[DeTomaso] 10x15 Campagnolo Pantera GTS wheels

coffield at mchsi.com coffield at mchsi.com
Thu Jun 11 09:10:37 EDT 2015


I’ve observed several outcomes when rare car parts are reproduced when a (relatively) small number of high trading prices is the motivation.
 
Most often the market at exceptionally high prices consists of a very small number of individuals….sometimes only 1! …or perhaps a couple or handful per year if you’re looking at it in terms of business revenue. In other instances, introducing a reproduction has actually made the value of original pieces increase, though more often than not, making a rare part abundant and/or always available reduces the price the market will bear.

One thing is for certain, there is no downside to Pantera owners having a source for new mag Campys, especially from a reputable and knowledgeable manufacturer. Casting mag is not child’s play. On the business side, it will be interesting to see how they do. -I wish them well.

Best,
K


----- Original Message -----
From: "Julian Kift" <julian_kift at hotmail.com>
To: "MikeLDrew at aol.com" <mikeldrew at aol.com>, guson at home.se
Cc: "De Tomaso List" <detomaso at poca.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 11:37:21 PM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] 10x15 Campagnolo Pantera GTS wheels

Agreed that Ed should be commended in taking on such an endeavor, hopefully he will get the minimum number of people step up and commit so that the manufacture can proceed.
Julian

From: MikeLDrew at aol.com
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2015 00:25:55 -0400
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] 10x15 Campagnolo Pantera GTS wheels
To: julian_kift at hotmail.com; guson at home.se
CC: detomaso at poca.com



In a message dated 6/10/15 15 16 58, julian_kift at hotmail.com writes:





Would you be happy having mismatching wheels?



>>>Well, I'm a bit unusual in that regard in that I took extra lengths to make sure I had 1973-74 wheels to match my 10-inch rears.   But most owners of '71-72 cars don't seem to care that much, and I'd guess that more cars have Pre-L front wheels with 10-inch wheels than don't.





> I wouldn't pay $1,700 each for the 10x15, they don't fit a wide body rear...... but I would want to know that front and rear are going to look aesthetically the same when I'm done if I was getting them, that's all.



>>>Which is why you would do what I did, and seek out '73-74 8-inch wheels if you didn't already have them.   Of course, most people don't pick up on the subtle differences and don't care as much, and are quite happy with Pre-L wheels on the front.



>Pricing is an interesting discussion; it's a similar situation with the GP4 wheels; new wheels cast because of the exorbitant price of used ones (driven solely by supply and demand) and yet the new castings are more expensive than used?



>>>Well, the cost to buy an existing something has no bearing on the cost to produce a new something.   However, it only becomes economically viable when the cost of the existing something approaches what the new something would sell for.



GT5 wheels have always been expensive.   When I was shopping for my Pantera in 1989, I toyed with the idea of a GT5, but would have insisted on proper wheels for it.   When I discovered that (in 1989) they were selling for about $1300 each, I quickly dismissed that idea.   Since then, the cost of those wheels has only gone up.   I've had several sets pass through my hands as I acted as intermediary between seller and buyer.   I was amazed when the first set went for $6000, then the second one went for $7500, and they have gone up since then.



So the new-production wheels at 1800 Euros are only slightly more expensive (if at all) compared to what would be reasonable (to the extent any such purchase can be considered reasonable) to pay for used wheels, whose condition will always be somewhat unknown.   Marvic is a fantastic company and for your money, you're getting a known good (make that GREAT) quantity.   The fact that the rears are in the more desirable 14x15 (we're still talking about GT5, Gr4-spec wheels here) is that much better.   I've seen a pair of the very rare original 14x15 wheels sell for $8000, with no fronts included!



When it comes to the 15x10 wheels for the rear of the narrow-body cars, the same story applies.   For years they would trade in the $750-1000 each neighborhood.   Only recently have they gone up substantially.   Last week a friend bought two complete sets of wheels (8s and 10s) with tires and paid $8000, and he feels like he got a great deal.   I have to agree.



But with 15x8 wheels to match the new 15x10 wheels available for $100-200 each all day long, it would be a fool's errand to tool up to produce them new.



I, for one, applaud the efforts of Patrick Hals to put the Gr4/GT5 wheels back into production, and urge people to support Ed in his most noble effort too.   I've been doing what I can to help him out (doing everything short of committing to buy a pair for myself, since I already have two pairs).   If you've always wanted a set of these wheels and haven't been able to find them, it seems like a no-brainer to step up and put yourself on the list now....



Mike

 		 	   		  
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