One afternoon last January I was researching what would be the proper (or more stylish) wheels for my 1969 Porsche 912. My 912 was running Fuchs Replica’s which didn’t look too bad but were very heavy and just not original equipment… I knew I wanted Fuchs even though my car came with Chrome Steelies. In this era Porsche offered a few different styles of wheels. If you’d like to reference details on Date Codes and History, See my previous post on Fuchs Wheels.

I decided I would have to find a set of date matched Deep Six Fuchs. Fuchs forged wheels in 4.5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 inch widths in the early day’s. The deep sixes have a 2 inch deep polished lip and mags. While browsing Craigslist Jacksonville I came across an ad for 4 Porsche “Windmill” wheels. The pictures looked like Fuchs but something just wasn’t right. After exchanging a few emails with the seller we determined there were no part #’s on the backs of the wheels and they must be replica’s. I hadn’t gone to see them in person but decided to just pass on them.

A week went by and I got word on a set of 5.5″ fuchs which are somewhat hard to find. The VW guys love these wheels and I think it’s easier to find them in the VW realm over the Porsche crowd… 5.5′s have a 1.5 inch deep lip. They give the car a nice stance and even though I purchased the full set, I decided not to use them on my car. So, my search continues….

Here’s a pic of a 5.5″ Fuchs Wheel with the “Heart” at the valve stem. There’s no absolute reason for some wheels having the heart and other’s not. I was told it depended on which workman was forging the wheels. Some heart’s were ground flat across and other’s left it there…

So, a couple weeks had gone by since I first inquired about the Windmill Replica’s and I had forgotten about them until… My dad calls and say’s he is going to run over and take a look at them. I explained to him that they’re replica’s and they’re not worth much, maybe a couple hundred bucks at most. A few minutes pass by and I get a call back. My dad say’s “Chris, These wheels have hearts” Red Flag, or maybe green. From my recollection, There were no replica’s made with Heart’s… So I ask, How wide are they? My dad replied, “The wheels are 7 inches wide and, they’re all dated 6/70″. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest…  I ask him how much the guy wants? “$400 Firm, why?”. Dad, tell him we’ll take the wheels. My dad asked “Chris, What are they worth?” I reply, Dad do you have cash?. “No, but the seller says we can pick them up tomorrow”. Now I’m getting nervous….

At this point in the story if you’re a Porsche guy and know your wheels you are probably about as excited and nervous as I was. I could hardly sleep that night, imagining some dude rolling up with cash and buying them out from under me!

6am the next morning I’m wide awake and on the way to my dads house. We figured we should wait until at least 8am to call the guy and pick the wheels up. So 8am my dad’s on the phone and we get the go-ahead to come over and pick them up. We were greeted by a gentleman in his 70′s. It turns out he had the wheels on a 67, 912 that was set up as a 911R track car. Now things are making sense! He was given the wheels by a good friend who had a Porsche Factory race car. Aaaah HA, it’s all coming together. But, because he couldn’t find any part numbers he assumed they were replica’s.

So here’s what you’ve been waiting for. A date matching set of FOUR (rare) Fuchs 7R wheels, Complete with track tires and center caps.

In 1966 Porsche was developing/building the 911R race cars. At Porsche if you, a private buyer, had the cash and went to the factory you could buy any car just about any way you wanted, including a 911R. According to available data (some not so accurate) there were 24 Porsche 911R’s produced in 1967. Keep in mind, there have been around 6 Pre-911R prototypes uncovered around the world as well. Anyway, Fuchs made this wheel specifically for the Porsche race cars. Some people say there were less than 100 sets of Fuchs 7R wheels made others I’ve been told 200 sets. Either way, they are rare. These wheels have a 2 Inch deep lip with an extra inch of wheel inward. This wheels looks/works best with about a 20mm spacer otherwise it’ll rub on the spring plate/arm bolts. Here’s a pic of it mounted on a 69, 912 (remember 69 has a fender flare) without spacers.

Before I get to ahead of myself let me tell you about the pre-purchase wheel inspection. First off the hearts were a dead give away of authenticity. Secondly, the date stamps between Lug Holes. Now, what about the factory part numbers. On limited production wheels Fuchs used a Rubber ink stamp for the part number. This is similar to the one used on most Fuchs wheels that display the fox head seen here:

At this point we handed the seller cash for his exact  $400.00 asking price and loaded up the wheels. But we still have to confirm part #’s. So when we got home the first thing we did was fill a wash bucket with soap and did some light scrubbing. Guess what we discovered? Look closely for a part #!

That’s it 901.361.012.05 This is the factory part # for the 7R wheel. These are the real deal. But, I still wanted a set of Deep sixes. My dad and I decided to split the set of wheels as most people want them in pairs anyway. I traded my two 7R’s even up for a set of fresh restored Deep Sixes shipped straight from Al Reed to my door step. My dad ended up sending his to a restorer (who purchased them from my dad for $2200) to have them refinished. Here’s a pic of my 912 with it’s $200 set of Date matched 1969 Fuchs Deep Sixes.

Thanks for reading and Happy Motoring!