Ikara wheels.

The search begins.
To think I had a set of 5 of these coveted wheels.

The very ones in this picture to be exact. Only for a light-fingered, opportunistic local to whip them out of the garage. I think I have mentioned before that the purchaser at Cash Converters would have been in for a shock with the fronts being a different width, offset and bolt pattern to the rears.

They are Simmons 3 piece and Simmons, in order to consolidate, decided to stop making 13" wheels and handed the dies and the specifications over to a "company" in Sydney called Retro Wheels. Graham managed to get himself a set from them which took ages because they didn't know how to spin the rims. Rick came to the rescue with the name of a company in Victoria who had made his Ikara rims. Retro engaged that company to do  Graham's rims and eventually he got his wheels.

Now, I need some, as does Ross Lowe in the West. Retro Wheels still purport to be at the address shown in the Yellow Pages and on their website but to go there to find a locked up shed with someone else's name on the door slowed me up a bit. A 'phone call to their listed number is answered by a nearby deli who knows nothing. Enquiries at neighbouring businesses draw blanks too. Assuming Retro Wheels are out of business, the dies must still be somewhere I would hope. I think I'll give Simmons a call in the morning and see if they know anything.

P.S. I've just rung Simmons Wheels (or Tempe Tyres as they are now called). They have taken everything back from Retro Wheels who no longer exist. They are not aware of any 13" dies and even if they could put their hands on them it wouldn't matter anyway because they are not prepared to make any wheels under 15".