Wheels & Tyres
By alpineian
Published: October 24, 2007
Wheels & Tyres
Steel wheels
The standard configuration for an Alpine is the 13″ steel wheel with chrome trim ring and hub cap (Nave Plate). Every Alpine up to B94102172 came equipped with 5 wheels and 5 trim rings, but only 4 hub caps. Each Steel wheel is date stamped and should match the year your car was built. Beginning with the ’59 Sereis I, all steel wheels were color matched to the car’s body. This continued on until shortly before B9107291 during the Series II production run. It was at this time that the holes changed in the steel wheel from 12 smaller oval shaped holes to 8 larger more oblong shaped holes. During this short period, Series II’s came equipped with the early wheels, painted white and not body color. This color is called foam grey, an off white found on the Rootes color palate, would only get sprayed on the exterior portion of the wheel. The inside portion was painted black. All Series II’s B9107291 and on were now equipped with the new xx hole wheel design. A new hub cap, or nave plate, was introduced at B9107388 as well. This wheel and hub cap combination would remain throughout the remainder of the Alpine’s production history. The only remaining changes would be to the chrome beauty rings. Beginning in 1964 with B94102173, a new trim ring was introduced. Now manufactured from pressed aluminium, this ring would not be equipped on the spare tire like the beauty ring found prior to it. This trim ring would remain with the Alpine until the end of production. Note: All Alpine steel wheels are date coded.
The 12 hole steel wheel. Early design hubcap or nave plate. This wheel is painted body color up to early ’61 before B9107291.
This is the 12 hole wheel?with early hub cap, painted foam grey. Early ’61around B9107291. Note: This occurred during the transition from 12 hole to 8 hole wheels.
The 8 hole wheel with trim ring and late nave plate or hub cap. Painted foam grey Series II from B9107291 to Series IV-B94102173.
The 8 hole steel wheel from SIV B94102174 onwards. Painted foam grey. The new spoked trim ring design is no longer equipped on the spare.
Late Series II, 3, IV and V steel wheels were painted black with foam gray paint applied to the exterior portion of the wheel only.
Wire wheels
The Dunlop 13″ 60 spoke wire wheel was available to the Rootes buyer as an extra option. These wheels were painted a dull silver grey and were never available from the factory in chrome. Chrome wires were an aftermarket accessory available outside the factory and could be dealer installed. Three options of chrome spinners, or knock-offs would also be available, the three eared version being most common.? The Dunlop wire wheels remained the same through the entire Alpine production run. All Alpines that had the wire wheel option were fitted with a knock off hammer. This hammer was mounted in the boot on the left hand side.
The Dunlop 60 spoke wire wheel. Shown here with the Rootes 3 ear knock off.
Tyres
Alpines were factory equipped with 5.60 X 13 Dunlop Gold Seal tyres for Series I and 6.00 X 13 Dunlop Gold Seal tyres on the Series II on forward. Other tyres equipped from the factory are the Michelin X. White wall tires were available as an option and could be specified when placing an order for a car. To be period correct, Alpines up to early Series 3 could be equipped with the wide 2 inch white wall, while later Series 3’s and beyond would come equipped with the narrower 3/4″ white wall. I believe that dealerships were known to change tyres for customers or other various reasons. There seems to be some level of debate concerning tyres., but for our general purpose, we will stick to factory literature for a description.
New Old Stock Dunlop Goldseal 6.00 X 13