I have a couple of old Shelby Wheel, Tire, and Accessories catalogs and I thought some of you might be interested in these, since several of the wheels were popular for the 240Z at the time. There are also a couple of other Z related accessories shown. Note the Sidwinder 6 slot wheels. I think there have been questions as to who made these. This is from a 1972 catalog and they indicate it was an exclusive design for Shelby at that time. Also note the 240Z side stripe kits. A later Wheel Application guide (dated around 1982) shows the AR Libre style wheels spelled Liebre. It is interesting that in the 1972 catalog, the Libre style wheels are called Vipers.

I also included the 4-2-73 retail pricing list so you can see what the period pricing was. I also have some application charts if anyone is interested in those.

-Mike

Really great stuff, Mike, thanks! Very interesting, especially to someone like myself who sold Shelby wheels in the early '80s.

I find it interesting to note that the Viper is listed as having an offset of -1/2", rather than the zero offset of the AR Libres.

I think I'd really like to find a matched set of Sidewinders for my car. I'd probably prefer the 5.5", but with the positive offset they list even the 6.5" should be OK. Good stuff.

I'm only 21, so most of my experience with wheel culture has involved "dubs" and the like. Hell, now they're manufacturing 30+ inch wheels.

But it's really funny to me that there was a market for 10x4 inch Shelby wheels! It's also hard for me to believe that Shelby made wheels specifically for Hondas as early as 1972. Crazy I tell you!

Update - Take a good look at the description Shelby uses for offset in the diagram on page 6. Their definition is backwards!! So their -1/2" offset for the Vipers is more shallow, not deeper. This makes more sense to me, as most Libres and clones (there's a word we never heard in the early '70s) have what we today all call a positive offset.

This also means that the +9/16" offset on the 6.5" Sidewinders would make them very deep, a bit deeper than a 7" with zero offset. So I guess I only want the 5.5" set. :classic:

Page 6 has the positive and negative offset reversed from what we use today. Is this a typo, or have things changed since '72?

EDIT: Hey Arne, it looks like I'm gonna' have to get up pretty early to beat you to the punch.

Arne,

Yeah, I would like to have a set of the 6 slot sidewinders for one of my cars as well. I bought a set of three 6 slot wheels off ebay several months ago. I have tried to track down a forth one, but no luck so far. They don't have any markings to indicate they are Shelby wheels (unlike the Vipers I have), but based on the comment in the catalog I am assuming they are Shelbys.

Jon, I am more than 20 yrs older than you and my first car was a 1978 honda civic CVCC. I thought those were some of the earliest Hondas imported to the US, but recently I have found out that they were around long before that. Jay Leno has a 1964 SM600 that was kind of a forerunner of the S2000 that have now (you can check it out on jaylenosgarage.com). Japanese Nastolgic Car magazine had several older Honda models in its first issue a month or two ago.

-Mike

Mike, I'm another 10 years older yet, my first car was a '63 MG 1100. Basically the same as an Austin America, but a manual transmission and factory dual SUs. Think of it as the original Mini Cooper's slightly larger brother.

Front drive cars were not common in those days, things have changed...

Arne, that is quite bizarre. My first car was an MG 1100 as well. A red one. Quite minimalistic but did seat four.

Mine was a two-door in BRG. Always loved that wood dash. My mom bought it new in '64. Drove the wheels off that little guy...

Update - Take a good look at the description Shelby uses for offset in the diagram on page 6. Their definition is backwards!! So their -1/2" offset for the Vipers is more shallow, not deeper. This makes more sense to me, as most Libres and clones (there's a word we never heard in the early '70s) have what we today all call a positive offset.

This also means that the +9/16" offset on the 6.5" Sidewinders would make them very deep, a bit deeper than a 7" with zero offset. So I guess I only want the 5.5" set. :classic:

On the page where they list the replacement caps they switch some of the labeling for the 4 and 5 lug wheels caps, too. Just a couple of typos, I'm guessing.

On another note, I just bought a set of shelby cal 500 5-slots for 75 bucks a couple of months ago and they're great! They change the whole look of the car!

Wow Mike, thank you! I have my original dealer-installed Cal 500 5-slots on my 2/71 and- as with all of the parts on my car- I like having documentation on everything. I just called Shelby *last week* looking for info! I was looking for new period-correct replacement caps to install, before the original Cobra logos were obliterated, and was steered (sorry for the pun ) to Massey on eBay, and they had everything for those wheels- in case anyone else is searching.

Did Massey have the proper four ear center caps?