Technical What would be THE wheel covers/hub caps to get for a '60's car custom?

The "smoothies" I remember seeing in the late 60s didn't have the ridge around the hubcap, Instead, there was a smooth transition from the rim to the hubcap. I also remember seeing cars with black steel rims, baby moon hubcaps, and skinny white walls. No red rims period.

 

Yes! There was no ridge on the old ones. These new ones are different with different caps as well. I never knew Smoothies had a reputation for rusting. Was that true of the original ones as well?

Also I remember the thing where I lived was to paint the rims red or white. Black rims meant "stocker"!

 

We were living in La Mirada/Whittier area in the mid to late 60s and the black rims with moons were pretty popular with guys who couldn't afford Chrome Reverses or those "new" mag rims. I guess different areas of the country had their own thing going.

 

What this guy said. At least around here.

 

On Bellflower Blvd, in the mid to late sixties, Buick Wires, Astro Supremes, weird faux wire wheel baskets on Appliance Plating wheels and special smooth wheels from Collins' Muffler. Those were made from early GM inners and Buick/Pontiac outers, reversed. You'll see those on many cars painted by Larry Watson. Now, that was for boulevard cruisers. Performance cars ran American five spokes. Sometimes Cragars. Cragar paid winners for running their wheels. Full wheel hubcaps were pretty much out of style by then.

 

I have to agree with Missysdad; by the early 60s, hubcaps were pretty much dead. Custom wheels had started appearing and anything other than a dog-dish, spiders or baby moons (for the lo-buck crowd) was 'out' except on cars built earlier, and most of those ditched whatever they had for something more 'modern'. I'd go with OEM-type chrome reverse (not smoothies) for a perfect 'era correct' look. Paint the lug-nut area of the wheels body color and use some chrome spiders and you'd be the envy of most...

 

Spending a few minutes going through some old car magazines, from January, 1969 Rod & Custom, page 7: "Now, the great new 'Smoothie' look from Cragar. Chrome reverse wheel will feature solid appearance of mated rim and center; no hub bosses or tabs to break the even surface of the 'Smoothie.' For Ford and Chevy 5" and 6" widths, 14' and 15" diam."
I was also able to find some advertisements for Appliance "smooth center" chrome reverse wheels in the early 70s, likely Appliance's copy of the Cragar.