I would like to know the age of the members who don’t like them on anything. If you are of a certain age, they are the ultimate. Those that don’t like them must be younger than sixty.
I'm 65, and I've never liked them, they look cheesy to me. I like American 5 spoke however, but only on the right car.
I'm 52 and I love them. I've had quite a few sets over the years. Those and the keystone classics are my favorites.
I always figured they were good cruising for chicks material, sparkly and all in the night lights. Seemed to work for me, or maybe it was my incredibly good looks. Probably the Cragars.
A mild custom 1965 El Camino Hello, I bought a dealer optioned 1965 El Camino in 1964. I sat down with a couple of local Chevrolet dealers in the Long Beach area. I was destined to go to college in San Jose, California and I had just sold the Flathead 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery and my 58 Impala was the last standing hot rod cruiser from our beginnings. A young friend that I knew had expressed his liking for my Impala and said if I ever wanted to sell it, tell him first. So, not advertising the sale, I saw him and told him of the pending sale if he still wanted it. He still had a year to go for his senior year and I had known him for three years. His jaw dropped and when I explained to him that I needed a different car/truck/station wagon for my surfing and desert motorcycle racing, he understood. We towed the desert motorcycles in the Impala with a trailer hooked up to the trailer hitch we used for the Willys Coupe. That one time was all it took to start the search for a better way to transport our motorcycles. Plus, our mom said she would pitch in, if it was something she could drive when I was home from college. That was good…but I wanted a 4 speed and I remember trying to teach her to drive the Impala when it was a stick shift 3 speed. Wow! Jnaki My jaw dropped when I saw this orange 65 El Camino with a 4 speed lever coming out of the floor. Once I got over that addition, then the wheels made the El Camino looking rather exciting. The S&S wheels were within reach of purchase back then, but I wanted to save money for longer surf vacations and road trips to Baja, Mexico. The S&S wheels made this orange El Camino look cool and racy. But, as I was wandering around taking some photos, I noticed a different addition: 350 65 El Camino? Well, since I could not order a 396 motor with a 4 speed and bucket seats from any Chevy dealer in So Cal, this must have been a custom addition. It looked so good on the front fender! My friend had purchased a 66 El Camino and was able to get a 396/4 speed. We all know 350 did not show up until 1967. But, not in an El Camino, until later.
A local kid saw some Cragars I was selling last year. "Hey, I've got some wheels like that" he said. One made it here last week plus a single Keystone. The other 3 are supposed to be coming. We'll see..
I like this look about the most of all that have been posted, but if this was my car, it would have "8-Lugs" on it. So no, I personally am not a fan of Cragers.
My avatar, wearing AR TT's. Looks good but I have been toying with the idea of replacing them with Cragar SS. I haven't had a set since I was a kid, I think I need to do this. 15x7's and 15x8's. Hmmm.
Never liked 'em, but I know they're popular. They look right at home on a muscle car. But then again I don't really care for muscle cars.
They look good on the right car, but they're not for every car. They were ubiquitous in the late '60s and early '70s, if you went to any show it seemed like every other car had 'em, especially the 'show rods'. Cragar promoted the hell out of them, even some big-name pro stock and gasser racers were running them in spite of how heavy they are, probably spurred on by free wheels and lucrative contingency money. Keystone made a run at competing with Cragar at the track but didn't get the same penetration. I'll agree with Dan, they have more of a muscle-car flavor than anything else. Never looked quite right on any hot rods that were even approximately 'traditional', typically seen 'back in the day' on trifive Chevys and '60-64 big cars as cars that fall into the HAMB era. Rarely if ever seen on traditional customs. IMO, they fall into the same category as TorqueThrust Ds; introduced at the very tail end of the Hamb era, it wasn't until well after '65 that they were seen in any numbers (much, much later for the Ds) so neither actually qualifies as a 'traditional' wheel. But that wouldn't stop me from using them on the right car...
Cragar SS wheels are like assholes. And they belong on a red Camaro. Or red Mustang. Or an Orange Road Runner. etc... Put them on your car and be different, just like everybody else.