Our Lamborghini Jalpa has Bicycle Wheels...kind of
Tullio Campagnolo founded his Italian cycling company in 1933. Tullio raced bicycles, and kept coming up with great ideas -- usually after hurting himself.
When his hands went numb in the mountains and he couldn't loosen his tire, he invented a new lever system. When he hurt his hand opening a bottle of wine (Post race celebration?), he invented a new corkscrew.
In the car world, Campagnolo is known for creating some of the most interesting automotive wheel designs ever. In the 1960's, Campagnolo started manufacturing magnesium wheels for some of the top performance automotive brands.
The thought that a premier company in cycling once manufactured wheels for Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lamborghini and others gets us excited. We're always interested when two spheres of design crossover.
Both cycling and performance automotives come from competitive tradition demanding as near to perfection as possible in order to win. Each also values form and beauty. It makes sense then, that the two worlds eventually worked together, if only for a handful of years.
But there is one thing out there that makes us wonder: Why did Campagnolo stop producing them? Almost every wheel is artfully designed; beautiful, even. We've reached out to Campagnolo for more insight into the subject.
Until they get back to us, here are some of our favorites.
Photo by Marvin 345
photo by RM Auctions
Source unknown
Our Jalpa with Campagnolo wheels.
The recessed logo makes great use of the rear wheel's wider footprint.
Campagnolo made some wheels for Maserati, as well. Here's a set on our Merak:
Source: Campagonolo
Campagnolo, is very well know and loved by many cyclists for designing and manufacturing some of the very best performance parts, accessories and wheels in the cycling industry. Click the logo to visit Campagnolo.