Features Rare Wheels - show us what you've got!

Or, show/tell us what you would like to have!

KiwiKev started a thread a while back about vintage narrow front wheels - it's one of my favorites and I refer to it often. Now, how about some pics of fronts or rears, any size, mag, aluminum, steel - what have you got, what are you looking for or what have you seen that's odd, rare or just plain cool? Any old wheels with some history? I'll start with some of my stash:

Original 16x10 two-piece ETIIIs - I have 2 of the original 150 pairs made when Dick Beith started Wheel Centre. Don't know who ran either pair but both were in need of repair and are now very nicely finished. Over the years I've found and refinished 2 other pairs of these for a total of 4 - 1 pair went to England (on Carl Frith's Limefire-style '32) and a second pair went to Socal for an old top fueler under restoration.

Steve

 

i think my wheels i got yesterday are pretty cool. they will be black in a few days.

btw they are chevy 17x4 six lugs

 

Next are two pics of some very unique magnesium Halibrand Indy or Champ car wheels. Through limited research, the nearest I can tell is these would date from around 1964 as they are 18" wheels and the Indy cars started going to smaller diameters around '65. They are also extremely wide at 9.5" which also leads me to believe they are late 18" wheels - tires were starting to get wider at that point. They have some interesting identifiers as well - along with the usual "Halibrand" branding and size info cast into the wheels these have the following: "Thompson SPE" and they have what appears to be qualifying stamps around the centerlock hub area - although I don't have definitive proof, I like to think these are the original rear wheels from the Sheraton Thompson Special driven by AJ Foyt to victory at the 1964 Indy 500 - the last front motor dinosaur to win. I originally bought them about 8 years ago, foolishly sold them not long after, thought I had spied them in a pic in an article in R&C or Street Rodder chronicling a big swap meet in Texas, then noticed them in the background of a for sale pic posted here on the Hamb by JimA. He was selling a pair of Halibrand small kidney spindlemounts and these were innocently "featured" in the background. I PMed him immediately and Jim confirmed what they were, where they had been found and that I could buy them - a great score for me!

Steve

 

Not sure how rare this wheel is, but I've been looking for a match for some time...
ET 7.5x14 DEEP



And then these ET's, 15x7.5, I REALLY dig these.....I'd never seen 'em before when I found 'em....but lately, there's been a few cars with 'em...



But these would have to be the rarest that I own.....

 

How about Crestline Mark II 5 spokes? These are some of the harder to find aluminum Torq Thrust style wheels - this pair is 15x6, 5 on 5.5" with original aluminum caps.

Steve

 

These Hals on the A are my rarest, thanks to my uncle Bob Bailey RIP. And the front ones on the Studegasser I got from Shirley Muldowney 26 years ago, and the rears are 16X10 slots.

 

Here's a pair I'd love to find - I saw these sell on eBay about 6 years ago and should have stepped up, even though I had no use for them. They were a pair of 21" Halibrands, apparently made for a landspeed effort. I don't remember how wide, the mounting pattern or even the style (although I think they may have been smooth, windowless wheels). If anyone has seen these or bought them let me know - I'd really be interested in more info on them. Sorry, no pics - hopefully the description alone will jog someone's memory.

Steve

 

1934 General Jumbo acc. wheel 14"x 6". Center should be chrome with a painted outer rim.The blue one is mine the victoria I wish was mine but I just found it on the net somewhere.It was to show how they looked when new.Darrell

 

the one on the left rear fell off Foyt's car at indy in 1962, I traded a weed eater for it

 

Seems I exceeded my Photobucket bandwidth for the month, but when it resets I will share my collection.

 

Tires are just as hard to find as wheels.. these are not Cokers.. and the double diamonds are 18's





Joshua Shaw

 

My brother is going to run these on his impala..kinda rare
<img src=http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee254/designisgraphic/appliance.jpg>

-Juan

 

Josh, want to part with any of your stash? I'm looking for NOS 15" ribs and 18" Grooved Rears. Also have a single 9.50-16 Grooved Rear and want a matching NOS one if available. How about a 15x6 Hal smoothie in a 5 on 5 1/2" pattern?

Thanks,
Steve

 

Not coming of anything right now. Sorry man. I have been looking for a set of 18" grooved rears since I was 17... I'm, 31 now and just bought those a few months ago I know Coker is making them, but there shapped wrong.. And I gotta have the real thing.

 

The M/T's are 14"x 6" (small ford pattern) These were given to me as "Rollers"
The Artillery wheels are GM 17"x3.5" with a 5 on 4.25 bolt circle. It was a tight fit cramming the Buick drums and ford style hubs into that tiny pattern.

 

Some vintage 60's 5 spokes in 14x6 (nova) and 15x6 (camaro) with original "Atlas Alloy" center caps, and an original pair of 70's vintage Drag 500's on 14x7 XT steelies.

 

The old set, Though theres a HAMBER on here who has another mint set, Hmmmmm Ronnee

 

damn...are those 18"?...those are rad!

 

I know these aren't totally rare, but I'd been looking for these frontrunners and Conder and waltmcq hooked me up with the rears...

 

If a guy has a whole stack of them, are they really rare?

 

I have 5 of these but I'm only running a pair on the back of my roadster. They need to be converted to 18" as they are the 17" Chev six stud wheels.

 

Very cool thread!!
I have a set of Motor Wheel Spyders that I restored (with NOS centers) to go back on the KB/Reynolds car. The car was campaigned in 1969-70 with these wheels.
Motor Wheel made most of the factory mag style wheels for the big three at the time.
Also the engineer that designed these wheels was at one of our Buick nat's (later he went on to be vice press) and I had him sign one wheel.
The rears are 15x8.
The fronts are 15x4's which are extremely rare. There's a set of fronts on the net right now for $2800.00.



The car from 1969-70

 

Late 60's 15x4 Cragars with NOS Stahl tires.

 

Seems to me that plain old 16" x 5" early Ford steel wheels are pretty rare, at least over here :-( I got one accidentally in a set of '40 Ford rims and haven't found another to go with it yet - apart from a rusted-out pair on ePay for $200.

And looking at the HAMB 'WANTEDS' a few people are having trouble finding them over your side of the pond!

 

okay, who's got some original Hurst wheels?

 

I have four of the 15X7 ET-III's that I spent a long time polishing and doing some knock-offs to fit. There was a 15X8.5 made of these and I suspect they are even rarer than the 16X10's. I got 1 brand new 8.5" with the first 4 15X7's I bought 25-30 years ago. I found a guy in Spokane, WA who also had a new one. We argued for a couple years about who ought to have the other one. I finally found a pair so I sold him my single. After owning the pair for 7 or 8 years and never finding a car they fit well I sold them to a guy in Ontario last fall.

 

I've got a set of those ET's on my '66 Impala in 15x7.5, and I've also got a set of those Torque Thrust style ET's in 15x7.5 that will be on my '69 Chevy Wagon shortly.



The night the Pinheads attacked my car!

 

Boy,.... I thought I had some rare wheels,..... but check out these. I wish I had a few.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1954...ryZ80739QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

mine aren't super rare but they are pretty uncommon with NOS M/T redline tires and original tribar spinner caps. They must not be too valuable though because I put the whole set of four with spinners and tires up for sale for $900 and got no bites. I also have another complete set so again...how rare are they?

 

Wow,those are pricey! Anybody have a picture of an American Bearclaw? A friend of mine has them on the rear of this car,but i don't have a good picture with them. You can just see them in the build photo.