Hot Rods why are they called ' poverty ' hub caps?

?

 

They came on a base car, no options. = low dollar.

 

.......Us poor folks had to buy the cheaper cars.

 

I actually love the cheaper versions of many cars with the poverty caps, steel wheels and black walls, but then I'm a bench seat type of guy as well.

 

Also called dog dish, for obvious reasons.

Ben

 

I agree totally! Love bench seats!

 

I went from buckets to bench in the A. Custom poverty caps (aka Baby Moons), too!

 

Serious?

 

The full wheel covers are the more expensive and unnecessary option. Your nuts are protected from road grit by the poverty caps. Nothing like clean, well protected nuts.

 

There’s gotta be a story about a chipmunk crossing a stream in there somewhere.....

 

Also called "dog dish" cause people used to flip them over and use them as water and food bowls for their pets.

 

so if you happen upon some late model welded snap bead equipped f100 steel wheels
you are stuck with ugly caps.
great

 

so what are the hub cap options for this?

 

i thought that style was a dog dish -
do these caps sit over the do-nut ring of that /\ wheel

 

"Maybe". You have to match the rim and the cap. Truck rims can be a hassle to find caps for. But, Ford full size car rims "should" have the same size center so a cap that fits one "ought" to fit most. YMMV.

 

You should be able to use full wheel covers on those wheels, providing they have enough crown and are the clincher type; with little triangle clinchers all around their edge.

 

WHY ARE THEY CALLED ' POVERTY ' HUB CAPS?
Basic automobiles came standard with simple, unadorned, and inexpensive hubcaps were called "poverty caps" or "dog dish caps" due to their size and shape.

1962 Chevrolet Biscayne 409
“Utter the term "sleeper" and it's likely that anyone versed in automotive history is going to immediately think of something like this: Chevrolet's cheapest full-size model equipped with its most powerful V-8 engine, a four-speed transmission, and little else to add weight, complexity, or comfort. At a glance, it looks like it should have a six-cylinder and three-on-the-tree.”

“One look at a set of dog-dish hubcaps on a '60s car and the modern car guy or gal's mind instantly thinks sleeper. Even those of us who weren't anywhere yet in 1962 appreciate what it represents—a clear nod to the era's Super Stock competitors and the weekend warriors at drive-in restaurants nationwide who sought to emulate them.”

“… you had a Chevrolet most unlike anything the division had offered previously. Even if you never set foot on the drag strip, such machinery gave you instant credibility at the stoplight grand prix.”


Hello,

Having been part of this cool looking factory hot rod from 1961-62 adventures in Bixby Knolls, it was a fact of life. The next big thing brings everyone down a notch or two. This red sleeper took the cake. No one would touch it without suffering consequences of the drive-in parking lot banter between teenagers and local lore.

On the outside, it looked like a 6 cylinder 3 speed stick shift model that the local insurance agent would have driven to work. It probably would have been except for the fact that the factory allowed anyone to add in some options for a small upgrade. Small… yea right! Small indeed. A big 409 factory built motor, a 4 speed transmission and Positraction became all that was necessary to be at the bottom of the ladder (no car) to the top of the heap in one fast cash transaction.

Jnaki

So, yes, dog dish hubcaps exemplified the poverty end of the whole line up of Chevy cars available to the public. Only those who knew, could get up the poverty ladder to become the “king of the streets” in one simple transaction. Small hubcaps and all.

No, this 61-62 Biscayne did not “legally” race a black Impala for all the marbles, except for a couple of practice runs. On those runs, the Impala with the modifications and C&O Stick Hydro transmission would be out to a two car lead before the 409 Biscayne got situated and came charging along. But, seeing the 6 red taillights of the 58 Impala told him it was too late to come to the party. All fun and laughter among friends is how it stayed, until we all left for greener pastures and sold our cars to the next generation of teenagers wanting a big surprise.

Because of the reputation of the Biscayne/409/dog dish hubcap look, that car was automatically the king without anyone stepping forward to offer a challenge, if that is what it would have been called.
Not the exact car, but, the same look, speed, and intimidation... Poverty caps and all...

