Baby finally has a new pair of shoes! Got the 205/65/15 Yokohama tires mounted on the Superlite 15x6 wheels and all on 'the Bird' over the weekend. The wheels look great, the tires look great! A bit of improvement in handling over the 165/65s that were on the old wheels and no discernable extra steering effort at slow speeds, though I haven't had to parallel park yet! There is a slight rubbing when the steering wheel is all the way to the lock, not sure exactly where, but other than that clearance is fine. The wheels are really nice and I'm quite happy- just two little complaints. The paint on the center portion (the lip is machined) is a little bit soft and I scratched it around one of the nuts with the lugwrench- the clearance around some of the nuts is pretty tight. Practically invisible though, and it ain't a show car. The other complaint is that the wheels look so shiny and nice it puts the paint on the car to shame! I did go at it with a multi-stage polish and then waxed the whole thing (after I took these photos), which improved her looks, but a paintjob is in mind for next summer.

The Superlites have shifted the Birds look away from the more 'American' look she had with the Shelby wheels to a more European look. Now I'm wondering if the 'wink' mirrors are out of place! Always somethin'.....
Tom
NYC

Looks very nice, I just found a set of genuine 1960's magnesium alloy minilites which will eventually go on the PV544

Regards

Pete

I'm a european citizen and very much like the Shelby wheels on the picture! Funny how you guys like to pimp the amazons European style and 'we' like to do it the american way!
Know a place where the Shelby wheels are easy to get a hold on?

The superlites are super for this car by the way!

Bye,
Leon
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Drive it like you hate it!

American Racing sell a wheel called the 'Ansen Sprint' which is pretty much a Shelby copy, though I'm not sure if there is a size that works for an Amazon. It's funny how much changing the wheels changes the 'aesthetic' of the car!

Nice wagon, by the way! Someday I want a wagon and a PV too (not while I'm living in New York City though)!
Tom
NYC

Those Minilite style wheels have a timeless quality about them. Very nice indeed.

The wheels look great! What offset or backspacing did you order?

Thanks, Alan

I can't be 100% sure, as I cleaned off my desk and a bunch of pieces of paper with notes I no longer needed went into the circular file and one of them had all the wheel measurements, but I think it was 3&1/2" or 3&3/4" backspace. Barry at Pack has an application guide that will tell what fits an Amazon.
Tom
NYC

Superlite has 4mm, 24mm, and 33mm available. I ordered a sample 24mm, 15 X 6 for the Amazon.

Duuuude!!!

Stunning, man! Whatta transformation!

As to mirrors, I have a soft spot for euro-style front fender mounted mirrors. They can be mounted just far enough forward to allow unfettered underhood access. Guess I will have to contact Barry (not to be outdone)!!

Mike

The expensive question...
where did you find your new rims and how much did they cost you?
They look like the rims that IPD used to sell...
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1967 P220 Amazon, 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 DL, 1986 745 GLE, 1990 745 GL, 1995 945....
You mean to tell me that Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?

I got them from Barry at Pack Racing (http://www.packracingproducts.com/page_wheels.html), about $163 each. I believe they are Australian made. If I recall correctly, shipping was $60 and I got them in just a few days. Tires came from tirerack.com, $53 each, $30 shipping. Mounting and balancing 'em cost me $40. All in all a big chunk 'o change, but I needed tires and wanted wider than the original 4.5" rims could take and the Superlites were the aesthetic choice (the right one, of course) of my significant other!
Tom
NYC

'the wheels look so shiny and nice it puts the paint on the car to shame! I did go at it with a multi-stage polish and then waxed the whole thing (after I took these photos), which improved her looks, but a paintjob is in mind for next summer.'

The car looks great with the new wheels. I think those and the Panasports are the nicest looking wheels and they suit the car more.

And its better to have good looking wheels and 'less attractive' bodywork than to have flawless bodywork and scrappy looking wheels. Wheels are the focal point of a car.

Oh yeah- for what it's worth, borrowed a GPS to check the odometer and speedo with the new wheels on my drive from RI to NYC (180 miles). Now the bottom/low part of the ribbon point is only about 2-3 mph faster than the actual speed. The odometer reads about 5% farther than it should.
Tom
NYC

Really good looking ride.
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'Be blessed in your quest'' 89 764 (110K), '94 940T (180K)