Mag Wheel Guys - WTF is going on???

Thank you. I remember even back in the mid 70's stuff at swap meets like Ardun heads, Halibrands and vintage speed equipment was for the most part expensive even for the time period. Yes compared to todays dollar what they were going for they were dirt cheap but you have to consider the inflation also.

Back then the only stuff that was cheap was the junk stuff.

 

I think some of ya are being a little hard on the new guy.....streetfreakmustang.
He does have some valid points.
But this is America, where we have the right to spend our $$$ ANY way we want. Whether we buy parts to hoard 'em to sell later or use 'em.
I prefer to buy what I NEED and sell what I don't PLAN on using.
I've 'thought' of selling my 18"s , but I KNOW I'd regret it later.

Someone said it earlier about Weld Draglites... I think I'm going to start 'hoarding' them too!!!

 

yeah... I was looking for a pair of 5 spoke fronts and balked on bidding on a pair for $695... I believe I saw the same pair get $1500... the shit is out of control. I cant see KiwiKevs pictures but here is one I stole off of greg-sheldons auction...

 

Don't let the idiot comment get to you, I call everyone that...there are two sides to the coin, sure some of that stuff might not have been thrown away, but look at how many cars have been crushed over the decades because people who don't know any better think they're taking up space...if someone doesn't keep this stuff, then we'll all be up the creek when it comes time to find something 50 years from now...

 

He got jumped on when he first posted his 70s style show car Mustang, which was pretty cool(for a Rustang), just not appropriate for this site. He does raise valid points, though.

 

No problem. Let's hope cars as we know them will be on the road 50 years from now. I looked at my nieces 5th grade public screwel science textbook- the jist of the book is internal combustion cars are just plain evil and are hurting Bambi. I've never read such one sided brainwashing.

They are starting the indoctrination early these days- remember "It's for the children.." .

 

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit - I sold a van in July with a set of slots all around for about half of the current bidding price for 2 rims. Where's the pepto?

 

I'm 46, and believe me, people's definition of "junk" has changed drastically in the time I've been involved with cars. When I was in high school, (mid '70s), people around here would literally GIVE you flathead speed equipment....but what did I care? I was driving a '57 Chevy, and I would have been lucky to find someone to sell it to for any price. Now, I realize that there have always been motorheads that were fanatical about a certain thing--flatheads, hemis, Isettas, whatever--that would drag every bit of it home just because; in fact, I was that way with Pontiac tripowers. Luckily, I was doing it when complete setups could be had for $50-$150. I can think of at least three tripowers that I never got because, by the time I made it to where they had been, I was informed that they had been THROWN AWAY. They weren't going for $1500-$2000 then, but they were definitely worth more that $0, and yet people still heaved them just to get them out of the way. A guy once gave me a '55 265 with '57 power pack heads that ended up being .125 over with Corvette F.I. pistons in it, and looked at me with the "you stupid retard, I can't believe you want that piece of junk" look the whole time I was loading it in the back of my truck. I also remember a few Muncie four speeds being literally thrown on the dump by guys that had gotten married and decided that it was time to "grow up"(whatever the hell that means) and lose all of the "kid stuff" they still had hanging around. 25 years from now, when they're paying big $ for those '86 T/A wheels you threw out last year, don't say I didn't warn you!

 

Maybe I should hang on to the '89 Formula 350!

 

If you just think it happened... it probably didn't.

Look at the prices that brass-era cars went for in the 1970's. Same thing here.

I remember a lot of Model T's that had five digit price tags (even tourings) back then. Try to get much more than that out of them today. Let alone keep up with 30 years of interest. Or the appreciation on a house.

When the guys who grew up lusting after this shit get too old to be into it, the prices will come back down. But I'll be too old, too... Shit!

-bill

 

I got lucky. My wife found me a set of 15x4.5 and 16X10 Sprints for $150. This was just thru casual conversation at her work place. Turns out the guy lives 5 minutes from our house and has a 32 Street Rod with billet this and that. The kinda ride I see flamed all the time here. He's a really cool guy that just has different tastes than us. He also sold me an original 32 insert for $40 bucks. He told me he could make a killing on ebay but was just glad to pass it on to someone who appreciates old stuff. So they are still out there! Now if I could only find that 32 shell!!!!

