Probably no word lights a hot rodder's charge more than the Halibrand name. Not only is it the most hallowed of all in hot-rodderdom, it's probably the only chunk of real estate where the high-tech and traditional movements find common ground. During its ownership by Ted Halibrand from 1947-79, Halibrand Engineering cast parts for just about every racer-even boats. But of those, two things lent themselves to the hot rod: the company's quick-change axles and its wheels. And of those two, the wheels hold probably the biggest sway.
Trimmer Paul Reichlin has...
Trimmer Paul Reichlin has a wheel fetish, and among his scores are these very early 16-inch (front) and 18-inch (rear) Halibrand Indy car wheels. Prior to these, Indy cars wore heavy-wire Rudge-spline wire wheels. The Rudge design didn't translate to softer magnesium and failures followed.
The "failure" of the Rudge-splined...
The "failure" of the Rudge-splined wheels drove Ted Halibrand to explore other mounting options and he found inspiration in his midget racing background. At the time midget racers cut down Model T brake drums (which originally mounted to the transmission), welded them to 12-inch-diameter utility rims, and drilled the axle hubs for the T's 6x5 drum pattern.
The first recipients of Halibrand's...
The first recipients of Halibrand's pin-drive idea were Midget race cars like Rudy Serar's '48 Kurtis. Though small, these were hardly toys; up-and-comers like A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, and Mario Andretti worked their way through the ranks behind the wheel of a midget, so you know Midget racing had to be extreme. These wheels wear very early plain pressure plates.
The following is probably...
The following is probably Ted's greatest contribution to the racing world. He made a hub with the Rudge's thread, but instead of keying the hub and wheel with splines he drilled them for the midget-standard 6x5 pattern dictated by the T drums. Provided the corner had a brake, it first slides over the pins followed by the wheel and the pressure plate. The knock-off nut held everything together. This changed everything.
As well as we know those wheels, there really isn't that much published about them. The information is there, it's just that not much of it has been compiled in bodies of information. That's a shame, really. What good is the Halibrand Engineering legacy if no one knows it?
This is in no way a comprehensive catalog of Halibrand wheels. If not impossible, it would certainly be tedious due to the countless unique variations. Eric Vaughn, who produced wheels inspired by Halibrand's designs, summed it up best: "Just about the time you think you've seen 'em all, another style shows up." Instead, this is a sort of glossary of the more popular and noteworthy examples. To keep this showcase concise, we're concentrating on the wheels the company produced when it was under Ted Halibrand's purview.
The reasons why we're concentrating on the period when he ran Halibrand Engineering are both long and short. According to Dain Gingerelli, who wrote a piece about Halibrand in the Jan. '93 American Rodder magazine, the demand for Halibrand equipment diminished through the '70s since many of the mid-engine Indy cars-the staple of Halibrand's business-started coming from England. Furthermore, the shop's foreman and Halibrand's brother, Teddy (yes, he had a brother named Teddy), died in the mid-'70s. According to Bob Falcon, who worked for Halibrand Engineering for 30-plus years, Halibrand sold the name and patterns to ARC Industries in 1979, which moved the operation to El Cajon, California.
Halibrand's pin-drive idea...
Halibrand's pin-drive idea instantly made the lighter magnesium wheels practical and as a consequence Halibrand Engineering found instant success. This is the Malloy Special with Troy Ruttman at the helm, circa 1950. The flat mounting faces meant that racers could mount the wheels by either side to manipulate wheel offset to suit track conditions, which is what was done to the front of this car.
This is Ted Halibrand (right),...
This is Ted Halibrand (right), motorcycle champ Joe Petrali, and Roy Russing (seated) with Halibrand's Offy-powered Kurtis midget at the L.A. Coliseum in 1946. The front wheel doesn't look like a conventional Halibrand midget wheel, but it could be one of the first wheels he cast. The front wheel bolts to hubs (probably Model T) but the rear axle has been converted to pin-drive knockoff even though the wheel is still steel.
