The blue '51 above looks real nice, and I'm pretty much sold on '50 Olds caps for my '47 at this point. The spot light placement on that one is kinda wonky though, that would bug me.
Maybe its just me, but those lower profile radials really hurt the looks of that otherwise beautiful shoebox.
Body color wheels don't look street rod, they look high end! Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles (and probably several other high-end cars) back then came with color-matched wheels from the factory. Hell, so did my '53 Chevy for that matter. I am guessing Fomoco products came with black wheels? (No offense to Ford and Merc lovers, but they always did things cheaper than GM: no springs on the hood hinges in Ford, etc.) I think black looks great, I think a contrasting color looks great (like the gold on that Hudson), but I also think matching the body color looks great. And the latter two look more deluxe to my eyes, which is what kustoms are all about in my mind.
My '41 Ford Super Deluxe had body color wheels (with pinstripes) from the factory. I think that the cheapie version of the same year may have used black wheels.
I'm not sure this applies to all manufacturers back in the day - or even if it's true, but I was led to believe that cars purchased with black side-wall tires had body coloured wheels, while cars ordered with whitewall tires were equipped with black wheels. The story made sense to me.. Dave
Street roddish? Color matched wheels have been done since the 50s!! There is even a Barris Kustom Shop ad for candy paint in a can for wheels.....only cant find it now. Then again, with the caps on only a small lip will show.
Well, I don't have a time machine but I do have plenty of print ads from the 1950s and they often show the most deluxe model, almost always with wide whitewall tires and full-wheel covers, and wheels that match the color of the body. I did a super-quick Google images search for "Oldsmobile ads" and found this example: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...ads&start=20&hl=en&sa=N&gbv=2&tbm=isch&itbs=1 The 1950 Ford sales brochure on my office wall clearly shows color-matched wheels, but they all have dog-dish hubcaps and beauty rings so I'm not sure that makes my point. (Same with my '53 Chevy 210 - it has color-matched pastel green wheels but it also had dog-dish caps.) In any case, cars certainly came from the factory in the 1940s and 1950s with wheels painted to match the body color.
Now this is even funnier: I was looking for another high-end car ad from around 1950 to illustrate my point (about matching color wheels) and realized Caddy won't work because the sombrero caps completely hide the wheel. So I searched Buick. Guess what I found? A 1949 Buick ad that clearly shows a Green Buick with RED wheels visible all around the full wheel cover!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/autohistorian/5510961435/
Everybody hates on red wheels, but they are as traditional as Appletons and fender skirts. My dad rode around in a heavily lowered '53 Buick painted dark green with cherry red wheels, and preferred not to run hubcaps (unless he scored some olds caps late at night :O ) They leaded in all the emblems and everything. Wish I had that car now! I agree they are overdone with flat black.. but on a nice custom a little red peeking out from behind a sombrero they can look really good. Its all about context and the overall look of the car.
That is true. But I assume you know as well as I do that there were very, very few color photographs in car ads back then? And, of course, the illustrations usually erred on the side of making the car "better," so that even if 1949 Buicks did not come with red wheels on a green car, clearly someone in GM marketing thought that it looked good that way! I wasn't trying to stir up a hornet's nest, I was just taken back by the idea that matching the wheels to the body color was a new idea. Like I said, my 100% original (when I got it) '53 Chevy 210 was light green with a dark green roof and the original wheels (still on it when I got it) were the same light green with dark green or black stripes. And I'll have to double check but I believe the 100% original 1954 Pontiac Chieftan I drove in high school had light green wheels with full hubcaps. To my eyes that peek of body color around the edge of a nice full wheel cover looks deluxe, and the same lip in black looks generic. I certainly don't mind if someone paints their wheels black, but I don't mind if they paint them red or body color either, and I'm not sure any one of those three is more correct. (And yes, the car in my avatar is flat black with red wheels. I drove it for 10 years before painting the wheels red and I think it looks great that way but resisted because it seemed cliche. Turns out it's a cliche because it looks good. More importantly, I am well aware of the fact that my car is NOT "period correct" or "accurate" in any way. So I am not a defender of the flat black/red wheel combo. I just thought it was funny that the second old ad I looked at featured red wheels!)
My '54 Pontiac (Canadian) still had it's original paint and wheels when I got it - light blue car with body coloured, pinstriped wheels and small hubcaps, but I have no idea whether it had it's original tires (blackwall or whitewall). Did your car wear it's original, as delivered tires? Anyway, back to our original program - already in progress. Dave
My mom's '54 Merc, bought new, was dark metallic blue with full wheel covers and RED wheels. So, yes, it did really happen.
That's good, we now have a first-hand visual confirmation! Too bad that it's from 1954 on a '48-'52 thread, though .... (just fuckin' with ya, Tony)
You really nailed that early style..... Radio King ------------------------------------------------------------------ QUOTE=JeffSled;8650819]Holyshit I love this.[/QUOTE] Yes, its hard to improve Kevans Mercury Nice to meet you finally at GNRS.....JeffSled
Holy crap. I've already told you on Facebook how amazing your car looks, but I figured I'd tell you here too. EVERYTHING about your car is perfect. The chop. The stance. The paint. And that dashboard!!! Be still my beating heart. You did an outstanding job Radio King. WOW
Radio king that ride is impeccable . A stunning piece of automotive art and styling. Just beautiful !
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