 

I just noticed the winner was from Japan!

Holy cow! You stole them. I have seen the front 15x4 aluminum slots bring $400 and up. I used to scrounge ebay for ads like that where the seller doesn't know what they have. You have to be selective in your search words. If he would have used "gasser" in the description, you never would have got them that cheap.


Brandon.... Dont beat yourself up. Who woulda known. LOL

 

Hey, thats a whole other topic!

I got one for trade....

 

Pretty tempting to sell the 16x11 and 15x6 6 pin mag sprints on the roadster to fund a project. Upside is no more polishing magnesium. Downside is trying to get replacements and looking at them wondering why I sold.....

 

I had a thing for traditional Hot Rods that goes back to the 60's when I got ahold of a stack of Hot Rod, R&C, Honk and one Throttle magazine,.... in the 70's when guys were taking old junk dropped axles and split wishbones off there cars to put on the much cooler "Corvair independent front end" I would buy that old junk and I would be laughed at,...... When I worked for Gratiot Auto Supply in the 70's I had a 3x5 card taped on our catalog rack,.... "Wanted Old Hot Rods and Parts" found lots of stuff cheap, and quite often had guys tell me they just tossed a bunch of that old crap away, I collected the stuff because I liked it and would use it on some car I was building or going to build,........ as guys were building everything with SBC's, fake blower setups, SS Cragar's with N-50-15's, square quad headlights on aluminum stands and of course the mirrored lexan firewalls,..... I would build cars with flatheads, caddy and olds engines, and people thought I was nuts.
Some things like Ardun heads have always been expensive because they are rare,......... well guess what ?, this stuff is rare now.
Yeah I only paid $200.00 for my Magnesium Torque Thrusts, but you could have bought NEW Chrome Reverse wheels for $14.99 each or Ansen Sprints for $29.99 each,...... at that time,.....
Sooo should I give this stuff away ?

 

Its only money. if you get a price today that you are happy with sell them. If you do not need the money, then sit on them. but someone will make magnesium eventually (I think Realwheel is planning on it). Like anything, when the Repop come out, prices my settle down. Its not the stock market, its a hobby...

 

shelton is one of a few i have talked to that have a serious wheel collection.....don waldron & bob peourrette (sp ...torqzilla) are a couple others.....i mean when you have several hundred wheels....you have a serious collection.....as for a mag alternative......terry vaughn has listed a few pair of the "vintage wheel" 15x4 round spoke 5 spokes.....400 a pair....might be worth a look......brandon

 

and where might I find these???

 

I have friends that collect diecast cars and models - they have thousands of $$$ tied up in these things. Not my cup of tea and I don't understand it but it's their money and they can collect whatever they want.

I on the other hand have a thing for vintage wheels and tires and quickchange rearends. I have been collecting, buying and selling for about 20 years. They are my passion and I spend a lot of MY money on them. I am particularly drawn to the beauty of the castings - I would collect wheel casting patterns as well if I could ever find any.

I sell when I can make a buck or two and try to buy when I find a deal, no different than buying or selling any other commodity. I have a core of wheels that I will never sell simply because I like them. Will I run all of them on a car or cars? Maybe, maybe not. Most are on semi-permanent display in my garage as I think they make beautiful art on a car or on a wall. Do I have the right to do this? Absolutely. It's my money and if I find them before you do, I'm buying them. Anyone who gets bent out of shape because they missed a deal or can't afford the going rate better wake up. Just because you want real magnesium wheels on your car and you only have $300 to spend doesn't mean someone needs to give you a set for your $300. I started collecting wheels because I couldn't afford nor had the space to collect CARS. Some guys have huge car collections - do I bemoan the fact that they have them and I don't? Nope. I just try to keep in mind that they are in a different place than I am financially and hope they appreciate the cool stuff that they have. I know I do.

 

Shakey Puddin--

First thing to realize is that the wheels in that auction were SMALL window, in 15x8 (same size as was used on the Stone-Woods-Cook Willys), in BEAUTIFUL like-new condition, polished and all. There is a reason those went high.

That being said, I would have estimated the price of that particular pair more like $2,500. I also have been seeing the price climb.

But inflation hits EVERYTHING. It's folly to think that prices won't climb on highly sought-after components! Man, even lesser desireable stuff gets affected by inflation. Supply and demand doubles the effect.

