VTO Retro 4 vs VTO Classic 8

[Hap Waldrop]

First off I would like to thank you all for your response to the other VTO wheel thread, we like to hear your feedback and can learn alot from our customers. So how about giving me your opinion on which style of VTO wheel you like the best, the Retro 4 or the Classic 8.

Barry (VTO's owner) and I spoke about this the other night about this very thing, he likes the Classic 8 the best, I like the Retro 4 the best, so what says you all, curious to know.

Here's photos of each

Classic 8

 

[Hap Waldrop]

Ok now the Retro 4

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Classic 8 for me, the 4 reminds me of a Chev Vega wheel

Marv

 

[mrv8q]

Classic 8 for me, the 4 reminds me of a Chev Vega wheel

Classic 8 for me, the 4 reminds me of Datsun 510 wheels I had....

 

[martx-5]

Like I said in the other thread...<span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">Classic 8</span></span></span>...

 

[cheseroo]

For my 250, I was all set to wait for the Retro 4 in 16" when they came out. I really, really like the look of the 4 over the 8. Kevin says the 4 reminds him of the 510 (not really a bad thing in my mind) but the 8 reminds me of VW bug. Somebody made knock-off of that wheel in the early 80's and it was a very common wheel on a lot of cars here in SoCal and it seemed like every bug had them. So I suppose it's pOtatoe vs potAtoe. Hap, unfortunately I am out of wheel purchasing mode as a set of period cosmic wheels fell out of the sky into my lap and I'm going to go with them. These aren't my wheels (different offset front/rear) but it gives an idea of what they look like.

 

[Hap Waldrop]

Yep, very familar with the Cosmic, seen about all the type of wheel on coiould imagine you could ever see racing SCCA for 3 decades and playing with these cars that long too. I have a buddy who has set of new, NOS, Cosmics on his Datsun 2000 roadster, we actually talked about them when we were looking into another design to make, but most people wanted the Libre look, they have sold well, still the Classic 8 in silver is the top seller and I'm sure will be for a long time to come, it's the vanilla of the bunch, but I think LBC folks like vanilla

I going for the Retro 4 in black on both the street car and the race car, both MGB GTs, the street car is old English white, and the race car will be silver so the black centers will give the lighter car colors good constrast. For that reason I like the black centers on lighter paint color cars and the silver on darker paint color.

 

[PeterK]

I agree on the black center. Nice contrast with a polished lip on a TR.

Thing about Minilite style is that everyone has them, Minilite, K&N Minator, Panasport, etc and they all look pretty much the same.

I like the old Libre AR wheels because they're different and hard to find, which made them unique. But I suspect lots of us would buy the VTO now. One thing I don't like about them is the VTO on the rim. And now notso hard to find anymore.

Mine are these, and I am very happy with this look for my 4A.

 

[PeterK]

And here is a spare KN Minator that I finished in graphite grey. Can you tell I like dark centers!?

 

[Darrell_Walker]

If I were to replace my wire wheels, I would probably go with the Classic 8, even though you do see that style everywhere. I might change my mind once I see some pix of the Retro 4s on cars. I also think a dark grey version would look great.

 

[M_Pied_Lourd]

Hap,

Can you post some pics of your street car please when you have the rims installed.

Cheers,
M. Pied Lourd

 

[ylwtr6]

Hap,

My vote is for the Retro 4 but I would like to see it with a dark gray center.

Stuart

 

[WedgeWorks]

I have the "Classic 8" for my TR8. I got them in 13x8 and 13x7 and I think compliment the look for my project.

 

[Brosky]

I like the Classic 8, but I have the Konig Rewind's on mine and they are about the same. I also have Panasports that came on the TR8, so I'm into that style of wheel.

 

[justin_mercier]

I love the look of minilite replicas , so I'm partial to the classic 8. I've got a set of KN Minator wheels from the UK for my TR6

Also, wow, those wheels look great on a wedge. I've got the stock original with original caps, and they're not bad, but that's sharp looking.

I love FHC wedges

 

[DNK]

Hap's old wheels on mine

And

 

[HerronScott]

Classic 8 here.

Scott

 

[6969ronin6969]

Retro 4.

Nothing wrong with the 8, they do look good, but when I see them I think about the Miata. I know they just copied the design, and I think the Miata is a good car, but...


...I just think the Retro 4 is a little more unique and therefore appeals to me.

I saw your info on why splined alloys are somewhat self defeating. Has anyone ever used lug bolts on our cars? Can we do that? I have an old Bimmer that does, but it also has a lip for setting the rim on. I thought this was also crucial to centering.

Thanks,

Eric

 

[racingenglishcars]

I like them both, but the Classic 8 seems to me to be more for the Mini, Spridget or VW Bug. The Retro 4 has been very hard to find and therefore more desirable.

I personally have Cosmics for the Bugeye, but I had those nice Revolutions on my old Rabbit GTI Callaway Turbo. The TR4 has original American Racing Libre.

Therefore, of the two:

Retro 4

 

[Hap Waldrop]

I have the "Classic 8" for my TR8. I got them in 13x8 and 13x7 and I think compliment the look for my project.

Those are probably Superlites (we used to be the US importer of those, before we started making our won wheels), we have not made VTO Classic 8 in 13x7 or 13 x8 yet, however 13x7 are slated to be made in the future.