A cast cap? Wow, does sound crazy. Learn something new every day. I thought it looked too good to just be a normal cap. I guess back then actual cast wheels would have been too expensive. Today they are even on quite a few economy cars.
Been there, tried that, chickened out. A few years back, I bought a set of five 16" Borranis from a 1960-ish Ferrari. I wanted to use them on my shoebox (this one): I remembered that years ago I had been impressed by the looks of the Borranis on these two early-'50s customs, and I thought that with some adjustment to WW widths they would be a good look on my Vic: Cutting the long story short, I found that the engineering changes necessary to put them on my car was going to cost many thousands of dollars, and what if I didn't like the look when I got done? It would not have been a reversible change. I chickened out and re-sold the wheels. Ryan, believe it or not, it was this line of thought (by way of Lee Pratt's Impala) that led me to use the alloy wiremags that you so despised on my '56: That said, I do think that wires on a Riv are a good look. Mark Morton's car in a recent TRJ is a great example (they're Skylark wires, of course). I'm confident that the right set of Borranis will look great on your car, and I look forward to seeing the result.
On a continued thought, I guess I like the wires on cars with soft, curved body lines. The Lusso's, although just about my dream car and looks fantastic with the wires, is a soft curved body style which references the past a bit more than the future. The Muira on the other hand, is a sharp edge car and I have never seen one with wire wheels and don't think I want to. The '63-65 Rivieras are a sharp edge car. I guess that is design rationalization in my head anyway. This is an interesting design conversation.
I'm on the fence, I kinda liked the wire wheel caps that were on mine factory, but changed them out for the "sport wheels", I always wanted the Skylark wires on my Rivi, so I'm antsy to see the Borranis on Ryans Rivi, we shall see!....Brian
I have seriously thought of putting a set of these on my Austin Healey BN1 but they are expensive if they are in nice/trued shape. They look good on Captkirk2's car. I am curious how a 15x7 aluminum wheel would compare to a 15x7 borrani weight wise?
I'm suprised nobody's mentioned Lil' John Buttera's '26 Tudor Sedan (or maybe I'm showing my age). With it's Caddy interior and Borrani knockoffs, it set the bar for resto-rods in the mid '70's and made the cover of HRM in Dec 1974.
Nope, funny enough it was the first car I thought of! Just couldn' figure a way to tie it to a Riviera though... To me this deal is going to end up kinda on the same plain as Morty's Riv above, Just turned up to 11. Hell, Morty's car is 11, lets say turned up to 12!
Nothing more sexy than a set of Borrani's on ANYTHING. Nothing more lame than a set of Daytons on ANYTHING, except maybe the cheap "knockoff" versions (No pun intended). I would rate Skylark wires somewhere near the top too, but nowhere near as sexy as the Bonanni's.
Daytons don't suck... You are just looking at the wrong ones! People forget about the legacy of Dayton which is rich and eclectic.
Daytons are incredibly bitchin'. On some cars a Dayton OR Borrani could be used, on some others, however, I think one or the other is called for. I think the Rivi is one such car where either would work (as well as Skylark wires). I'm in love with the idea of a blackwall with the Borrani. ...and Tony, if I never see that cast spoke deal again, it will be too soon.
Opening scene in The Italian Job has a gorgeous red/orange Muira....coulda sworn it was sporting wire wheels....
Hard to tell while in motion, but my guess is it is the standard Lambo cast wheels. Or maybe it did and that is why those guys destroyed it. Is damn hard to watch a real Muira get smashed up and get pushed off a cliff into a raging river.
Your goal to make your car something Mitchell and his designers would be proud of works very well with the use of Borrani wire wheels. I always like the look of them on the GTO Ferrari - with an extra width for the rear wheel/tire. The visible portion of the rim being wider on the rear might look right on your car as well. Look forward to seeing it come together.
I know they where not ment for cars, but here is a couple of 19" Borrani's that sits on my FED .................................. Taildragger&fenderless
Get the wires and enjoy 'em. Years from now when you've grown tired of beating on them with your special lead hammer to keep them on and have to spend big bucks to have them trued or even worse re-laced and trued (or maybe you get a zen experience spending several days getting them to run true only to find they go out of whack when the tires are mounted) then you can spend lots more time keeping them clean. I loved the look but like any high maintenance item it loses its allure with extended ownership. Heavy iron like the Riveria takes its toll. Stay away from bumps, curbs or rough pavement. Offroad is off limits. Seriously, get them and enjoy. Still love the look but on someone else's ride. Been there, done that.
I don't know bout them borrani's, I'm still a sucker for the buicks(which i now have 2 sets of !) , the buicks just work better, I think the outter rim with it double lip with not much width between them lends a more smoothing apperance. The italian jobs , with the aluminum outter have a wider distance between the humps and it just looks strange and kinda foreign. but thats just me...I'm stuck in my ways , kinda like when those kids from across the pond came over with their strange haircuts, and ruined rock and roll forever, and they looked funny in their tight jeans with funky zip up shoes. The buicks are more 501's and t shirts and leather jackets, the borrani's = bowlcuts highwaters and expensive shoes with black socks. But i understand the opportunity you have been given to get a set of borrani's, and what better guy then Ryan to spred to word and help market borrani's usa. Show some pics and change our minds !!!
Yeah,once he gives you a breakdown on the pesticide level in the hops,the government subsidized barley and how it affects the third world farmer....Seriously,it's not that bad but those are things real possibilities.I'd rather have the wheels if it's possible to get Borrani's.If not,at least you tried.
I posted this photoshop (well an average one anyways, just squint a little bit..) on your Riviera thread a while back. Amazing how these wheels really twist the identity of the car over running Supremes or similar wheel associated with US styling.
common, throw some vintage Tru's or maybe a set of Dayton's on it.. some painted spokes. let the lowrider side of you come out.
I don't so much as have a problem with Astros.... but I think back in the day...the bucks up Custom guy that stepped up for a Riv or a Caddy wouldn't have put on what was considered a cheap wheel back then. Again...Flame on.
Just what year did the Supreme become the "traditional" late custom wheel? I'm guessing 2006 or so... I look at the old pictures and see lots more Buick wires and chrome reverse.
Borranis on original GT40. Ford started using Halibrands on the mkII cars because the 427's torque would twist the hub out of those pretty wheels!
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