It’s finally time for my Pantera to go in for her full restoration and part of that process is installation of the weld on fender flares. Iam trying to determine who makes these wheels for the Pantera as these are the ones I want to put on the car. Does anyone know who makes these wheels?
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I think Hall Pantera used to sell those.
It appears to me that, while the center portions appear to be very similar, the second of the three examples is definitely a different style in regards to the hoop style as compared to photo one and three.
just something you might want to be aware of and take into consideration as you search for your wheels.
additionally, I would strongly urge you to have your wheels and tires installed prior to and during the installation of the flares.
Good luck.
Larry
https://panterapartsusa.myshopify.com/products/01027M
The rears are part# 01027N
Who knows if they´re still available though. Maybe give them a call.
Probably hard pressed to find the aluminum concave style shown in photo 1 and 3, although I saw a car done by Byars more recent than mine that had the concave. Mine came from Wilkinson many years ago. I think the flat spoke may still be available from vendors. Your best bet is probably Byars at Full Throttle Pantera.
Yeah, you´re right, it´s hard to tell from the Wilkinson photo if they´re concave or not, maybe it´s the flat ones.
The darker red car in the ad is the same car as shown above
The black car has OEM 15" GT4/5/5S Campagnolos. Aluminum replicas of these wheels are available from two manufacturers in Italy. Contact info is here in the forums. Pirelli P7's are also available, once again, in OEM sizes.
17" replicas, like on the other two cars, used to be available from Pantera East. They did not get them from Wilkinson, as they had their own manufacturer, so it couldn't hurt to check with them too.
I offer the following advice:
1. Decide what size and type tires you want. 15", 17", 18" etc. Determine what is available. Do you care if matched front and back are not available? That starts the process.
2. Decide what wheels you want to match those tires. Determine the right offsets for your car and the look you are trying to achieve. My Gp. IV has a 13" wide rear wheel with a very small backspace. There is only ONE tire that fits it available in a Z-rated compound. They cost $700 each. Still want to proceed?
3. Most importantly, do NOT cut and install the flares until you have purchased and mounted the new wheel/tire combo, set ride height/stance, etc. If you do, you will be chasing your tail looking for some wheel/tire combination that is unubtanium. Also ensure if you are lowering the car, now you have to consider new springs/shocks.
Flaring the car is not trivial if you want it to look right.
The only difference in this process is if you elect to use fiberglass Gp. IV flares from the factory. They are what they are and fitted to the body. Even then (trust me I know) the fitting is alot of work to get right. The downside of these is you can not alter the fit to match wheel/tire stance as they come with the flange molded on so unless you want to build your own flare, you are kind of stuck.
I strongly agree with the previous suggestions that state having the wheel/tire combo (that you select) available before you do anything. The selected wheel/tire combo must be on the car and ride height set before the flares are aligned. The stock fenders will likely needed to be trimmed before you can this. Keep the trimmed pieces because someone might want them. We just went through this process again and I can reassure you that lots of massaging is needed to get it right.
On a different note, adding that much offset (to the front) can increase the scrub radius quite a bit. Also, lowering the car typically requires the suspension to need adjustment for optimal results. Have you ever driven a car with a substantial scrub radius? Don't forget to check the tire (at both lock to lock positions) flare clearance while doing the flare fitment. High scrub cars can have lots of interference issues at the front and back of the flares. We used custom made wheels and front control arms to achieve an acceptable scrub radius.
Great comments on wheel choices and I concur on getting them to fit the flares to. Original style wheels are available in aluminum or magnesium, more importantly correct tire sizes are also available, and no saying how long 17" or 18" tires will continue to be available. For an authentic look, ride height and correct stance you can't beat original style IMO.
Be aware that there are variants of both steel and fiberglass flares from a number of vendors, yes some all come from the same source, but that's mostly the crap ones you don't want! Most of the steel Group 4 flares don't look right IMO as they don't have a compound curve and come in 3 pieces to weld together. Again Group 4 factory cars were fiberglass flares and they just look right.
Better Still sell your Pantera and buy Jan's car (the maroon one in the first photo) and then you will get what you want and help us all by not cutting up another Pantera...
Might be less expensive to buy a car thats already done as well.
Jan’s cars are all beautiful
Thanks for the nice complements guys, although I am not actively selling I have learned to never say "its not for sale". The thing when people are building customs is that we all want it our own personal way, which is great and kind of like artists. If he is debating flares, he could do like they did on my car (buy the original factory fiber flares and have a good metal guy fabricate a set of metal ones using those as a model). I hope he finds those wheels, I think that style looks right on a Group 4.
Thanks for all the responses, folks. This forum is amazing! I decided to go with a set of similar looking wheels from Pantera International Motorsports. I already have the steel fender flares from Hall Pantera as well. I am aware of the fitment requirements for the flares as well.
I have already discussed the application of the fender flares with the shop that will be performing the entire restoration project and asked them how they would handle it. Their response was one of the reasons I chose them to work on the car. They said they would not install flares on the car until after the new engine is installed, the new wheels and tires installed, and ride height/alignment is set.
