Alloy wheels

[Triton]

I have a 73 Special and it has a nice set of Minilite alloys on.  I have bought a set of correct Dunlop alloys along with other Europa parts of somebody. The wheels are better condition than i expected. The wheels are gunmetal grey colour not black. I spoke to someone who bought a new Special in the 70s and he assured me that the wheels were gunmetal grey from the factory.The wheels i have bought are very good and i will leave them if they are correct. Can anybody tell me the correct colour,  Thanks  Stuart

[4129R]

My first TCS was a very late 1975 car. From my photos, the colour of the wheels looks very black to me.

Just what colour exactly is "gun metal grey"?

[Triton]

I would say it's a dark grey but definitely not black,  The person who bought a new europa in the 70s  swears that they were grey . All photos i have seen they look black .

[Clifton]

Keep what you like, who care if they are "correct" unless it's a concourse show car. It's just a Europa.

[jbcollier]

The correct wheels are not Dunlop.  The Dunlop wheels are similar but, most obviously, have a different cutout between “spokes”.

Here are Dunlops:



And here are the correct wheels:

https://www.lotus-supplies.com/parts/wheels/wheels-wheels/wheel-alloy-lotus-brand/

The Dunlops are actually a lot rarer.  Lotus used them on Seven S3s well before TC/S was produced.

[Kendo]

I have Minilites  for my TCS. They were in bad shape, paint wise. I spent a lot of time, even contacting the Minilite factory. No one could tell me what was the correct color. In fact, sets were probably painted with whatever silvery-ish paint was in stock that day.

As Clifton said, use whatever color you like.

[BDA]

The Lotus Brand (or is it Brand Lotus?) wheels are the "correct" alloy wheels for the TC and TCS. I've always thought they are among the best looking alloy wheels ever. My memory from when my car was new was that they were painted a gray with a hint of green. They were NOT black. Unless you have an old unmolested wheel, I don't know how you'd recreate the exact color so if you wanted to get as close as you can, a gun metal gray would be a very reasonable choice. I've attached a picture that is either the original color or close to it from my memory. It's common for people to paint them black (probably to avoid the hassle of trying to get the right shade of gray, a mistaken opinion that they were originally black, or for better contrast with the aluminum) and I think I've seen other colors too. If you want to paint them a different color, you won't get any complaints from me.

[Triton]

My wheels are exactly like this and the same colour. I will paint them a gun metal grey again.  Thank you BDA and others for the answers.