they were retrofitted with pin-drive to accommodate the wheels. I don't believe that they had pins from the start--true, or no? Does anybody know?

Here's a photo of a GT40 front hub that has both the original splines and the later pins:

As to your Avanti, the wire wheels were a non-standard modification, enabled by the fitment of a bolt-on splined adapter which uses the stock wheel studs. I don't know if this was a factory option or added by an owner (I know the square root of squat about Avantis)

 

[Doug S.]

I like the look of wire wheels a LOT....not that I don't like the look of the Halibrand/BRM wheels, but the chromed wires have a very classy look, particularly for a street driven car!

Sorry I can't help you Packard8 (I assume that's a straight-8, right?)....but I can tell you I have always been a fan of the Avanti's and have never seen one with wires before.

Good luck finding the info you seek!

Cheers from Doug!!

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Borrani info here: Ruote Borrani Milano - Classic wire wheels for historic cars - Cerchi per auto d'epoca

And we can offer Borranis as an option on the Superformance GT40. Not cheap, but really good stuff never is!

 

[Packard8]

Thanks Mike & Doug,

You are correct, Avanti (the original 1963-64 models from Studebaker) did not offer wires as an option, although the later iterations did offer bolt-on wires as an option. And yes these are fitted by means of a spline adapter that bolts to the factory wheel studs (see photo). I was not aware of the pin drive...learn something new every day! I can imagine the torque produced by the GT40's might make short work of a spline drive only wheel & hub design.

Doug, Avanti's were ahead of their time...first American car with standard disc brakes, built in roll bar and it held the American production car speed record of 167 MPH for many years. Alas too little too late to save Studebaker though.

I'm down to one Packard, a 1954 Pacific HT with a 359 cid, 9 main brg straight 8... a dinosaur in the era of OHV V8's, but at 212 HP more powerful than Caddy or Lincoln at the time.

Thanks for all the good info,

Cheers,

John

 

[Mike Drew]

And we can offer Borranis as an option on the Superformance GT40. Not cheap, but really good stuff never is!

Does this option retain the ability to also use pin-drive wheels, as in the example above? Or are they mutually exclusive?

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Does this option retain the ability to also use pin-drive wheels, as in the example above? Or are they mutually exclusive?

The pins are removeable. They thread in as on all SPFs so you can use either the spline drive wires or the pin drive alloys as was the case on many Mk I GT40s. The factory is now producing a Mk II 289 "Cobra" model that is spline drive so they are now set up to spline hubs allowing the option of Borranis on the GT40.

 

[Doug S.]

The factory is now producing a Mk II 289 "Cobra" model that is spline drive so they are now set up to spline hubs allowing the option of Borranis on the GT40.

OOOHHHH....major droolage happenin' here, Mark!

Although I own a 427 model Cobra, the 289 has always been what I wanted. The 427 came about only b/c it was a real steal, $18.2K and I drove it home.

Man, a SPF 289 model with Borranis could well be the Holy Grail!!!

Cheers from Doug!!

 

[Charlie Farley]

I found a full set, including a spare, some years back.
Forget which P chassis number they came off.
I had them respoked and painted and the rims carefully refurbished,
to preserve knocks and dings.
The guy who carried out the restoration is in his late 70's , been doing it all his life.
When i went to pick them up, he recalled having 40's in the workshop back in the day and repairing Borranis for FAV, who were just up the road.

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

My friend who owned Safir P1116 bought a set of Borranis off Chris McAllister to use. He discovered that the Safir cars did not have splines and was shocked when we priced out custom machine work to add them.......I think the wires were marked "1056" and I don't know who he sold them to.

 

[Packard8]

Hi Folks, a quick follow-up:

I contacted Borrani America and learned that Borrani did indeed manufacture wire wheels for the Avanti (though I suspect one of the later models of the Avanti II and not Studebaker) as well as the Excalibur, which was originally based on Studebaker chassis and driveline components. Also learned that CMR is the parent company of Borrani. Here is an interesting link to Borrani history:

Milanese Masterpieces | Hemmings Motor News

The fellow at Borrani America has forwarded my inquiry to the “Classics Dept.” for further information…. I was impressed with the company’s prompt reply.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!

Cheers,

John

 

[Cliff Beer]

John, those look like borranis that you might find on a mid/late 60's ferrari or maserati. Something like a maserati mexico or a ferrari 275. I think the early daytonas had wire wheels so perhaps that's a possibility with the 1972 date stamp. They don't look like the borranis you might find on a jag or aston to me. Not sure if this is of any help.

 

[Packard8]

John, those look like borranis that you might find on a mid/late 60's ferrari or maserati. Something like a maserati mexico or a ferrari 275. I think the early daytonas had wire wheels so perhaps that's a possibility with the 1972 date stamp. They don't look like the borranis you might find on a jag or aston to me. Not sure if this is of any help.

Thanks for the input Cliff. They do look more like something from an Italian car and @ 7.5" the rim is too wide for a Jag or Aston. I have an E Jag that has 5.5" wires that are not triple laced like the Borranis. Some E Jag owners go with the Aston wheels (6 or 6.5 with a wider offset I think) for a wider stance. The series I Jags actually had the same front track width as the old Mini Coopers!

It will be interesting to learn what Borrani classic dept has to say.

Cheers,

John