My, now owned by someone else, 1967 Maserati Quatroporte has 286 hp a weight of 1750 kg with a top speed of 240 km/h. It had wire wheels as an option when new.
I suspect that, in order to be strong enough, they would be very heavy and alloy wheels would be sronger for a lighter unsprung weight.
Reducing the unsprung weight is important for keeping the rubber on the road when an uneven surface is encountered, particularly in cornering.
I'm a very amateur Engineer but wouldn't the higher profile tyre and more supple sidewalls facilitate this whereas today's more rigid sidewalls affect them detrimentally??
As I said, an amateur observation?
