Evening Gentlemen, i just bought an 1959 Impala and started to skecth the ways to go with it. I find patina thrilling and im planning to keep the original paint(or whats left of it) untouched with few touches here and there. The only defining change would be taking the car closer to ground & changing the rims and wheels. As we speak the car is still sailing towards Helsinki but made a quick photoshop on top of sales pic to get the first feel of the stance. This is my first time choosing rims and i have noticed theres A LOT of options to go with.. Id appreciate your views on the matter and id also need your help in identifying the rims on the pics following. The patinated white Impala is the car in question. Thank You in advance, Panu
Radar makes a cool wheel. Check Coker's site. Anything American Classic. Good luck with your very cool car. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Quick nailed it. The '63 hubcap snapped onto a 14'' x 7'' or 8'' reversed chrome wheel is stunning. The wheel has to be the style made before the mid-70s without the bumped out rim. You may want to rethink the "patina" thing - it might look good to some people on a farm rod pickup or a rotten Model A, but a rusty, neglected '59 Chevrolet is going to be a piece of shit no matter what wheels are on it.
I think the best looking rim for a lowered 59 would be Supremes. check out some of the lowrider sites for some pictures.
The wire wheels are a Lowrider thing, and you'll notice that your Lowrider examples are extremely clean, with new chrome and very nice paint. It makes for an odd mix of styles. I'm not real into the patina look, but if I was going to do it, I'd find some 60's era wheels, like Fenton Hawks, Supremes, or even chrome steel slots, and I'd find a set as weathered as that car is. Having brand new looking wheels and tires on it is going to make it look even rougher by comparison.
Those '59-'60 Impalas are so cool and evil looking, one of my favorite cars, hard to go wrong with wheels imho. But I agree with Squablow, something subtle but rad, since your keeping the patina, threatening Horse Power rather than Kustom Kar stuff. I dig patina too. Imagine if you went so far as to tub it? So many of them are Donks, if you are into that there are lots to go with. I really like the painted wheel/beauty ring/acorn lug nut/push through center bullet-cap look (maybe black instead of purple though, for budget sake. Have you got a pic of the actual car? (Assuming that 1st pic is a reference photo)
These would look good either polished or cast. http://www.jegs.com/i/Cragar/260/50...209603988311&gclid=CNOpzoLgpNECFQuifgodG0MDKQ
Some folks really like the patina look on cars. I have 2 sets of wheels that i swap out. 1 set is the rally wheel. I have about 4 different type caps that i rotate on and off. 4 cans of different color paint and i change the look of the rally wheels/car completely. The other set is a set of 5 spoke Americans.Don't let anyone tell you your car is a rusty piece of shit cause it has some rust on it.I have put over 300,000 miles on my 59 el camino, with rust/mold/ and what ever else is on it.It got washed today cause its setting outside and it rained.They don't have to be shiny and pretty to be fun. JMHO
Dude, I LOVE your Elco. It got my vote for best truck in Sept! everything about it is bitchin Those wheels and baby moons would rock on the OP's '59 Impala
I've seen way too many bitchin, beautiful cars screwed up by this shitty, awful trend of fork-lift tires mounted on 18-19" or larger wheels, that are grossly out of proportion to the car. I want to see the WHOLE car, not have my eyes drawn to just the wheels. Bagged cars 'layin frame' is frosting on the cake... I keep walking, shaking my head thinking Stevie Wonder could have done better! That said, I LIKE a small hub cap inside a deep dish wheel - correct-year 'poverty caps' in a reversed stock wheel even BETTER! 1" white-walls are an option, but NO wider than 2". MOON discs look cool without large $$$. Stay with 14 or 15" wheels, no shorter than 60 profile tires. IMO, 'patina' is where the paint is worn through in a couple spots, but is still intact over the entire car... aged, but can still be polished to a shine. I'd rather paint my car with a roller than drive it with fuckkin RUST. Farm trucks and broke kids get a little more slack here... PAINT the car, then play around with photoshop with wheels! TONS of potential there... -Tim
I went with these. But also like the wheels on LowKat's 61 and the body colored ones with small caps.
Hi, the first pic is the actual car but photoshopped to stand a little lower & added those wire wheels.
Evenings, Thank you all for your opinions and advises, they will be useful guidelines on how to proceed. I made a little study on the most voted option of reversed chrome wheel with 61(?) dog dish on it. Now, eventhough i understand why this is concidered the right way to honor the heritage of custom building history, im not sure if my taste is cultivated enough just yet. Gimme a year or two.. I desided to go the patina way for two reasons; first, i think theres more story & drama on the surface. Its just exiting. I also know its a subtle matter too, it can be tastles and i can be too much. As i said, i might concider some touches on it when i finally see it live. The other reason is money offcourse. For me 40.000usd cars are way, way out of reach. Surfing on Fenton Hawks in found the rim pictured lower, anyone knows the name of these? Take care all, Panu
The good thing with patina & rust is that you can get rid of them quick. The bad thing is it gets a lot of time to get them back.