Build Thread: The Roaring Season Firebird

[Steve Holmes]

Wheels and Tyres continued:

Its popular these days to fit cars of 1965/66/67 vintage with Minilite wheels, and many of the cars competing throughout the world in historic racing are fitted with these wheels. And they look great. But for period accuracy, these cars should wear either factory steel wheels or Torq Thrust wheels because the Minilite was still a few years away when these cars were new.

So too, there are numerous 1967 and ’68 Camaros in historic racing which are fitted with Minilites. But these cars wouldn’t have worn these wheels when new. They would have had Torq Thrust wheels. That’s not to say there weren’t 1967 and ’68 Camaros that raced in period with Minilite wheels. Its just that they would have been two or three years old when fitted with this style of wheel. Meanwhile, a 1969/70 Mustang, 2^nd gen Camaro, etc is a better fit for Minilite or American Racing 200-S daisy wheels than Torq Thrusts, as these were the in-thing by 1969. All the factory Trans-Am teams used Minilites in 1969, while both the factory Mustangs and Firebirds started out wearing daisy wheels. Sounds kind of lame, I know, but for an anorak, having the right wheel to match the car is important.

Of course, there are exceptions when it comes to original cars. Many privateer teams competing in SCCA A/Sedan and Trans-Am races had older equipment, either cars purchased second hand from factory teams, or self-built cars, often using a wrecked or older road car as the basis. So it was common to see guys racing 1967/68 Camaros and Mustangs fitted with Minilite wheels in 1969, 1970 etc. And in the cases where these cars still exist, they’re usually restored correctly, as raced in period. So too, cars like Bob Janes 1969 Camaro that won the 1971 and ’72 ATCCs, this car was built in 1970. It never wore anything other than Minilites.

However, for a car like mine being built from scratch as a replica of a semi-factory team car, I think its best to fit the latest style of wheel that was available and popular when that make/model was new. After all, the goal here is to make my car as accurate as possible to the original Craig Fisher Firebird.