I just purchased these Ansen wheels and I think they are very rare knock off wheels. None of the spinners are included or the centers that bolt to the hub. I am waiting for them to be shipped but I have the bolt on wheels and they have a five hole center cap, these look like a spinner goes in the center. Maybe Ansen Apollo Wheels? They say: Ansen Auto eng. Gardenia Ca. W614-R And they all have unique serial numbers. If anyone has information on these or where to get parts I would appreciate it.
I have a pair of the same style. W615-R. No bolt on cap. I just assumed one would press in. The center hole does have a taper which would be a little odd for a cap. They have washer impressions around the holes like they have been run with lug nuts. I don't have any of the correct style nuts handy or I would try to mount them up to see how they work as bolt on. Edit; Found this: Ansen produced some five-spoked wheels were unique in having no provision for the standard five-screw, bullet-shaped center caps that were originated by American Racing Equipment. Instead, Ansen used their own smaller, round center caps. Another Ansen five-spoked wheel used a center cap that interchanged with American Racing caps. http://www.roadsters.com/wheels/
Phil, do those rims say ansen anywhere on the back? ... or anything else, like JAPAN? ... they look like fentons.
I don't think that they ever were true knock offs. True knock offs don't have holes for the lug nuts. I bought a 62 Corvette with true knock off wire wheels and it needed to pass Md. state inspection. The inspection station did not know how to get the wheels off to inspect the brakes. The adapter bolts on to the lug nuts with no sign of a lug nut when the wheel is installed with the spinner in place. PS I had one come off. I later sold it and the new owner had one come off also. I thought that they were factory knockoffs but I have since figured out that they were aftermarket. This was in the early 70s.
Here are my Ansen Top Eliminators (right) and Fenton Ram Rods (left) they are currently for sale in the classifieds. I am looking for spinners and mounts like the wheel above.
I am looking for the mounts and spinners for these any information would be greatly appreciated! Please PM with information.
They is probably something hat you are going to have to scour the internet to find. I doubt that anyone repops them.
I am sure nobody repops these but here is a picture of the parts I am looking for. The ones that go with my wheels have to be somewhere! I will consider anything that is out there. I would also like information if it available! Thanks in advance!
I will post some original ads from '65 on these later. The Torq Thrust style Ansens (screw on cover) are Top Eliminators; the open center style, with or without knock offs are Ansen Apollo. And as you can see they are a true knock off, pin drive style with a bolt on adapter. Someone on the board here has a set on a '40 Ford IIRC. Here's a link to another old thread, regarding a Cunningham C3 resto that appears to have the complete setup - wonder if those went back on the car? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=537109
I apologize for the scan quality, if I can find the magazine I will re-scan the ad with the Apollo K/O so you can read the details Apollo and Arrow (anyone ever seen a set of Arrows?) Top Eliminator: Apollo w/o Knock Off. No idea if there are any structural differences on the back side between these and the K/O wheels.
^^^^ Thank you for the information! ^^^^ On page 17 of "Merchants of Speed: the men who built America's performance industry" A small cut away of the Ansen Arrow wheel is shown and the caption reads " Ansen developed the first "real" knock-off spinner for street use. The kit bolted on to early-model Corvette wheels. It was about to be marketed but an unexpected incident with a similar spinner forced them to scrap the project. Courtesy Lou Senter" It makes me wonder if they produced the Apollo first and then had "the incident" with them and never produced the Arrow, or scrapped the initial run of them. This might be why they are so hard to find information on. I have heard that 50-80 sets were made but that is not from any reliable source. I also saw that they can be bolted on to 5x5.5 ford pattern and another set of caps was available for that application. I think the bottom picture in the above post is of the bolt on center for the Apollo.
The wheels arrived today, I have heard that these only come in 15" but mine seem to be 14" Here are the pictures:
I was thinking about that when you posted the # at the start of this thread. Mine are W615-R which are 6"x15". Yours being W614-R I thought they would be 6"x14". I hadn't made the connection between the model number and size before.
No parts for these for sale? I really need some mounting hardware! If I can get one I will make the rest, please ask a friend I would appreciate it!
Finally found the magazine with the intro info and ad, March 1965. BTW that Barracuda shown above is probably the Alexander Bros. car.
I found some centers and spinners thanks to the help of a couple HAMBers. I did not have the money at the time they came available! I did manage to pick up one center spinner and I posted these in the classified section at what I believe is a very fair price. Thank you all for your help!
Louie Senter told me a few years back that those wheels were designed so that they could be used with either the knock off kit OR bolted directly with lug nuts depending on what the customer wanted to do.
That is true, he designed them and they are nice 13.2 lbs ea! They bolt on to early Fords and Ford or Dodge 1/2 ton trucks 5x5.5". If there is anyone looking for these at the swap this weekend I can deliver to Denver.
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