Variations of the Minilite Wheel
 

The Minilite wheel is a true classic and many variations exist.

Thought I'd run through a list and hope people may add variants I may have missed.

The 8 spoke racing wheel is nothing new and has been a design staple for many years,
most famously we can cite Bugatti:

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But it was the Cooper Car Company with their famous racecars who first came up with the "banana spoke" design instead of just flat,
which was supposed to aid in cooling the brakes.

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We all know what the factory S-Lites look like so I won't include them here.
Although they are indeed cool looking, like a beefy phat version of the classic, they are also quite heavy.

There was an aftermarket version which was even beefier and phatter, the RH Maxilite.
They're not seen very often.

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I suppose a good place to begin is with genuine Minilite itself.
They make one specifically for our cars,
the Minilte MC-40.

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And now another genuine article, this version from a renowned Japanese company,
the Watanabe RS.

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Next we have a design which is pretty much a replica of the Watanabe above with some subtle changes,
the Konig Rewind.

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Another well-regarded and classic company now with Panasport,
they make quality wheels.

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Another variant from a famous Japanese company,
the Enkei Compe.

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Here's one not often seen anymore,
the ASA JH6.

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Also not seen very often, but much better made than the ASA,
the XXR 513.

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And now the most popular aftermarket minilite-style wheel for our cars,
the Rota RB.

There's already a huge thread showing many pics of RB's so I won't include examples here.

The RB gallery:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...l-gallery.html

:

Any that I'm missing?

Also,
please add a pic of your car here if you're running minilite style wheels!

Thanks.

Cool!
Got a pic?
I once considered painting my A-panels and scuttle in Inka Orange as a tribute to BMW!

Superlites are well-proven and time tested.
Especially popular with the classic crowd.
Sadly, I haven't seen a modern MINI sporting them,
but they are cool no doubt!

https://www.performancewheels.com.au.../superlite-16/

https://www.performancewheels.com.au...e-16x8-600.jpg

Compomotive also make minilites,
but I think the largest size is 15" though...

https://www.comp.co.uk/products/prod...=ml1573-24-128

https://www.comp.co.uk/content/product/128_2_z.jpg

:

I will be going with some RB's here pretty soon and I especially like that they have the correct hub bore right off the shelf.

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With regard to the classic Mini,
there were numerous companies that made them.
Here's a good overview:
http://www.wheeldictionary.net/10.html

Scroll down to the Minilite and derivatives section and there's alot.
:

Odd fact:
quite a many of the cars from the old Trans-Am series used to run magnesium Minilites.

https://themustangsource.com/timelin...nelliJones.jpg
http://www.trans-amseries.com/images...r/_WCC2394.jpg

Nice listing of all the variations of the classic Minilite. I've been running 16 inch 40th Anniversary Minilites on my R53 for more than 15 years and still love them. They have a bit of wear on the spokes from flying stones, etc. but touch ups have kept them looking good. My '75 has Minotars which are a takeoff on the classic 10" Minilite, and I think they look just right on a Mini.

:thumbsup:

GOOD STUFF!

I'd love to see a pic!

16" is my favorite size for an R53.

And for a classic,
the Minator is awesome no doubt!

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Here ya go.....

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...6e537a3dab.jpg
14" Superlites on my '72 2002tii

:thumbsup:

Jawdropper of an 02!

Beautiful!

Looks brand new!

Thanks for the pic.

Love the roundel center caps too.

Thanks for posting all of this :)

Great thread! It's interesting how our perspective shapes our perception. As a life-long Mustang guy, and new MINI owner, I love my S-Lites because they seemed like a nod to one of my favorite "Mustang wheels," the Minilites shown above on the Parnelli Jones 70 TA car.

I like that the Rota RBs have a wide outer lip, that recesses the wheel's center disc. It seems that most new wheels have the spokes right out to the edge of the wheel, it makes it easier to curb the spokes and I don't care for that look.

I agree 100%.

Boss 302 such a stunner!

http://www.motorsportretro.com/wp-co...at-Mustang.jpg

Such a shame that there isn't much film footage from the historic golden era --- what a great series it was!

With both classes running on the same track...

http://www.motorsportretro.com/wp-co..._3198405_n.jpg

I must admit to digging the under 2.0 class the most just because I've always been a euro-dude...

https://assets.hemmings.com/blog/wp-...21-970x414.jpg
https://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/att...1&d=1235451927

...but dammit if it ain't glorious seeing those classic pony cars set up for handling on the road courses and they put a big love thump in my heart too!

Found a couple more variants by XXR.

XXR doesn't have the best reputation according to the internet, and apparently they are quite a bit heavier than their competitors for this style of wheel.

Their 537 fits the bill here.

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However,
at certain angles the XXR 537 has a sort of Cragar super/sports vibe to me, due to how the spokes taper I guess,
and I don't really like it.

