Pre A wheels

[Jerry Garwick]

The question from France got me thinking. Were the early wheels on the pre-As the same as on similar year VWs?

[Barry Brisco]

The question from France got me thinking. Were the early wheels on the pre-As the same as on similar year VWs?

And your question led me to open my copy of "Excellence Was Expected" by Ludvigsen and see if there were any answers therein.

Of course 356/1 basically used VW running gear so one would assume the wheels were the same as VWs of the time (1948) but the book doesn't state that specifically.

On page 49 (first edition) it is stated that the first coupe, Type 356/2, had "5.00x16 tires". Photos of the first coupe clearly show rather narrow tires and no slots in the wheels, but I see no mention of wheel size.

Photos of 1950 and 1951 cars show wheels with no slots. A photo of an "early 1952" car (page 86) shows slotted wheels, and that style continues in photos of 1953 and later cars.

But I can't find a reference to wheel size until page 165 in the section about the 356A model in 1956 (or was it late 1955?). Here it says "Tires of smaller rim diameter and larger section (5.60x15 instead of 5.00x16) were fitted..." and then it discusses how larger wheels were tested to improve cornering and it was decided to use a "4.5 in. rim, much wider than Porsche's previous 3.25-inch rims, which were then commonly used on light cars."

So my conclusion is that, according to Ludvigsen, 3.25" wheels were used until the A model when the change was made to 4.25".

This is not to dispute Ray Knight's excellent post at http://356registry.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1727 where he says (regarding the 3.00x16 wheels on Michel Ghigo's coupe 5476):

The first time they were parts book listed they were 3.25x16. yours are correct Kronprinz, but 3.00x16, and absolutely stamped 12/50. This fits your early 51 completed car very nicely. AND the 3.00x16 is quite correct for very early use of slotted wheels, which would have been 3.25x16 a bit later. Any wheels which would have been fit later would have later date stamped and would have been 3.25.

All in all, an interesting (at least to some :) question to discuss.

[Guest]

Jerry
as you know the solid wheels were 3.00 and the slotted were 3.25
I recently sold a 3.25X16 slotted lemmers rim date stamped 3/52 the interesting thing about this wheel is that it was double stamped 3.00D and then re stamped with 3.25D
leading me to believe that the chance from solid to slotted occurred on or around march of 1952