I went upto the tire shop to collect the spare I left overnight only to get there and be informed that somehow I have been packing around a twelve inch wheel and tire in the trunk for a car that has thirteen inch wheels and tires.

I’ve had that car for 38 years now. I can’t remember where that wheel and tire came from or how long it’s been back there. I do know that the tire has been junk for a long time.

The only British car that comes to mind right away that had 12 inch wheels was the original Mini

I remeber my dad had one of those damned things when I was a little kid too.

He raced it just like everything else he owned back then.

Since I haven’t put 500 miles on that Sprite in the last 15-18 years, I was never too concerned about having a spare tire.

The tires I have on it as of last week have less than 200 miles on them and are only about a year old. They were the cheapest tires I could find.

So as soon as I got to work I hit FleaBay and found the cheapest steel wheel I could find that actually fits that car, except I am still going to have to drill out the holes for the studs because I put bigger ones in about ten years ago.

Yet another Bemjamin down the drain. It’s a good thing I quit keeping track or I would probably have myself commited.

The wheel I bought was for the later models and is know as a Rostyle wheel.

It was $60 but with tax and shipping it came to juuuust under a hundred bucks.

The cheapest original steel whell was $80 and looked like it was rusty and dirty as hell.

It is what it is. Now it’s going to cost me another $30-40 to have it mounted and balanced so it can sit in the trunk hopefully until I get rid of the thing. I hope I never have to use it.

I do still have the original jack and a lug wrench so that’s two things I don’t have to go buy.