History Opinions: Poverty Caps

right, at one time there was a difference between hub caps and wheel covers, then "hubcaps" at some point became the overall general term for all of them..

 

Sure, when riding around in Mom or Grandma's car!

 

Now that I think about it, I can't really remember too many sedans being used in my family during my childhood. Really the only 4 door was a Jeep Cherokee. Despite being into cars, family members don't have any cool hot rods, Corvettes, or muscle cars. Oh well I guess that will be for me.

 

They can look good if done right........







But I think back in the day, most guys ditched the caps for a compe***ion look.

 

I would agree with that. Wont stop me from putting poverty caps on my Chevy II though...

 

Damn straight. I love the way poverty caps are supposedly have magic powers capable of BLINDING/DEAFENING the observer to mini-tubs, M/T DOT's, Cal tracs, 8" converter, 270@050 roller, dominator, 4" exhaust, huge pan ect. Yea, just add steel wheels and dog dish hupcaps to a Pro Stocker, viola, instant "sleeper".

 

I think at that point, they're more of a tribute to the sleepers/cheap Super Stockers of old, than a real attempt at disguising the performance potential of the car.

 

I like the Dog Dish/Poverty caps, look. Clean and business like.
Plus, your not fooling anyone, with those caps, when there are low hanging headers, wide rear tires, and a raspy lope, in that ride! It's a great look to me!

 

A few other reasons for dog dishes...

- if you could afford to special order your hot new car, you had no need to buy stuff that you would just throw away. From hub caps to heaters to radios to insulation to carpeting, etc.. Since a lot of folks in the mid-60s knew they were going to get aftermarket wheels and tires, why by full covers? Up north, you just saved the rims for snow tires later. I think the dog dishes were pretty much standard equipment on everything and better stuff was optioned out for and the unnecessary or unwanted stuff was deleted.

- and remember, the reason all the vehicles came with at least small hub caps was to... wait for it... protect the hubs! They were there to keep axle ends and lug nuts from the elements, rain, mud or snow, and help them from getting too corroded. The small ones were the cheapest ones to make that would still do a proper job of protection.

Gary

 

Too many words guys - OL55 has the right idea - post some pics!

Love the 62 Bel Air and the 64 Gal.

Bring 'em on!!!

 

Uh huh. Yea, ok. So then why is it that when we had the "sleeper" thread going on here, it was FULL of photos of the kind of car I have described above? For my money, its a toss-up as to which word is more abused, "sleeper" or "g***er".

Oh, and that black Galaxy that Ol' 55 posted is a knockout...

 

Well, I HOPE they don't think they're fooling anyone.

Me, I just like the Rambler look.

 

All of the above statements are true. In the '50s and '60s, the primary reason that most cars were delivered with full wheel covers was that the dealers specified them for the cars that were going to be in inventory. High-markup accessories have always made dealers feel warm and fuzzy.

Although the dog dishes were standard equipment, they mostly showed up on loss leaders, fleet cars, and special order performance cars where everything unnecessary that added weight was left off.

 

man i do love the look of that '64 galaxie..

 

I plan on running the dog dish hub caps like the black Galaxie has on my Falcon, with wheels painted to match the body. Those Ford caps bring good money at swap meets.

 

What kind of car does your neighbor drive? Let me guess- a Camry.

 

I liked the Dog Dishes better than the "Road Wheels" on my 69 RR

 

Is that what they are called?

I just called them original dog dish hub caps..I like em

 

Back when we were kids we definitely had a preference for mag wheels or some of the spinner wheelcovers. That kind of changed when a neighbor drove home with his new 63 Impala SS with chrome reverse rims with the low line standard hub caps. Do not know if he special ordered or the dealer installed them, but we all loved it. I've had a weak spot for the small caps ever since . . .

 

In 61 I had a 57 Pontiac with chrome reverse wheels and 58 Pontiac dog dish caps off my Uncle's 58 Chieftain--prior to that the car had 57 Plymouth caps and Fiestas from my folks Olds for a while--liked the look of chrome wheels with Pontiac dog dish caps.

 

My dog likes em', especially if they've got food in um'.

 

I dig 'em on pretty much everything. I absolutely HATE bling. I'm the kind of guy that believes in using only period correct parts but building something with them to suit my taste. I don't really give a **** what the old timers did with them back in the day. My car, my rules.

 

I've never owned a car or truck with dog dish caps. My first car was a '75 Monte Carlo with the Chevy Rally wheels on them. Then a Buick Regal, a '67 Chrysler 300 with spinner hubcaps, etc. If the car had steelies on them (a few Dusters or Valiants) they came with full hubcaps and were replaced with Chrysler Rallys.

I don't remember anyone in the '70's or 80's rocking the poverty caps. Everyone had either rally type wheels or aftermarket mags. Now my mom and dad were cheap. My mom's '70 Chevelle Greenbrier wagon had dog dish caps and even my dad's '80 Citation had little caps on the argent steelies.

As for the 4-door thing, no one would be caught dead in one, at least in the early 80's. I've had three 4-doors, and two of them were company cars. The only one I've purchased was an '89 Taurus SHO. I've always looked at 4-doors as grampas car or mom's car. For a toy, I could never take a 4-door. Damn taxi cabs...

 

IMHO, I would prefer naked painted steel wheels over little hub caps.


Ago

 

Car Craft Aug. 1959


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I've always called them "cop caps" or "dog dishes"...the term "poverty caps" is relatively new, to me. I like them. I run them. Plain steelies with cop caps are a hell of a lot cheaper than fancy chrome wheels, to be sure!

 

They were for cop cars, company cars and cheap ****s back then. I like 'em on stock muscle cars, a lot!

 

I like em....It just depends on the car theme...you can always go to 5 spokes or ??. My Black 63 will stay this way for awhile.

BTW, have you checked the asking $$ for some of these caps lately?

Murph

 

Maybe I haven't been around as much as I thought...or maybe I'm just oblivious, but this is the first time I've ever heard the term "poverty caps."

There was another good reason they were on police cars and muscle cars. In heavy maneuvering, say, in a pursuit or whatever you might do with your muscle car, the wheels can flex enough to shed a full wheel cover. Why put something on a car that's likely to lose it in it's first few days on the street? In addition, a full wheel cover, in the process of being lost, can cut, damage, or even fully cut off a valve stem. That's not a desirable outcome.

So, the "dog dish" hub covers did everything useful a full wheel cover did, which was to protect the hub and lugs, and it did it without the likelihood of loss or damage. Seems pretty sensible to me. How about you?