Soviet Racers Couldn’t Get Alloys, So They Turned to Magnesium Helicopter Wheels

Even behind the Iron Curtain, Soviet citizens did what people will always do when they can line up two cars together: Race. This expensive pastime was even harder in the United Soviet Socialist Republics though, leaving drivers who wanted an advantage over the competition with few options. That forced racers to turn to unusual sources for things like lightweight wheels—such as helicopters and armored cars.

Motorsport was unusual but not unheard-of in the U.S.S.R., which narrowly missed participating in Group B. Despite common shortages impacting the availability of car parts, including basic wear items, there was some semblance of grassroots rally and touring car racing. Naturally, drivers looked for competitive edges by upgrading their vehicles, but that was anything but easy. Performance parts were hard to come by, and lightweight wheels especially presented a challenge, as aluminum wheels were still prohibitively expensive even in the West. Racers' only options were to try to smuggle something in and modify it, or fashion their own out of domestically manufactured parts. And that's how helicopter wheels came into the equation.

According to Dzen.ru, workers at certain plants contracted to make aerospace parts or military vehicles would sometimes stay after hours to make custom lightweight racing wheels. They'd fashion them out of wheels designed for either armored cars or helicopters, with two particular wheels being standout favorites.

One was the KT 192-020, an aluminum wheel that ZR.ru says was meant for the BDRM series of armored reconnaissance vehicles. There isn't much historical documentation on this wheel or its use in racing, indicating its availability may have been limited. Again, aluminum wheels were pricey at this time, so it's not likely many fell off a truck, so to speak. Instead, the hot commodity was its airborne counterpart, the K2-116.

The K2-116 was a magnesium wheel used on a variety of aircraft, with users reportedly including the Mil Mi-4 and Mi-8 helicopters, Antonov An-28 transport plane, and Ilyushin Il-18 airliner. Its specs are preserved in a 2016 for-sale listing on Drive2.ru, which outlines it as a multi-piece 14 by 9-inch wheel