Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[badhuis]

I am a fan of cars having their original wheels and hubcaps. Too often the mistake is made to substitute these for modern wheels, Minilites being the most popular as these are available for all kinds of offset and PCD.
This is the cheap route taken too often by restorers. I would pay extra if the Lotus Europa, MGB or Mini still would have their original wheels with chrome hubcaps but it seems I am the only one with this opinion.

There is one exception I can think of. A proper ROstyle wheel looks good on many vehicles and many were fitted when new. Ford Cortina, MGB, Jensen Interceptor, Rover P5B / P6.
Then Triumph destroyed it when they used this design to make hubcaps of be put on standard steel wheels. These were fitted to the big Saloons (2.5 PI), Vitesse, GT6 and Stag.
Always when I see a Triumph with one of these hubcaps I think they just look wrong, too cheap.

Are there other examples where a standard fitment wheel looks bad?




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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[goneps]

I'm right with you there, badhuis, so you're not the only one. Car manufacturers spend a fortune on tuning suspension to be the best they can make it, only to have some owner come along and mess it up by fitting different and invariably incongruous after-market wheels.

The worst example I can recall was the Ferrari Daytona Top Gear's Richard Hammond drove on the French Riviera. I cannot conceive how anyone could be so obtuse as to replace those magnificent original alloy wheels with too-wide substitutes that look supremely ugly, not to mention cheap and out of place.

Richard

[ukdave2002]

I'm generally with you! Speaking cosmetically rather than getting into un-sprung mass debates! I have seen wire wheels fitted to a Stag and IMHO the look is totally wrong, however I have seen minilites fitted to an MGB and the effect is rather nice .

In conclusion ; wheel styles tend to reflect an era,sticking with wires ;on an MGA on anything post 1960

Dave