Porsche Classic 6 x 15" wheels

[BOYER73S]

Having become tired of paying too much for wheels that may or may not be cracked and may or may not be out of round and then restoration costs plus freight from all over the world I bit the bullet and sight unseen bout 4 new Otto Fuchs made wheels from Porsche Classic 6 x 15""

The blurb said made exactly as original.....wrong.... who is surprised?

Yes they are forged alloy though and feel the same weight as originals to me.

They are paint dipped too which is cool.

Firstly issue is centre cap needs to be the later 71mm cap, Porsche only sell 71mm silver caps with the two removal holes so thanks goodness for Sierra Madre who sell them without.

Second issue is the anodising is lovely but completely consistent across the whole wheel, gone are the "rougher" sections on the petal side walls and part of the outer rim, and gone is the brighter outer rim and petals.

That said they look fantastic and I can trust them 100% instead of 50 year old wheels.

I also think they are very reasonably priced, certainly cost way less than buying originals shipping and restoring them.

So some plusses and minuses, it does always puzzle me why Porsche don't recreate their products exactly as original', surely they understand that is what we the car owners want in most cases.

They are not for a concourse car as already have current date stamps on them and different marking in the back but great for everyone else in my opinion.

[govols!]

Thanks for the info !!

[Rick Cabell]

Thanks for the report, yes it is a shame about center cap. How much are they?

[BOYER73S]

Thanks for the report, yes it is a shame about center cap. How much are they?

$2000 Australian pesos with a centre cap so I guess $1300 USD but probably less.

[xpensivewino]

Having met, and had discussions with a number of the people from Porsche classic, I’d have to say that it’s not a lack of passion or research that may be the limiting factor to producing “exact” reproductions. Often times the characteristics of the original parts we love were produced by non modern engineering techniques, and environmentally damaging processes. The EU and Germany in particular are very strict on safety in the work place, and even more strict on environmental rules. The types of processes needed to produce exacting copies may simply be illegal now and certain materials and coatings banned. That’s not to say that a way can’t be engineered to produce an exact anodizing effect on these new wheels, it may just make them cost ineffective. It’s one of the many reasons a lot of production in general has shifted to less scrupulous countries.

[bob joyce]

my theory..... Porsche has protected there "brand" absolutely.
It would follow that producing new parts that would be distinguishable from original would fit the play book

[BOYER73S]

my theory..... Porsche has protected there "brand" absolutely.
It would follow that producing new parts that would be distinguishable from original would fit the play book

My theory rather than make 2 sets of wheels (up to 73 and then beyond 73) they have chose to cover all the bases and make just one but it is not 100% correct for either generation

Economic rationalism I guess.

[Dg567]

Where did you find anodized later caps without holes? I dont see them on Sierra madre

[BOYER73S]

Got to the ones with holes and you can change it to no holes like you can change from genuine to non genuine

[BOYER73S]

Forgot I had a perfect wheel to compare them too.

To my surprise the anodising is pretty much identical allowing for 50 years of wear.

What is different that I had not noticed is that on the original wheels there is almost a sharp edge on the rim when it goes from the rough section to the more polished outer lip.

On the new wheels that does not exist, much smoother transition, looks like a lot of original wheels that have been restored and the sharp edge is polished out of them.

Hope photos show what I mean.