My friend Greg Cone, very long time Avanti enthusiast, owner of three, and owner of the DuoCento engine has hunted for Halibrand magnesium wheels, a dealer option on Studebakers, for a very long time. Recently he found and bought his second set which is such an interesting story that I asked Greg if I could post it.
The seller, incidentally, is a Forum member, go-studebaker, who air mailed the wheels, spinners and lug nuts to Greg.
This is Greg's report as he sent it to me:
"The first set I found in 1969 or so. I had been advertising for a set while in Viet Nam. Didn't have a car to put them on, but I knew I would someday (should the current duty station work out). I ran across some, but a typical response was " you don't want them. They are ugly, hard to keep, hard to balance, won't hold air, they corrode, get brittle, might catch fire, and no I won't sell any of my three sets".
I was also dealing with the Stu-V guys Chris Banke and Dave Livesay. I mentioned my desire to find the wheels and I was pleased to learn that they could supply me with four wheels , but less the spinners and lugnuts. And oh by the way, they were said to have been part of the Studebaker Bonneville Team effort. Of course, they were.
Any and all Halibrands had certainly been under Andy Granatelli's bed . I didn't care how much sky came with them, I bought.
Funny thing is, they arrived with Allstate Bonneville tires (still in my storage). I called Halibrand and they supplied a set of spinners. That is why they have the Torrance address.
I had put the first set on my restored R5054 black Avanti. Then it stood idle for a long time. Meanwhile I got the urge to pull the maroon R2724 out of storage. Getting it up and running, so I pulled the wheels off the black one to use on the madeover maroon car. In my opinion once you've had a set of Halibrands on one of these cars, nothing else will do. Might as well have a set of Keystones.
Time to look for another set.
Set no. 2.....
Instead of advertising , I just started asking around and made sure they knew I was serious. More than one contact said that "no, don't know of any but I'm looking for a set too".
A call to Dave Thibeault , the old friend of Studebakerers, resulted in a return call and an email contact. In England.
Greg Diffen, who I didn't know, might have a set to sell. I gave him a try.
Yes, he had some and might let them go. They had a history that he shared with me. Here we go, more buying sky.
A Mr. Bert Needham, Australian Studebaker dealer, was known for his performance work with South Bend cars. One of his race cars kept breaking steel wheels, so he ordered a set of Halibrands. The first set, maybe the only set to make it to Australia.
These wheels were fitted to a road race R4 Lark. It did well especially at the Bathurst course.
Diffen was able to buy these wheels. Diffen then made a move to England I think ten years ago.
The Halibrands remained in storage until I bought them. The low mileage and years of careful storage must account for their pristine condition. They came complete with lug nuts and spinners. Somewhere along the way, the spinners have been modified with inserts
(horn buttons I'm told), so there's no way of knowing the address cast into them.
Now I can return the Bonneville wheels to the black one since it has a few salt car upgrades and this new set will find their way to R2724. And with this latest acquisition of five wheels, there's finally a spare wheel between the two cars. I've been sweating for a long time about that. And that's one more I can pick up and hug."
The seller, incidentally, is a Forum member, go-studebaker, who air mailed the wheels, spinners and lug nuts to Greg.
This is Greg's report as he sent it to me:
"The first set I found in 1969 or so. I had been advertising for a set while in Viet Nam. Didn't have a car to put them on, but I knew I would someday (should the current duty station work out). I ran across some, but a typical response was " you don't want them. They are ugly, hard to keep, hard to balance, won't hold air, they corrode, get brittle, might catch fire, and no I won't sell any of my three sets".
I was also dealing with the Stu-V guys Chris Banke and Dave Livesay. I mentioned my desire to find the wheels and I was pleased to learn that they could supply me with four wheels , but less the spinners and lugnuts. And oh by the way, they were said to have been part of the Studebaker Bonneville Team effort. Of course, they were.
Any and all Halibrands had certainly been under Andy Granatelli's bed . I didn't care how much sky came with them, I bought.
Funny thing is, they arrived with Allstate Bonneville tires (still in my storage). I called Halibrand and they supplied a set of spinners. That is why they have the Torrance address.
I had put the first set on my restored R5054 black Avanti. Then it stood idle for a long time. Meanwhile I got the urge to pull the maroon R2724 out of storage. Getting it up and running, so I pulled the wheels off the black one to use on the madeover maroon car. In my opinion once you've had a set of Halibrands on one of these cars, nothing else will do. Might as well have a set of Keystones.
Time to look for another set.
Set no. 2.....
Instead of advertising , I just started asking around and made sure they knew I was serious. More than one contact said that "no, don't know of any but I'm looking for a set too".
A call to Dave Thibeault , the old friend of Studebakerers, resulted in a return call and an email contact. In England.
Greg Diffen, who I didn't know, might have a set to sell. I gave him a try.
Yes, he had some and might let them go. They had a history that he shared with me. Here we go, more buying sky.
A Mr. Bert Needham, Australian Studebaker dealer, was known for his performance work with South Bend cars. One of his race cars kept breaking steel wheels, so he ordered a set of Halibrands. The first set, maybe the only set to make it to Australia.
These wheels were fitted to a road race R4 Lark. It did well especially at the Bathurst course.
Diffen was able to buy these wheels. Diffen then made a move to England I think ten years ago.
The Halibrands remained in storage until I bought them. The low mileage and years of careful storage must account for their pristine condition. They came complete with lug nuts and spinners. Somewhere along the way, the spinners have been modified with inserts
(horn buttons I'm told), so there's no way of knowing the address cast into them.
Now I can return the Bonneville wheels to the black one since it has a few salt car upgrades and this new set will find their way to R2724. And with this latest acquisition of five wheels, there's finally a spare wheel between the two cars. I've been sweating for a long time about that. And that's one more I can pick up and hug."
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