 Aftermarket Wheel Archeology, Enkei copy of Western and/or Gurney? |
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| jrmdir |
 Jun 15 2021, 07:26 AM
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#1
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Member  Group: Members Posts: 224 Joined: 13-May 21 From: Central Ohio Member No.: 25,544 Region Association: Upper MidWest 
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Hi: I really like the alloy wheels that came with my "new" 1.7 but am curious whether or not they are common or rare. I've found a lot of threads about this style on VW sites and it's often referenced that they were popular take off dealer items on 914's. But the stories all state they were made by Western with some claiming they are Dan Gurney designs.
To complicate things as you can see, mine (I have 5) are Enkei. I suppose they could have been copied by Enkei, or is it possible Western copied Enkei? I do know for sure that Enkei made this style for race cars back in the day because when I co-owned the Russell racing school we were sponsored by Enkei and they were sourced in Japan for the Formula Mazda cars. Anyway, does anyone know or recall how popular this style was back in the day? Are they considered desirable today? Thanks, Ron     |
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| AZBanks |
Jun 15 2021, 08:50 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,063 Joined: 7-December 05 From: New River, AZ Member No.: 5,245 Region Association: Southwest Region
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I don't have an answer to any of your questions but they do look good on your car.
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| Bullethead |
Jun 15 2021, 09:15 AM
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#3
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Oil Cooled heart Group: Members Posts: 897 Joined: 24-June 10 From: South Florida Member No.: 11,875 Region Association: South East States
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Jack McAfee designed them and they were hugely popular, resulting in a couple of imitation versions offered like the ones you have from Enkei. Which look great BTW.
Genuine McAfee wheels are fairly scarce and priced accordingly.  |
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| Racer |
Jun 15 2021, 10:04 AM
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#4
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 787 Joined: 25-August 03 From: Northern Virginia Member No.: 1,073 Region Association: MidAtlantic Region |
QUOTE(jrmdir @ Jun 15 2021, 09:26 AM)  I suppose they could have been copied by Enkei, or is it possible Western copied Enkei? I do know for sure that Enkei made this style for race cars back in the day because when I co-owned the Russell racing school we were sponsored by Enkei and they were sourced in Japan for the Formula Mazda cars. Anyway, does anyone know or recall how popular this style was back in the day? Are they considered desirable today? I hope those race cars with the Mitsubishi logo on the front and Ralliart on the side aren't Mazdas.. cause that would be confusing. Formula Mazda came out in the 1980s iirc, the Western/Gurney wheels predated that. While not a fan of the wheel, they look good on your car.. Silver/blue combo works well |
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| jrmdir |
Jun 15 2021, 12:08 PM
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#5
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Member Group: Members Posts: 224 Joined: 13-May 21 From: Central Ohio Member No.: 25,544 Region Association: Upper MidWest
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Thanks everyone. Bullethead, armed with your McFee tip I got some better search results and found the answer to my questions - right here on this forum, of course. Posts 9 and 10 in this thread build a pretty good case re: how my '73 got the wheels. http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=159529
Racer - well spotted as they say and not to go too far OT, but those cars were indeed Mazda powered. Long before my involvement, the Jim Russell school was sponsored by Mazda and the two companies collaborated on the single seat design. It was intended for a one-make racing series and debuted at the Phoenix F1 race in, I believe 1989? It's a very long and involved story but they were at that time privately owned but the SCCA cancelled the series and most of the cars ended up at the school and officially became Formula Russells and were used in our advanced classes, amateur school series and sporadically in the USAC Formula Russell Pro Series. Along the way we negotiated a new sponsor agreement with Mitsu and they powered our entry level Formula cars and were ok with just adding decals to the rotary cars. One of the former pro racers in SoCal built a copy of the rotary cars and revived the name Formula Mazda and it's been an on and off success over the years. I could go on but sorry to take as much time from 914's as I already have (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Ron |
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| Big Len |
Jun 15 2021, 02:34 PM
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#6
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,747 Joined: 16-July 13 From: Edgewood, New Mexico Member No.: 16,126 Region Association: Southwest Region |
QUOTE(AZBanks @ Jun 15 2021, 10:50 AM) I don't have an answer to any of your questions but they do look good on your car. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) |
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| Craigers17 |
Jun 15 2021, 03:02 PM
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#7
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 734 Joined: 5-August 17 From: Rome, GA Member No.: 21,317 Region Association: South East States
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| jrmdir |
Jun 15 2021, 04:09 PM
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#8
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Member Group: Members Posts: 224 Joined: 13-May 21 From: Central Ohio Member No.: 25,544 Region Association: Upper MidWest
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Great info. Thanks!
I was curious why someone would buy a matching spare when buying aftermarket wheels but the dealer angle makes sense. Why stick a buyer with 4 when you can sell 5! Ron |
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