330 GT borrani wheel dilemma

[DBR330GT]

A lot of you know of my car, #9119 ex Prince Bernhard.

My wheels are nice but I really like the "pop" of new Borranis. Here's my problem:

My build sheets say the wheels are 3812, but the car has 3801. All FIVE wheels are 3801 and have the patina to suggest that they could be original. Here are the options. Remember I want to be respectful and true to this car's history.

#1 not be so dogmatic and realize that on the day my car was built they may have only had 3801s on the shelf and these wheels are original. Maybe the prince specified this? Remember he had a Superfast with a 330 engine. The spare is a 3801 and has an ancient pirelli cinturato tire on it. Therefore I would have these wheels restored.

#2 be dogmatic and figure that since the build sheets say 3812, then car must have had 3812 when it left the factory. Therefore I would buy brand new 3812s for the car

Recommendations?

( sorry for the cross pollination with FerrariChat)

Thanks, Dan

[tyang]

Hi Dan,

Personally, I see it as a matter of money over the point deduction. David Eichenbaum and I struggled with this issue with 1747 and its wheels. The car came with 400mm wheels which limited us to tire choices, so we decided to fit the car with 16 inch wheels. The car drives well, and has a great stance, but every time we show the car, there is some kind of point deduction. My pragmatic approach was how much was David willing to spend on refurbishing the wheels ($750 each), find tires (crappy narrow reproductions that are not speed rated), and swap them out every time we showed the car. After getting some kind of point deduction at our last show, David is going to get the wheels redone!

3801s do not affect the ride quality of your car, but if you can't live with the fact that they don't match to the build sheet, buy new wheels. Buying new wheels from Borrani, buying new tires, mounting, balancing, can run into $10K! You can sell your current set to offset this cost, but how much is your peace of mind worth?

Tom

[DWR46]

9119 is far enough into the serial number range that the chances it would have been factory equipped with RW3801 wheels are extremely small. By this time in 1966, RW3801's had not been used for over a year on new cars. I believe it is very safe to say that the Data Sheets are correct in that the car had RW3812's when built.

Also, remember that it is very hard to tell the difference between a 46 year old wheel and a wheel that was installed on the car 40 years ago. Even though the RW3801's look 46 years old, they may have been installed a few years later and now appear to have the same old "patina".

Also, historically, RW3801's have been more readily available over the years. Many cars that had RW3812's originally, were switched to RW3801's as they were easier to acquire for many years.

[DBR330GT]

Thanks guys! If that is correct that 3812s would cost so much, I can't possibly justify the cost just for slightly wider wheels. I can do $3000 to restore what I got already.

[DWR46]

See if Tom S. has any rebuildable 3812's. You might be able to trade your 3801's in partial payment and you have to rebuild a set of wheels anyway. Might as well rebuild the correct wheels.