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XXR also makes these which are known as 002.5

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And,
while trying to find solid info on wheel weights I came across a really cool thread on a Toyota 86 forum and I really love how it's set up.
Lovely to look at and extremely helpful if you're an owner.
This here:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7535

Was wondering if we have anything similar here on NAM especially with regards to the R50/R52/R53 series?
If so,
please gimme the link!

I love looking at various wheels with all different designs and seeing how they affect the aesthetics.

edit

Saw these recently, as fitted to a car in Japan.

Dunno what make they are, but I think they look good.

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I run 10 inch RS Watanabes on my classic. They are Minilite-esque and I have 5 or 6 people ask me if they could but them when I was at CMU 60th.

Not my car, same wheels.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...9f414a8d02.jpg

Recently came across another variant of the classic Enkei Compe 8 and thought I'd add it here.

For MINI fitment it is 15x6 and is intended for R50. I could not find any actual pictures of an installed set on a private-owner car, but did see them fitted to other marques.

all eighteen

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And,
I love this t-shirt!
:thumbsup:

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https://www.ecstuning.com/b-enkei-wh...776704938gmkt/

Yep we have the gun metall ones here.

Those are sweet wheels from japan from all eighteen, they even have it on a rare solid gold R50. Hot.

I considered those Performance Compe's when I got new wheels because I favor a 16", but didn't like those ridges, plus they were a couple of pounds heavier than the Rota RB's that I ended up getting.

I get that the ridged design was intentional to add strength for rally cars,
but for a tarmac daily I would prefer the more simple style.

Too bad they don't seem to offer a reproduction of their classic Compe 8.

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^^ that ad and pics...wow so cool. Yep not at this point.

I'm going to geek out on a more detailed history of the Minilite now. Although the shorthand footnote in the beginning of this thread nods toward origin, it is much too brief of a mention and deserves a full treatment of in-depth overview.

In the past I've searched for the definitive answer but could not find any one authoritative exposition which encompasses the full historical arc of origin, so what I'm going to write here is like a patchwork of differing sources filtered through my personal lens of perception and as such it is just a speculative theory of how I view it all may have happened.

The Cooper Cars book by Doug Nye has been a tremendous resource.
I have only recently got it and haven't even finished reading it yet.
His book is truly top shelf.
Simply the best.

Okay here we go,
tracing the origin of the Minilite inevitably led to the origin of the alloy wheel itself.

The innovative American Harry Miller first filed a patent in 1919 for his design of a revolutionary wheel design which utilized aluminum alloy.

Here is his patent drawing:

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But the H.A. Miller wheels never went past the design phase and were never actually made.

It was Ettore Bugatti who succeeded in producing them first, in 1924 --- casting aluminum brake drums, wheel spokes, and wheels at the Bugatti foundry in Molsheim, using molds he had developed himself, and which were intended for fitment to the Type 35 which could be said to be the most famous racecar of all time.

Note that the Bugatti wheel design very closely echoes Miller's earlier design, but instead of six spokes it was eight.

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Those wheels were 19" and incorporated integrated brake drums to help facilitate quicker pit stops.

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Now,
this is where we fast-forward to the mid 1920's back when Charles Cooper ran a small garage in Surbiton and who happened to maintain the various cars of famous local racer Kaye Don.

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Kaye Don was so impressed with Charlie's spanner turning mechanic abilities that he was made crew chief for Don's racing team, and when Don the Brooklands ace decided to get himself a Bugatti Type 54 in the early 1930's, Charlie Cooper was sent off to the Molsheim factory to build up the 4.9 liter straight-eight French racecar, as well as to learn all about it while he was there. This was somewhat common practice back in those days and even later at the Cooper Works garage they allowed favored customers' mechanics to assemble their cars on premises.

I would think that Charlie learned and picked up quite a bit with his time spent at the Bugatti factory.

Due to the incredibly high monetary value of early Bugatti cars there is a tremendous amount of research spent on them, and thanks to that we can see the actual car that Charles built up and worked on, it is chassis number 54203 with a stated build date of 1932.

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Period photographs:

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John Cooper grew up immersed in a wonderful world of hardcore motorsport and from a very young age was bitten by the bug, tinkering and building "specials" was in his blood.

By the time of 1946, John was getting serious with his intention, to move beyond hobbyist level and into full-fledged production mode.

The burgeoning 500cc movement gave him the opportunity.

As in America, the post-war years in England saw many servicemen returned home who had a bit of a thrillseeking bent, men mad about motors and modding them beyond belief, forming clubs for fun like rumbling the ton.

In England in 1945 there was an official 500cc class formed and it grew to be quite popular because entry to the field was much more within reach to the workingman, so it was like a poor-man's racing formula, as opposed to the upper echelons of racing which had always been a playground of the wealthy playboy.

The 500cc car that John Cooper developed proved to be an excellent design,
it is now known as the Mark I.

Here is some incredible vintage footage of silent film from 1946 showing him testing it on public roads including the A3 Kingston By-Pass near Tolworth in Surrey.


