[DeTomaso] Wheels

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/25/12 21 55 46, coreyjprice at gmail.com writes:


> Can someone explain how to tell if a campy magnesium wheel is still 
> good?  I seem to remember that they can corrode, etc.
> 
>>>They must remain painted (or powdercoated) to protect them from the 
elements.   If they are stripped to bare metal and allowed to remain exposed to 
the atmosphere, they will start to corrode.   Eventually they can corrode to 
the point where they are no longer safe.   But as long as they have a good 
coat of paint on them (even if they're ugly) they're probably fine.   
> 
> >What are a decent set worth?  Are old Arriva tires worth anything?  I 
> have a set and they're as hard as glass.
> 

>>>Stock wheels have surprisingly little value--shocking really, when you 
consider their rarity.   I have had two full sets of stock wheels given to me 
for free, and in turn I have passed wheels on to other people that were 
given away for free.   Those were unusually generous gestures however.

A set of wheels in very average shape, meaning good enough to bolt onto a 
car if you didn't really care how it looked, but ones that could do with 
stripping/repainting, are worth about $200.   The fronts are borderline 
worthless ($25) and the rears more valuable at perhaps $75 each.

A beautiful, almost-concours set of wheels is worth more, perhaps $500 or 
so.

10-inch wheels are a completely different animal--those were always very 
rare and expensive, and nothing has changed.   A decent set of 10-inch wheels 
is a $1500 proposition, or more.   Interestingly, it doesn't seem to matter 
whether the wheels are offered up bare, or offered with tires, and matching 
8-inch wheels and tires--the price seems to be the same.   Sellers pretty 
much sell the 10-inch wheels for whatever the market will bear and the rest 
seems to sort of tag along for free.

I'd feel quite comfortable today paying $2K for a set of 8s and 10s with 
tires.

As for the Arrivas, they are much rarer than the wheels, and have value to 
a tiny sliver of the Pantera population.   Those tires were engineered 
specifically for the Pantera (they were actually a road-legal version of the 
Goodyear rain tire developed for the GT40s at Le Mans), but unfortunately they 
were rather horrible when new (bias ply racing tires) and have only become 
more horrible with age.   I would not trust driving on them for any distance 
or speed; they are something to be mounted on stock wheels and installed at 
the car show.   (Or, in my case, mounted on a wheel and turned into a coffee 
table....)

Mike