2 Hour rule

"BvdV - The Dutch Engineer" (dutchengineer) 01/30/2017 at 05:45 • Filed to: None

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Have a 6 wheeled Matra Simca Rancho to start of your week(of which only 2 are driven, because it was a crossover ‘avant la lettre’). Or maybe a double length Rancho is more suitable to match the 2 hour rule:

vondon302 > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/30/2017 at 06:31

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So much greenhouse.

Jobjoris > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/30/2017 at 07:10

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Awesome. But I still prefer the Leotard.

Even available with a Turbo.

Did you notice the first Rancho has Alfa 90 wheels?

404 - User No Longer Available > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/30/2017 at 07:24

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We need to make bottlecap wheels a thing again.

AuthiCooper1300 > Jobjoris 01/30/2017 at 10:11

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Because of the small offset and lug pattern I think those are 33/Sprint wheels, not “Alfa 116" wheels. Sporty 75s had Speedline/Benzoni alloys with that design but for five-lug hubs, not four.

I have never seen a 90 with those wheels, but maybe they were available in certain markets.

Were the “Leotard 6x6” and the 5  Turbo six-wheeler done by the same person? I knew about the Turbo, but I had never seen a Leotard 6x6 before.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Jobjoris 01/30/2017 at 12:51

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Awesome, that Turbo is also twin-engined right?

I did notice the wheels were somewhat familiar, but didn’t think about them being Alfa wheels.

Jobjoris > AuthiCooper1300 01/30/2017 at 13:01

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The 90 V6 had 5-lug pattern, the 2.0 (not sure what “your” market is, mine is North European) had 4 lugs. Style is pretty equal to standard issue 90 wheels though:

Could be 33 wheels, not sure if they differ.

Both the normal and the Turbo were creations of Christian de Leotard. He also made a few 6x6 Range Rovers.

Jobjoris > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/30/2017 at 13:03

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Yeah, twin engined. Not two Turbo engines though. Maybe not what you’d expect though: It had a 5 Alpine engine in the front, and a Renault 5 Turbo unit in the back.

AuthiCooper1300 > Jobjoris 01/30/2017 at 14:17

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Indeed, the V6 90 had five-lug wheels. But your picture does not show exactly the same type of wheel design as the one used in some 75s (Twin Spark, 1.8 Turbo and some V6s). Compare:

Alfa 90 V6 alloy wheel (I think the same design was also used in some GTV6s for the US market):

75 Twin Spark/1.8 Turbo/some V6s:

33/Sprint wheel:

I live in Southern Europe. However, I have never ever seen a 90 with 75 Twin Spark-style wheels - or a 75 with those 90 alloys, for that matter. Not even in pictures.

Regarding Leotard... I remember someone competed in the Paris-Dakar with a six-wheel Mercedes-Benz 190 (which had also been transformed into a raised-roof estate). Maybe another of his creations?

Jobjoris > AuthiCooper1300 01/30/2017 at 15:08

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Well, it’s an Alfa wheel, so I wasn’t that much of. I’d expect a Gotti wheel on a French car.

I think you mean Jean-pierre Jaussaud in 1985. Indeed in a creation of Christian:

DNF.

AuthiCooper1300 > Jobjoris 01/30/2017 at 15:22

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I agree, I found it very unusual too for a Rancho to be “dressed up” with Alfa Romeo wheels. But I think I’ve (partly) found the answer - PCD. It seems the old Simca/Chrysler Simca/Talbot cars (1100, Horizon, Solara and the like) used a 98 mm PCD, same as countless 70s/80s Fiats and Alfas. Maybe it was the only way to get the right combination of size/width/offset/aesthetics on the cheap.

Incidentally, did anyone ever sell a conversion kit or something to make the Rancho four-wheel drive?

Thanks for Jaussaud’s pic, by the way.

Jobjoris > AuthiCooper1300 01/30/2017 at 15:52

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Not that I’m aware of. Matra them selves did experiment with several 4WD systems but those never reached production. I’d expect Sinpar or Dangel to come up with some solution although they’ve been probably too much connected with Renault and PSA. There is, on paper/Oppo, a US project that is supposed to use Quattro mechanicals in a Rancho (the Quancho). But that could take a while...

AuthiCooper1300 > Jobjoris 01/30/2017 at 16:13

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More is the pity nobody took the plunge then. Yeah, fat chance Sinpar or Dangel would dare antagonise the base brands they depended on! And by the time Chrysler Europe was properly embedded within the Peugeot empire surely there simply was no interest on the part of Dangel. They wouldn’t touch a FWD platform until much, much later.

That Quancho idea sounds crazy it is lovely. Let’s hope it takes off.