If you need money for other things, whether hobby-related or not, and you think about selling off parts for whatever money people want to offer you (even if seemingly outrageous money), I wouldn't worry or feel guilty about one little bit it if I were you! It might well cost you more money to replace those items later anyway, should you decide to replace what you sold.

 

Blownolds,
Here is the pair I owned:



They were single pattern, which to me, makes them more desireable and valuable than the ones in the auction. As you can see, mine were small window 15x8's, just like on the SWC Swindler also.

I bought them because the were priced very low and I wanted to own a pair of real Halibrand small windows. They were my first pair. I had them polished. I decided to run a 10" rim and needed cash so I put them up for sale.

I put them on ebay for 10 days, used all the search words so everyone would see them. This was less than a year ago and they only brought $1200. So when this pair I mentioned sold for $3300 I was shocked.

I'm not complaining, since I have a nice collection of cars and parts, but this whole economics of vintage parts amazes me.

These bidding wars on auctions keep raising the bar. Now everybody that has a pair of 15x8 kidney beans thinks they are worth 3K. Are they really?? Obviously they are to somebody.

On a side note.... I mentioned I had been offered a pair of 15x4.5 magnesium small windows. I called the guy the other night and he raised the price by $500 after going to Bakersfield and seeing how much Greg Shelton and Don Waldron are asking for theirs.

Again I'm not whining... just making conversation. It's just crazy watching what these vintage mag wheels have done in the last year or so.

 

what's cool is cool. always has been.

people will pay whatever for 'coolness'. that's for sure!

hell, i would, too, if i could afford just a small fraction of the shit i oogle over. harhar

 

You are a wise canadian my friend.

Doc.

 

I think I'm realistic. It makes sense - supply and demand will always dictate the value of whatever it is you are trying to buy or wanting to sell. Of course, timing can play a part - no guarantee that those small windows would have fetched that price had the winning bidder not found the auction. When I'm buying, I hate guys like that - when I'm selling, I love 'em!

Steve

 

I have also seen the rising prices. I have been searching for 15x4 magnesium Americans and the prices have went from 800-1200 to 1600-2600 WTF?? These price increases have gone up in the past few weeks. Is anybody going to reproduce the true 15x4 American round spoke? If they are i'm there.



WANTED 15X4 magnesium Americans (just one pair, not a truck load)

 

Between the gasser guys and the nostalgia funny cars groups, old wheel prices have been pushed out to Ludicrous World. Look at prices for even skinny aluminum slots. Five years ago, I bought and sold them all day long for $50-75 a pair (didn't know at the time I was bidding against Brandon for some of 'em!). I just saw a pair of Fentons go for $250. This summer I had to sell a pair of 15x4.5" Cragar S/S's (damn divorce lawyers) for $125 and two weeks later the guy who bought them from me had them relisted (even used MY photos) and got $175! I really wish I still had the 16x12 big-window Halibrands or the 16x14 Bear Claws right now....oh well, I know they're both being used on some nice funny cars right now.

 

If I had to do it all over again, I'd get steelies.

In the '60s, there were tons of serious drag cars, including a lot of NHRA record holders, that had steel wheels.

Back then, the only cars I ever saw with Halibrands or magnesium American were Top Fuel cars, Funny Cars, or Fuel Altereds.

A lot of the demand for classic racing wheels is from people who (like myself) are building cars that were nicer and more trick than most of what we saw back then.

Dave
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

It'll nose over just like the housing boom. 2 years ago I sold my house in 1 week. I have been watching a similar house (brand new) sitting idle for the last 6 months.

Wheels are hot right now. When Brandon decides to sell his personal stash, the market will be flooded and prices will come back down.

Also look at the surge of people wanting 283 and 327 stuff. I have been building this little motors for a long time and now all of a sudden it is "cool " to have a small journal motor. I'm hoping that will change soon.

 

283's hot....???? out here , we had a stash of 'em....as my father in law was running a v stocker 61 impala 4 dr......he switched classes and went crate motor racing ....sold that ....and now is back in a 66 nova post car with a 283....those were give away motors......as no one around here wanted one....amazing how radical a 400 lift cam with 300 duration sounds thru 1 1/2 fenderwells......lol.....brandon