On Thu, 29 Apr 2004, Bill Rosenbach wrote:
> There is a wheel for VW Beetles that looks like the Silverstone. Those
> were not ARE products and they were only 15" and 4.5" or 5" wide. Still
> see lots of those around.
The above would have been EMPI wheels. They looked kool on VDubs.
> I called ARE some years back after hearing a rumor that they were
> producing the Silverstones again. The woman I spoke to told me they were
> not making them. When I asked if they had wheels in the 3-3/4 bolt circle
> she abruptly said NO! Then rudely added, and we don't ship wheels
> undrilled.
The company now known as ARE _USED_ to be a familiy run business. It sold
to other concerns in the mid-late 80's. I worked with a guy who was a
member of the family. We talked on several occasions about the company and
the sale, etc. When I acquired a set of the 4-spoke Formula Libre wheels
in the mid-90's, I contacted the company (using inside contacts acquired
from my co-worker) to see if there were any available as spares. The
answer then was NO - thier emphasis.
ARE has moved on to other things. :-(
It is interesting that the Torque Thrust wheels are being made again due
to popular demand, but I don't think the British car crowd could ever get
its collective butt in gear well enough to show that the numbers could be
made to work to reproduce the 4-spokes or the Silverstones again.
My guess is that there was either a copyright issue or lawsuits involved
in the company dumping that product. But I could be wring too. It is
amazing how adamant they are about the topic of the repro wheels.
Hey - at least we have Panasports available! And a few others from the UK.
> Bill
> 70 GT-6+
rml
73 and 74 TR6's
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