Following on from the Appliance wheels thread. I just scored a primo set of 15x7" Torq Thrust stylr US Indy wheels, but I know very little about them or the company. Can ayone shed some info, old cataloges etc on the US Indy Wheel Co? Thanx Rat.
Nice wheels rat! I just scored a pair of 16x8.5's. I think they are appliance or US indy's but im not sure as they have nothing on them anywhere. I would also be interested to find out more.
U.S Indy are quality castings but heavy. They were the only people to make a straight spoke Torque Thrust clone in 16" diameter and only in the 8 1/2" width. I have three pairs of these and they work killer for that subtle big 'n little look and allow you to run decent diameter front disc brakes with 15" wheels. I use Torq Thrust 15 x 6" sport wheels for the front.
Thankyou weasel! That solves my curiosity about them. I too would like another pair for my 63 marauder, what is the going price for 16x8.5's?.... BTW do you know when they were made? I was thinkin the late 60's but im not sure..
We had a pretty good discussion on slot mags a while back. Along with that, some charts w/photos were posted showing many different brands as well as quite a few different spoked mags. Go here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=363978 I agree, US Indy mags seem to be one of the best brands. Westerns - John Mazmanians wheel company I believe - are pretty good as well. I mentioned in the slot mag post that I'd found a pair of 4 1/2" X 15" slots that were identical and one had "US INDY MAG" cast inside and the other didn't. General consensus was, the blank wheel was probably sold through some other store - like Sears for instance - and they didn't want a different brand on it. Last week I found a pair of nice 6" x 14" that had US INDY MAG on one and the other was blank. Again, both wheels identical. Slot mags are fairly easy to find, but five spokes aren't seen much. I did find a fairly nice one last week that looked like a US INDY MAGS in 6" x 14", but it was blank inside as well. I'll probably go back Monday and get it for my growing collection of "Orphans." (Singles.)
I did some PR's for these wheels. If memory serves me, Parnelli Jones and Vel Metilvich (sp?) were involved. Too, I think that this was part of a trend to private label wheels by changing the hub cover decals.
I worked at a tire store in the early 70's and we sold US Wheels. If memory serves correct, "Indy" was the model name for the slot mag only. Other wheels had different names. There were the US Racer and of course the US Supreme. At least that's the way I remember it. Do your 5 spokes actually have "Indy" cast in the back? That would totally put my memory in the Alzheimer's category.
Dennis, it sems to me that Rufus and Miletich marketed US mags as Parnelli Jones Wheels along with the Parnelli Jones Firestone tires.
Late '60s would be about right. I paid around US $300 a pair in 2008 - sometimes you can find them cheaper - not much call for 16s except for the 'inner circle'. Mine are all Ford/Mopar 5 on 4-1/2" bolt pattern, but they also came in Chevy 5 on 4-3/4" BP and Early Ford 5 on 5-1/2". I am not sure if they made any other BPs in the 16" version.
Thanx for the info guys !! Were the 15 " straight "peaked" spoke wheels like mine made in the late gos or were they made earlier than that? Anyone got a catalogue of the US Indy Stuff? Rat
Not completely sure. I looked at quite a few wheels, but most weren't usable for me or my pals. 6-luggers, 13's etc. If I get the wheel next Monday I'll post here and let you know.
For those that don't know about the late John Siroonian, He started John's Wheels in 1969 which became Western Chrome and then Western Wheel/ Western Mag . He was a big collector of Hot Rods and won the AMBR in 1981. His Phaeton was one of the 75 most significant deuces, he was invloved in the famous CT Automotive roadster, and he won at Pebble Beach with his 1961 Ferrari and others. He also dabbled in Boat racing. Western was sold to Rockwell International around 1980ish. He passed awway in 2008 And Western was run by Jimmy Smith who went on the found Ultra Wheel. His brother Wendell who also worked there, started Renegade Wheels for Harley's and recently left to start Rampage Wheels
Thanks for the Western Wheel info. So Rich Siroonian who drove for John Mazmanian is John Siroonian's son?
Rich Siroonian was Big John Mazmanian's Nephew. John Siroonian only had daughters. 3 of them. I don't think John and Rich were directly related.
By safety beads you mean the about 1/16" tall by 1/8" inch or so wide raised part of the casting just inside the bead? On the slots, most do, some don't. Both sets of 10" wides I have have the beads. Never saw a 16" slot or TQ with the tire off.
Now I remember why I forgot about Western Wheels. Ever try to fly on PSA from San Diego to Fresno? Western Wheels had a very impressive operation in the middle of nowhere. I stand corrected on the PJ wheels. Did work for them when PJ and Vel owned Ontario Motor Speedway.
They moved to La Mirada to an equally impressive building. I think this was when Rockwell bought them. That building is now Dunkel Brothers the "Go To" guys for Machinery moving in So Cal. They put on an awesome vintage Porsche show every year.
Sorry to bump an old thread but figured I'd reply in this one instead of making a new one. I have a set of 14X7's and really don't know much of when they were sold or what this style is called? I was going to sell them but decided to keep them after reading some of this thread.
As it says on the back, those are U.S. Indy Mags (which of course aren't mag at all, but aluminum). U.S. Wheel was the manufacturer, and Indy was the name for their slot mags.
Yep I know that much, was just wondering what year those were sold. Thanks Just another question since I'm not familiar with "mags" compared to "aluminum" what does "mag" refer to?
Those INDY Mags first came out around the late 60's IIRC. They were a copy of the Ansen Sprint which came out in 1963. They were very popular in the early 70's The original reason for calling them "Mag" wheels was because they were made of Magnesium. The name stuck after the styles became popular for street based wheels made to look like Magnesium wheels only made of Aluminum. "Mag Wheels or "Mags" just became the generic term.
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