I've wondered what's the story behind the difference in Campagnolo wheel design as shown in the pictures below. The wheel design on the blue car is the one that is most common to me. But some years ago the second wheel design (red car) started to pop up, mainly on 275 GTBs used for competition events like Tour Auto. You may notice that the ten slots are wider than on the common design. Most times these second type wheels are finished with a flat paint. What's the historical significance of the second type Campagnolo? Are they accurate? Thanks. Peter Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The first wheel on the blue car is the original 14" Campagnolo wheel used on the long-nose GTB. It came in either 6.5" width or 7" width. The back side has the word CAMPAGNOLO cast in with raised letters. The number is cast in also; 40414 for the 7" width; 40401 for the 6.5" The second wheel you reference on the red car in your photo is not a Campagnolo produced wheel. It is a reproduction wheel, or better a new wheel, to a design in the spirit of the Campagnolo. It is offered by Roelofs in the Netherlands, using a type 32 hub insert that matches the Campagnolo (and the hub insert is interchangeable I think with an original wheel). If I am correct the Roelofs wheel is 15" diameter and 7.5" width. The larger hole design is not Campagnolo, but a development on the Roelofs wheel for reasons not clear - perhaps a little more cooling or a very fractional weight savings. I believe people use the Roelofs wheel for a more competitive choice of tire and safety. Racing on a 50-year old magnesium wheel is not a good idea, due to the age corrosion weakness, as advised speaking to a company that makes magnesium wheels - they even suggested not using an old one on the road at high stress. They cautioned to use a special tire mounting paste and not the soapy liquid; the trapped water will corrode the bead. It was an interesting conversation. To my knowledge, no one has done a pure reproduction of the 14" square-hole magnesium Campagnolo or the earlier star-burst style (unless GTO Engineering has made them ?). The star-burst has a casting number 40336 referenced in the 275 parts book, but I have not seen the back of a star-burst to verify that. There are 15" versions of the original Campagnolo square-hole on the heavier 2+2 cars with the larger type 42 hub?
Not a Factory color. The car was originally argento/nero. Collector car restorer Bill deCarr - Los Angeles area - asked what color I wanted and I said a deep bordeaux. Bill mixed three different shades, painted them on aluminum palettes and sent them to me to chose. This 'bordeaux' was my choice