[DeTomaso] 72 PreL Max Wheel size

[Dave Kanahele]

>> He wrote that the fronts were 19x11.5" and the rears were 20x14".
> 

Mike Drew writes:

>Thanks for that clarification!   That seems quite do-able for a flared car,

>and impossible for a non-flared car....I failed to notice the width of the 
>wheels in the original post, I only focused on the diameter.

Mike,

FYI, back in the early/mid 80's several Panteras ran 19" x 15" rear wheels
and 16" x 11" front w/o flares. The larger wheel diameter in the rear
allowed additional inboard offset - although that did require the chassis to
be channeled for clearance. The tires were usually from Goodyear sized
27.5x14.5x19 and had a section width of about 16". (Although Dunlop and
Pirelli also made similar sized tires at that time.) There is a scan of a
picture showing a Pantera w/this combo on my website at
http://mysite.verizon.net/res0q9zn/parts/id6.html. 

But as far as I know, there are no *current* tires that would fit 19" x 15"
wheels. And I believe I bought the last set of new 27.5x14.5x19 race
Goodyears from their warehouse back in '86. If there is a more modern tire
for this wheel size I'd be interested in learning more about it.

While not for everyone's tastes as far as appearance, the 19" / 16" combo is
at least "period correct" for GT cars that raced in Group 5 circa 1980.
These are the same sizes as used on the Porsche 935s of that era. You can
also find pics of the "Sala Group 5" Pantera on the internet also running
the 16/19 combo - albeit with massive body mods!

And back then, for Panteras that had Group 4 flares, their was also the
option of running a 19" tall wheel that was even wider than 15". As I recall
there was a 19" tall by 18" wide wheel run by at least one Pantera! ... The
good old days! 

Regards,
Dave