Longchamp aftermarket wheels

Like this one?

What a fab looking car I thought, until I saw it was mine! Mark, you're a magician. And yes, I like the look.

i like the look of the "deTomaso" style wheels.

Mikael forgive me but.......... I personally think you should keep your original wheels and accept the handling they can support. A longchamp with C6 tranny is a Highway Cruiser not exactly a Race Car, or am I wrong here?

And the benefit is you keep that classic original look (which I appreciate so much)

just my thoughts ;-)

Jan

Thanks Jan, but I think DeTomaso only built racecars, some of them well disguised. Been around Spa in this, overtook everybody. Fabulous day!

Seriously, will keep old wheels of course, but have now looked at them in 8 years, so time for something new. And you must admit Mark's picture is great.

You are welcome And what about a couple of Spoilers to provide some downforce?



Speaking of seriously, Mikael it looks so incredibly nice as it is, buy some new Tools or build another Garage to get rid of that urge

(just added) what about a set of Spacers to get those Wheels out an Inch? That would improve the "look" significantly without destroying the Idea of original too much.

In my opinion, stack the original wheels and tires in the garage, and drive the car on modern rubber. 17" is a dead-end path. Your new tires will need to be in the 18" through 20" range. To purchase 17" tires/wheels in this day simply means they are obsolete before you even mount them. This is not a matter of my personal taste, its just the reality of the market. Besides market considerations, if your goal is improved handling, you'll be ignoring much improvement to settle for 17" wheels.

I would suggest 225/50R18 (4.4" sidewall) or 225/45R19 (3.98" sidewall).

For every 10mm that a tire's cross-section increases, the wheel's offset should increase by 5mm. This keeps the tire's outer sidewall in the same location relative to the fender's edge.

Thanks, just ordered 17"x8.5" Lenso BSXs.

What no pics?
Here i come google.....

Haven't got them yet, I like the "closed" look as opposed to the modern wheels where all can be seen. Yes, call me shy...

I think those will look great. My only comment would be that cleaning around all the bolts sucks. It is the hardest part of cleanimg my car

Tajon brings up a very good point. Cleaning those wheels would be a huge pain. They look too "busy" for my liking. I like the wheel design to be simpler.

Those do look great and will difinately set off the car.

I seem to be partial to that design wheel as I had several varints through the ages

Thanks for worrying about my time and effort. It's not a show car, so they will be washed with a proper hardness brush and maybe chrome polish once per year.

Nothing a high pressure cleaner connected to hot water cant take care of.

Yeah, pimp it up

And after all you said about originality in other threads.......

Julian

Julian, for me the originality or not is about reversable or irreversable. And it's about whether the car pretends to be something it wasn't born as. These wheels will (I hope) just fit under my stock fenders, no cutting, and no added fender flares pretending to be a Longchamp GTS

And I know that in the DeTomaso world I may be part of a minority

Mark,

If you ever decide to sell that car please place me in the next available slot in line. I love that car!

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by T.Solo:
Mark,

If you ever decide to sell that car please place me in the next available slot in line. I love that car!

Steve

Ditto. Beautiful.

Good news to those that maybe didn't like my new wheels, the Lenso BSXs. The source seems to have dried up. I need 17x8½, 5x114.3, ET35 (ideally 40-42, 35 is absolute minimum). The wheels I want come in ET15, ET25 and ET35, I have to have ET35 or numerically higher to keep them under my fenders (no new fender flare discussion please).

I've now been in contact with 3 different UK sellers, all said they had what I needed, order placed, and then a few days later, oops, not in ET35. They may at xmas be able to get them, apparently the factory has to have a new production run

So I may wait for that, or may not. So any suggestions on wheels that are avail in that specific size (maybe 17x8 or 17x9 also) and in similar closed design are welcome.

Hi Mikael,
not sure whether you have found anything yet, but Simmons Wheels in Australia make pretty good 3 piece custom wheels to any spec/offset you require. Not sure how easily they could be sent over, but if you need assistance I'd be happy to help. This one looks a bit closed like the one you had identified. They have been used in racing and on Australian muscle cars for many years. They have a range of styles and a lot of sizes.
http://www.simmonswheels.com.a...l=17-inch-simmons-om

Thanks Oz, and that's a beautiful wheel. But 3 piece from around the globe, will be too expensive I think. Currently I'm waiting for Lenso to be bothered to produce the ET35 wheels I need. Maybe at xmas they say.

Hi Mikael,
there are a few Longchamps in Australia, and I just found these shots of a few together at recent all ford day.
regards
Peter

and another

final one

Thanks, I like the first and third picture, but need to keep wheels inside narrowbody fenders, that's the challenge.

Finally got my wheels from Lenso. The offset I needed was a not so much used apparently, because it took them 3 month to have a production run on them. Well got them, had special size spigot rings made in the UK, and then had to have them amended locally also. And of course the right size tires.

For all the measurements and all that, this tool helped me a lot:

Not driving weather, but had to move it from one garage to the other

Wheels are 8.5x17, 5x114.3, ET35, tires 245/45x17

Had considered wider back/narrower front, would maybe look better, but it would upset the perfect balance DeTomaso engineered in I think. When I first got the car, the old rims had quite old and quite slippery tires. I remember driving a little too fast in a roundabout in the rain, and it just slid slowly on all four wheels, no oversteer, no understeer, no drama. So I chose same size on all four wheels

IMO they look ok'ish to a classic car, except for the tire profile they look vintage enough to me. Glad I didn't do 18".
Need a a DeTomaso thingy to glue to the center cap on top of Lenso script

I of course hope they drive better, have always felt that the high narrow tires were the bottle neck for performance. But first we need to get rid of the snow, have the salt washed of, and the roads dry. Can be a while...

Why wait for spring, Mikael? Come to California!

Those wheels look great. Of course they are a little too "mod" for my style, but they will fit just right here in hot rod country.

I'll be happy to show you some nice twisty mountain roads and great beachside bars.

quote:

Those wheels look great

Thanks David. Of all the people in this forum that might have found time to say some kind words, I hadn't guessed you'd be the first.
And I'm sorry if the mod is too much for your sensitivites

Big of you. And thanks for the invite. With or without the Longchamp? Mike Drew flies a C5, I'm sure he could fit it in.

quote:

Originally posted by No Quarter:
Mike Drew flies a C5, I'm sure he could fit it in.

I've already asked him that and he said no. Some nonsense about not using government property for personal use...

Regardless, the wheels look great — even with those big snow tires you have on them.

Mark

Each to their own, my first thought was oh a De Tomaso disguised as a BMW...

Right Joules. Doesn't it kill you when people mess with their original wheels and tires?

Finishing touches so Joules doesn't get confused...

quote:

Some nonsense about not using government property for personal use...

I thought that in the US the government was there to service the people? As opposed to my country, where for sure all born individuals have one aim in life: serve and fund the government and the public sector

That's interesting. We've always been told that - to quote CNN

"Denmark is the land of high taxes, generous government services and stubbornly happy citizens."

In Canada we have only figured out the high taxes part.

In the US they seem to have have the stubbornly happy citizens - the rich ones, that is. The poor, as in any nation anywhere, are on their own.