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Back in the late 80’s I cut my teeth in the ultra-high performance tyre world working for Bridgestone Tyres, the days when they were purely a one brand company before the purchase of Firestone Tyres, working between the sales, technical department and the high performance tyre department, it’s a time in my life I will not forget, selling and working with all the tyres for the exotics of the 80’s all the icon cars, Ferrari F40, Porsche 959, Jaguar XKR-15, and the incredible XJ 220, I remember seeing my very first XJ220 rear tyre 345/35R18 and being in awe, my passion for high performance tyres along with working in the Technical department put me in good stead for the business I'm involved with today, learning all about the tyre, section width, overall diameter, rolling circumference, tyre upgrades, and above all the ETRTO standards (European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation) permitted tyre to rim widths, which has been a very important parts of VAD’s daily business life working with bespoke custom 2 and 3 piece forged wheels.

When Bridgestone purchased Firestone, I left the company to search for a new challenge, this is when I linked up with Peter Luckings from Motorsport Sport wheels, at the time Peter was actively importing and distributing the OZ wheel brand in to the UK market and it was the start of my journey into the wheel world.

OZ Racing Race & Rally

Being involved with the O.Z wheel brand set me up with all the ethics I still swear by today, that quality is everything, and if its cheap, its cheap for a reason, visiting the foundries in Italy and seeing the product being manufactured up close and personal was something to behold, the TUV testing they have in-house was market leading at the time, the Racing department where the Motorsport wheels & three piece wheels were constructed I will never forget, truly awe-inspiring, they certainly lead by example.

Like most European companies they have had a hard time with the infestation of Chinese manufactured alloy wheels that hit the European market, but we are pleased to report that over time people have realised that the quality difference between European & Chinese manufactured product are worlds apart, Chinese alloy wheels are cheap for a reason and I am happy that all of the best European manufactures are back, and back with a vengeance.

I am so pleased to be once again involved with this iconic brand, only this time under different circumstances, with my own company promoting and selling the OZ Racing wheel range.

All of the wheel designs are being added to the website and updates will follow over the coming weeks and we are pleased to be teaming up with the O.Z Factory on all of our up and coming Mini R56 builds with our wider fenders, we will be fitting the OZ race & rally wheel design in the 17” & 18” sizes, along with a tie up with Bilstein suspension, we have some exciting plans for the brand, so get in-touch with us today for any OZ Racing Wheel enquiries.

VAD R56 Mini wide fenders, fitted with OZ Racing, Race & Rally wheel

Render of the all new VAD R56 Mini wide fenders, fitted with OZ Racing, Race & Rally wheel

 

The McLaren F1 LM needs no introduction, it was in its day the pinnacle road racer, with beauty from any viewing point, it still looks as fresh today as the day it was launched, its one of our favorite cars of all time, so when we got a call to potentially work with one of our long time customers on a special build thats taking place, it was an offer we couldn't refuse.

We have worked with Mark from MJP racing for a number of years, making a few set of wheels for a number of his cars, the one that stands out was a set of our Trafficstar wheels on his Ultima GTR, Mark didn't want to follow the normal route of the standard old looking Ultima GTR wheel, he wanted fresh and modern, upsetting the purists along the way fit fitted our Trafficstar STR 9x19 front and 13x20 rear and it looked pretty spectacular.

He present project is pretty awe inspiring, most people are asking why you would change your original O.Z Chrono Magnesio wheel that you love, to a wheel design that will look the same, with the main reason being tyres and the rear size in particular, the 345/35R18 are like hens teeth, they are no longer manufactured, and the ones that are available are coming to the end of their DOT shelf life, so with a huge brake set up being manufactured for this project, it seemed like a no brainer to to make a larger wheel to house the new brakes and have a better tyre selection.

The wheel design will be an homage to the original O.Z classic 5 spoke, but will be 19" instead of the 18" original set up, we are building the wheel design in 3 piece configuration in 10" & 13" widths, centers will be ultra light weight forged magnesium, with titanium fasteners and all painted in anthracite to match the current set up, this is one wheel build that really excites us, more details will follow as the build happens, with a big shout out to Patrick from Litespeed Racing for stepping up to the plate for our request.

10x19 & 13x19 Magnesium Forged 3 piece centre lock for McLaren F1

 
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Office Hours

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Saturday                9.00 am > 1.00 pm
Sunday                   Closed

Unit 5
James Road
Tyseley
Birmingham
B11 2BA
Art...Some people collect it, We like to build it
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