If you watched the film you may have noticed that the wheels are quite plain and have not a small sliver of anything even remotely related to the look of Minilites, this is because the car was built up using bits from a Fiat Topolino which crucially had an independent suspension, so it was only natural to use the wheels as well. John had acquired the Topolino from a broker down the street from the garage for cheap money because it had been crashed in the rear and was an insurance write-off.

Here's what a 1946 Topolino, which means "little mouse" in Italian, looked like:

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Please bear with me reader, although it may seem this may be veering off topic, I feel it is a necessary part of the story to understand the overall evolution.

The Cooper Mark I proved successful and generated much enthusiastic interest, but there was no way that Cooper could source an infinite supply of wrecked Topolinos to build them from, so in 1948 the Cooper Car Company was born and incorporated to make an updated version which was to be produced in-house.

It was then that with the new 500cc car that a newly designed wheel also came along. Not quite a Minilite but did have an eight spoke element.

The design is credited to Charles Cooper's nephew Colin Darby.

John Cooper wrote:
"My cousin Colin Darby was a draughtsman for a firm called Celestion, who made loudspeakers in Kingston. One evening we got together and discussed supply problems with wheels. We wanted a 15" of our own which would be stronger and lighter than the old Fiat type which we just couldn't find anymore. So with Colin we designed our own, including integral brake drums like Bugatti prewar, and patented them and had them cast in aluminium by a foundry in Croydon, I think."

The wheels were made of cast Elektron which was a trade-name for a type of magnesium alloy.

Here they are shown with Charles standing and John in car.

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Some action shots:

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Now,
we can get past the germinal stages and get to the point where the Minilite proper is fully realized.

The year is 1956.

The car is the Mark II T39 "bobtail",
truly beautiful:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...-sports-racer/

The new wheel was designed by the famously eccentric Cooper designer named Owen Maddock,
nicknamed "the beard".

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His mercurial temperament and volatile temper sometimes grated against his employers' nerves. Once, when a potential new recruit arrived for a job interview, Charles Cooper asked his secretary whether he had a beard. On being told that he did, Cooper told her to "Send 'im home. I've got enough trouble with the one I've got!".

It was his design that gave us the "banana spoke" as we know it.

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And,
a quick sidenote regarding Owen Maddock --- he left Cooper around 1964 and went on to design hovercraft, but he still did freelance motorsport related work, and in 1965 he was commissioned by Bruce McLaren for certain design elements concerning the M1B being made by his newly formed company, and Maddock contributed a revolutionary four spoke design which was very light and strong, which directly influenced the aptly named Revolution Wheels to offer their take on it that like the Minilite, also became an iconic wheel to be wedded with the Mini Cooper.

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So here we are,
ultimately...

...


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The brand name Minilite magnesium wheels came into existence some time between 1962-1964.

Trade mark number 1415893, MINILITE, is registered in Class 12 in respect of “Lightweight eight spoke magnesium wheels, all for motorcars; lightweight magnesium or aluminium wheels for motorcars.”

They were made by a company called Tech-Del Limited which was formed by Derek Power who was an atomic physicist.

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The original Minilites came packaged as a full set in a barrel box,
just too damn cool.

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Here's John Cooper in a Mini sporting the de rigueur wheels:

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And earlier, here's JC pictured with his son Michael,
Cooper 8-spoke prominent.

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Mike all grown up and hey thanks for carrying on the family legacy and giving us the full works package for the modern MINI!

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Recently stumbled across an old classified with a set of genuine new-school Minilites:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...te-wheels.html

Stated weight was 22 lbs. which is quite heavy.

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:

A wheel I was unfamiliar with has lately grabbed my attention because they're like an evolutionary take on the Minilite style with modern thin spokes.

Mugen MF8

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16x7

The forged Mugen wheel only weighs 12 lbs. but they are very very difficult to find and very very very expensive as well.

Rota makes a replica called the Circuit 8 which weighs around 15 lbs.

There were a couple of posts on NAM long ago with them fitted but the pictures are gone...

https://sep.yimg.com/ay/twincamtech/...ircut-8-12.gif

...I'd love to see an R53 with the Rota Circuit 8's,
any pix out there?

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Recently stumbled across another oddball JDM wheel - the Work Goocars Hemi.

Delightfully charming adcopy:

Work Wheels Goocars Hemi 2 piece wheel is a hand buffed wheel. The Face Design that has Breeziness and Beauty with fully American Tastes good contrast under the Sunshine. Dilute and Warm Brightness are producing Foursquare Presence.

Definitely got that throwback muscle-car vibe. I couldn't come across any weight info but they do look like they'd be on the porky side, the ones I saw for sale were 17x7.5

Although I was a little surprised when after seeing these decided to check American Racing's site for Torq Thrust and they list the weights which is much lower than I was expecting, and that's a very similar wheel.

Must admit that they do look tuff.

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ARE made a minilite 8-spoke called the Silverstone which is cool, but it was the Torq Thrust design that made the company famous.

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