The Cooper S 4.5″x10″ Dunlop wheel 21A1286 (LP883) was an optional extra introduced for the Cooper S MK1 and painted in Old English White (WT3). The same option available for Mk2/3 was painted Dover Grey (GR34). This wheel was made to fit over the 7.5″ disc and S caliper with the extra inch being internal (positive inset) rather than sticking out.
Dunlop’s part number for the reverse rim for Mini and Cooper without 7.5″ S disc brake cars was C-AHT182 (LP918) or the Dunlop logo followed by 918. This wheel had the extra inch on the outside of the rim making it fill the wheel arch out more but made for Mini Cooper 997/998 with smaller 7″ disc brakes or any front drum brake mini(known as negative offset). The C-AHT182 was also fitted by some including me on the Cooper S as only early 145 radial tyres were available at that time and without arches was just about legal depending on the officers who stopped you as they only stuck out of body line about quarter of an inch at most, but the 165 tyres were to wide and illegal in UK unless arches were fitted. Standard 3.5″x10″ was 21A1282, Dunlop LP882. PCD or Pitch Circle Diameter is the diameter of a circle which runs trough the middle of all bores for the wheel studs.
A Mini has a PCD of 4×4″. The first number indicates the amount of holes; A Mini has 4 as indicated. The second number indicates the diameter of a circle passing through the centres of the 4 studs; again 4″ (=101,6mm).
Between 1978 and 1981 Dunlop USA spent $102 million on modernising its European tyre business. The British workforce was cut from 13,000 to 7,000 with departments being closed down. It was after a disastrous merger with Pirelli in 1971 until 1981 that indirectly lead to the whole Dunlop group of companies being sold to BTR in 1985. Mini Spares had an account with Dunlop and BTR so we purchased many of the rubber body seals from BTR for the mini, but gradually BTR split the group up and sold them off, with the Systems and Components division transferring to Trelleborg AB at the end of the 1990’s. After the Dunlop/BTR split we had to purchase the wheels from Motor Wheel Services and ended up eventually taking over 5,300 from the quote below by Sept 1989 with nearly 4000 going to Japan but all were sold before Mini Spares moved to the Potters bar depot. I used to love going up to the monumental Fort Dunlop collecting tyres from their Motorsport or Sports division and then oil pumps from Concentric close by.
Mini Spares also purchased std mini 3.5″ wheel 21A2744 up until we purchased our last 999 on 4th Nov F1991 but these were the last true Dunlop made wheels we were ever able to purchase and sold all by 1996 when the tooling for all 10″ wheels appeared to be scrapped as Dunlop went into decline. The wheels were made in the Coventry factory from memory and hopefully an ex employee from Dunlop Coventry might know more history.
For article on originally producing our original 4.5×10 Mini Special tuning/Minilite wheel see article C-21A1968.
