I have had similar misgivings about the rear wheel that Ray has
mentioned. However, I have not attributed it to the centering of the
wheel in the wheel arch (which, with no offense to Ray, and the picture
rally he provided for us, I think is ok). My thought was that the rear
wheels were too far recessed in the wheel well, especially in
comparison to the front wheels which are not as recessed. This is
further accentuated by the smaller size of the wheel compared to the amount
of flat metal directly above the wheel. As I mentioned before, a 14"
wheel, and a slightly larger opening, would have filled out the car here.
But, that being said, with the wire wheels and the knock off protruding
further than the steel wheels, this does not seem to be a problem anymore.
I have looked at other cars for this problem. The Sunbeam rear wheel
opening is pretty much round and the same size as the rear wheel. Whereas
many other cars have wheel openings even smaller than the front opening
and not round. Take the MGB for instance. Its wheel opening is flat
accross the top and that part drops below the top of the wheel -- sort of
a left over wheel skirt I guess. But the main distinction between the MG
and the Sunbeam here is that the MG wheel is almost directly against the
metal of the wheelwell, while the Sunbeam wheel is set back a few inches.
My guess is that a slightly wider rear end or offset of the rear wheels
would clean up all the appearance issues we have addressed here.
Please understand that "wrong" and "problem" are probably the wrong words
for the set back "issue". I would never trade my Sunbeam for a bulldog
MG. On the other hand, I was thinking more about the rake issue last
night. I think that the powers that be really did not understand Howe's
design and totally destroyed the basic pricipal behind it when they
re-drew all the lines from sloping back to straight up and down. Granted
the Sunbeam is a classic, but the car with the rake would have been like
nothing else out there. But then again, maybe I would be owning a TR4
today instead ;-)
Jay
+------------------------------------------------------+
| Jay S. Laifman Pircher, Nichols & Meeks |
| 1999 Avenue of the Stars |
| Los Angeles, California |
| (310) 201-8915 |
| Real Estate Attorneys |
+------------------------------------------------------+
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