According to Bob Falcon, the...
According to Bob Falcon, the smooth 15-inch wheels were Halibrand's earliest examples made specifically for drag racing as most were drilled for bolt-on and not pin-drive. They may be the earliest drag-specific wheels ever as they predate Romeo Palamides' wheels by several years. Here they are on Neal Leffler and John Loukas' Comp Coupe. Note that mounting the rear wheels backward was an affordable means to reduce wheel track during a period when narrowed axles were very expensive. The bolt-on front wheels were seldom used then and are exceedingly rare now.
Bolt-on front wheels were...
Bolt-on front wheels were exceptional on dragsters because they required heavy hubs, which dragsters didn't need since they generally didn't run front brakes. So Halibrand made wheels that incorporated the hub itself, as seen on Jack Mendenhall and Bob Andersen's digger, the Pea Soup Andersen Special. Note the holes in the rear wheel. Though known familiarly as windows, Bob Falcon noted that the company referred to them and those that followed as brake vents.
According to Eric Vaughn, ARC was sold to Jackman Industries in 1982. That name is similarly familiar in the wheel world: it made stamped-steel and spun-aluminum wheels through the late '70s and '80s. The mere thought makes us cringe, but Jackman's employees allegedly re-purposed many of the company's exquisite mahogany patterns as fuel for bonfires at various desert outings. In his article, Gingerelli noted that Jackman sold the company to Wayne Mitchell in 1988 and Mitchell soon after brought in Barry Blackmore and the duo eventually sold out to Richard Lejeurrne. Everyone has a different reason why it happened, but Halibrand Engineering went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the mid-'90s and ceased to exist as a part manufacturing company. Lejeurrne rekindled the Halibrand name soon after, but the new company's name is Halibrand Perfomance, not Halibrand Engineering-the company Halibrand founded.
But we much prefer the short version: Halibrand Engineering under Ted Halibrand cast wheels from magnesium exclusively (all subsequent owners cast the wheels from aluminum). And for the record, we're sort of intrigued by metal that can burn.
Our good bud Greg Sharp, at the NHRA museum, has a photo collection to end all, and a number of the cars in those photos sport Halibrand wheels. Trimmer Paul Reichlin (Cedardale Auto Upholstery) and machinist Buffalo (Buffalo Enterprises) let us snap shots of their collections. And to us, photos are reason enough to run a story about the most hallowed name in the hot rod world: Halibrand Engineering. Enjoy!
Anyone who knows the Halibrand legend understands that anything that bears Ted Halibrand's name is borderline priceless. That wasn't always the case. In fact, some say that Halibrand was just as committed to making parts affordable for common racers as he was making those parts light and strong. A story about Halibrand's early years explains it best.
The four very small and plain...
The four very small and plain brake vents were unique to very early Halibrands. Their number was dictated by the existing eight-rib wheel structure. Rather than design a new pattern from scratch, Halibrand likely asked his pattern makers to modify the existing ones to test his idea and four holes probably seemed safer than eight. Note that Romeo Palamedes' four-hole wheels differed considerably from Halibrand's in profile and brake-vent shape.
The four very small and plain...
The four very small and plain brake vents were unique to very early Halibrands. Their number was dictated by the existing eight-rib wheel structure. Rather than design a new pattern from scratch, Halibrand likely asked his pattern makers to modify the existing ones to test his idea and four holes probably seemed safer than eight. Note that Romeo Palamedes' four-hole wheels differed considerably from Halibrand's in profile and brake-vent shape.
Larger brake vents meant greater...
Larger brake vents meant greater cooling potential and less weight, so by the very early '60s, Halibrand brake vents grew to larger oval holes as seen on the Weiss and Larkin AA/Gas Dragster. Note the pronounced "lip" entirely around the vents. According to Lou Senter, the SEN in ANSEN, makers of those famed Sprints, "My wheels were just Halibrand's without a lip around the window."