Mangusta Wheels - info required

Jonathan,

Welcome here.

There has been much discussion over the years about people producing Mangusta wheels and it always seems to come back to cost. I can't speak for others, but I'm one of those who would love to have a second set of wheels but at a price much closer to $2K/set not the $5K and up that has been offered in the past.

Of particular interest would be a stock-looking wheel that can wear modern, easily sourced rubber. 17" dia. by 7" wide (or 8") for the fronts and 10" for the rears. There was a deep-dish style wheel made in very low volumes (3 or 4 sets?) that look awesome. Many (all?) Mangusta owners would LOVE to have a set of wheels that look like that (see image below).

Others will hopefully chime in with the off-set specs and opinions. The factory wheels tend to sit too far inboard (IMHO) and added width needs to be applied to the outside to create a more balanced look.

I look forward to your posts on this topic.

Mark

Hi Mark,

I must admit that initially I'm looking at 15's...but in ALL respects we're "singing from the same hymn book"!

I look forward to what lies ahead!!


Regards

Jonathan

whether 15" or 17", I agree 10" wide is a must with that exact style = WIN!

Jonathan,

Rest assured, if you created EITHER a 15" or a 17" version of the wheel I posted and the price was with reason, I'd be one on a long list of buyers.

Mark

Mark,

I just need to get those offsets....but I really cannot wait to show you what I have. All will be revealed this week!


Jonathan

Hi All,

I had hoped to post up some CAD drawings of 8 & 9 x 15's, however due to 10's being mentioned, it's required me to put my thinking hat on and "go back to the drawing board".

I will be back here on Monday with all proposals, CAD drwawings and details/info.

Have a good weekend.


Regards

Jonathan

Hi All,

Can someone very kindly measure the back space of a front and rear wheel? You can do this by putting a "flat edge" accross the back of your wheel (NOT tire - please note American spelling) and with a measure at 0 on the hub mounting face see what it reads where it crosses the "flat edge".


Thanks!

Jonathan

Jonathan, Since my rims are all mounted I had to made-do. Rears: rim flange to rim flange 8.75 in,(rear rims were always ID'd as 8in). So back spacing measured from the inboard flange 3.375.

Fronts measured from the flange to flange, 8.25in (fronts were ID's as 7in) and back spacing measured from inboard flange 3.25in

Denis,

Thank you VERY much!

This is really GREAT news/information....I just can't wait till Monday!!!


Regards

Jonathan

Jonathan,
I have a Mangusta and am a retired car designer, ex Director of Design for GM Europe. I have looked at doing some wheels for the Mangusta.

I have designed many wheels both in the USA and Europe. I am experienced in evaluating criteria and executing surfaces.

I made wheel mock-ups for my car using photo enlargements and did a design exercize about two years ago. Since the car is such a simple and classic design theme it is better to enhance it with slightly larger wheels than to make very large ones that become a distraction to the design. Retaining the original design is also very important since the wheel design is so strongly associated with the car. The other big issue is rear tire diameter. Since the cars wheel openings are set up for the the original tires, Front 185X70X15 and Rear 255X70X15 the wheel opening space grows with smaller diameter tires.

Currently I am running 26" diameter fronts and 28 diameter rears, these are 15 inch tires.

The body in the front can accommodate a much larger than original 185 tire in 60 or 50 series but the rear starts looking strange compared to the front as the overall diameter shrinks. This is caused by the fact that the front tire is shielded at the top by the wheel lip but the rear is completely in the open and unshielded.
The rear also can accept a maximum of two inches added rim width to the outside of the current rim resulting in a 10" rim. After that the tire will stick out of the body.

I notice that there are no 17, 18, or 19 inch diameter tires that are as large as the currently available 15 inch tires.

I would offer my help on your wheel project to you free of charge if you would like. I suggest making photo copies of renderings of your wheel designs and then make images of them on a Mangusta.

Let me know if I can help.
DICK RUZZIN >dickruzzindesign@aol.com<

Hi
Would you consider building Pantera GR4 replica wheels ( 15x 10 and 15 x 14 )
Some of us have been trying to get some from different manufacturers, but so far, none has come with a really good and reliable proposal .
Many thanks[IMG]http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/1096/candyafrontleftview.jpg"> [/IMG]

another try for the image ( not very familiar to me ....)

Hi Patrick,

Yes, I certainly would seriously look at manufacturing the Pantera wheel and it would certainly stack up numbers wise as there is so many more "on the road".

Have a look at my proposal for the Mangusta wheel tomorrow....and remember this was done without one to work from.

Judging from the picture, were these wheels sizes for a Group 4 car only or do they fit the later arched Panteras as well?


Regards

Jonathan

Good evening Jonathan
So, original GR4 factory cars wheels were 1. in magnesium, and 2. Rear size was in 14" ( I have even been told some 15x15 were produced, but I never saw any ) , while GT5 and GT5S have the same design , but rear is only in 13".Fronts are all 10".
I have a full original Campagnolo factory GR4 set set that you can copy.
We just need to go into details , but there is a significant market for those , much much more than for Mangustas.

Forgot to say that " street cars" wheels are aluminium, not magnesium. Weight difference ( according to Cesare Magistrali ) is between 6 and 8 kilos per wheel !
I can witness that the mag wheels are surprizingly light, though I never had a GT5 wheel in hand. But... compared to my Range Rover 22" alloy wheels, it's like Laurel and Hardy ! ( don't remember who was the skinny one)

Hi Patrick,

The 8 x 15 for the front of the Mangusta is not a problem as it would cross over to other vehicles as it was also an after market wheel (with a dished bowl), the 9 that I wanted to do for the rear the same but with less demand, 10" wide and upwards your REALLY limiting yourself as the amount of cars it fits deminishes sustantially.

If we can get plenty of interest for the Pantera wheel then yes it can be manufactured, it's a numbers game as to be able to sell it for a reasonable sum of money.

We'll get the Mangusta wheel posted up tomorrow and try and start generating interest, we can do the same "Upstairs" on the Pantera section.


Regards

Jonathan

I'll be in Surrey next week, may be we should meet ?
PM me please

Magnesium wheels...$$$, a whole different ball game, you would have to be VERY commited! We can get fairly close with aluminium as the wall thickness is narrower as it's a stronger material but it will still be heavier but the price on a run is FAR more reasonable.

Would be nice to meet up.


Regards

Jonathan