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-baddest-car-in-town.1204624/page-3#post-13754885

 

Is the reason why a 1956 steel wheel has the do-nut in its stamping simply to correspond to the slits
in a 1956 f100 drum, I.E the do nut is a channel so the drum can eject brake shoe debris from the drum into this channel ?
which leads to, is the drum and back plate of a 1956 f100 a closer tolerance of which debris cannot escape
considering the brakes do not self adjust and the shmoo will be locked in under the friction material?
that said, is this also why they have radial rings - not so much cooling fins, simply increasing surface area to cool.

you have to ask the reason why....

for, if you then fit a later drum without the slits 'just coz it fits'

hmmm,

 

Those little sits you see cut in the outside of a drum are to measure the shoe adjustment, not to allow dust out. The wheels lining up with one of those slits is pure coincidence. Not all drums have that little slit. Actually, most don't.

Measure across the knobs of the hubcap ring on your wheel, then you can find a hubcap with the same measurement. Kinda easy, isn't it?

 

Dog dish and poverty caps were terms invented in the eighties and nineties. I, for one, never heard those terms back in the fifties or sixties, when these were new or slightly used transportation vehicles.

At best, some people made the distinction between “hub caps” and “wheel covers”, or, at best, “full wheel covers”.

Poverty cap and dog dish are terms that magazine writers started using when the trend to restoring these (formerly) old jalopies to original status.

“Sleeper” is another one that became popular much after these cars were in use as general transportation.

 

Cause if you can't afford Chromys or Mags you can always hammer a shiny dog dish on there and call it custom.

 

great - I have an odd front drum, so need not have to locate a

grest
thats good to know as I have an odd drum on the front - later style

noy like this bendix? style with the radial fins
#

 

Try putting anything in a 58 Chevrolet hub cap and have it stay feeding a dog.

 

I was a senior in HS in 62 and the first thing everyone did was look at the front fender.. no mater what the model. Biscaynes and Bel Air posts were the rarities then an why so valuable today. Dealerships didn’t make much on stripped down models. Most didn’t want to wait for an order so the Impalas SS’s were waiting in almost every color. SoCal didn’t have very many “specialty dealerships” then. Harry Mann being one.

 

poverty hubcaps = hipster bullshit. same same.

 

The post cars were dragsters. LOL

Speaking of specialties and poverty caps. My mom had a '67 Chevelle my junior year in high school. A stone sleeper. L79 4 speed, cloth bench seats, 4:11 locker, radio delete. Painted wheels with poverty caps and black wall wide ovals. I borrowed it one Friday night and pulled the caps (I still don't like caps) and we painted power wedges on the rears and went to the street races.

She did not mind me racing her car. But she through a fit about the power wedges. I ended up owning 4 chevy wheels with wide ovals complete with the poverty caps. She got Magnum 500s with Michelins. Cost me 200 dollars.

 

Hey J,

The three local area Chevrolet dealers in our vicinity, Long Beach/Lakewood did not have any Impala SS 409 models. The wait list was too long for our friend. He wanted cool and fast, so one dealer near our high school had a red Biscayne. It was fast from the showroom floor with the basics.

As intimidating as it was, no one called those small hubcaps dog dish or poverty caps. They were just small hubcaps as part of the Chevrolet line up. Basic hubcaps for a basic form of transportation. Except in this case, not so basic when the 409 power was in full swing.

Jnaki

We weren't in a poverty state and we did not have dogs at the time. No one ever heard of such names. It came in the much later years, after those high school hot rod days came and went. Probably, even after the fiasco of fake Gas Coupes and Sedans on the street with their odd ball looks.

It is the sign of the times as younger people did not learn about history or originality. Example:
"Justine Bateman did not write or was the original "Satisfaction" song, MADE BY THE ROLLING STONES... duh...

To make up for not having a lot of money, we had the Impala with painted rims. Then added small Chevrolet hubcaps, then finally as luck would have it, a set of beauty trim rings from Chevrolet given to me by a friend. That was as close to chromed rims as we got in our no poverty, no dog , no name era as teenagers.
+ +
In 1962, this was the look I had in our school paper for all to see.


https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/pics-of-58-chevies.951592/page-24#post-13490151

 

After the arm on the window edge thread I’m glad we came up with a new difficult question to tackle.

 

It boggles my mind how some people think those ugly things make a car look like a sleeper. 440 6 pack cuda with hood scoop, big and littles, huge billboards announcing the engine size, rumpity rump dual exhaust, and poverty caps. Yup, you fooled about 3 people. I think that in most they they ruin the look of a car.

 

i'm sure car manufactures were proud to have there name associated with the word poverty. just a slang term started for hub cap's vs full wheel covers