Hey, Looking for Traditional Hubcaps for my 1950 Ford with the optional 16 inch wheels. Any ideas? Thanks, Doug
I too have a 1950 Ford with 16"wheels. They were standard equipment on the Deluxe series cars. Not much out there for 16" wheels. There are a few out there that were made by the Lyon corp. I see them sometimes at flea markets. Good Luck, Eddie
You will find that full covers for 16" wheels are limited. Early Caddy sombreros. Some after market Lyons that you mat find on e-bay. Beware that many people list there covers as 16" because that may be the outside width but that means that is fits a 15" wheel. Covers for a 16" wheel are more like 17"s in width. I am running 16's on my early period custom and dealing with the same issue as you. Torchie.
16" Shoebox wheels are awesome. Best thing you could do is chrome em! I'm running them on my coupe. For a while I was running Chromesides without the center cap: But now have switched to Lyons Full caps: I love them both equally and go back and forth over which I like more. If you keep your eye out, you will find a set. They are about equally rare...
That takes me back to my teen age years when I pulled a pair of tires and wheels off an abandoned 50 Ford business coupe that had pretty nice tires and then found out that they were 16s when I went to swap the tires over to my rims for my 51 Merc.
Funny, when I was a kid the first thing to do on your newly acquired Ford was to dump the 16's and put on 15's. Now I see why guys were snatching the 16" early Ford wheels I took to the swap meet before I got them out of the truck. Go figure.......
Although most Fords had 15" wheels from '49 on, Ford made 16" wheels up through '55. Ford's last 16" wheels were available on '55 6 cylinder Mainlines. That's why the label inside the glove box door on my '55 has recommended tire pressures for 16" tires as well as the more common 6.70x15 that came on most '55s.
Half ton International trucks in the 50s had the same bolt pattern as Ford (5X4.5) - my '57 has 16 in. wheels, so if you really want 16 in. wheels, check out IH trucks.
Standard 'dog dish' Ford caps from '49 thru at least '56....very possibly thereafter as well for several more years. Ray
I have heard that 16" and even 17" wheels were optional on most cars up to the late 50s. Usually ordered on station wagons for heavy duty use, or for extra ground clearance for rural mail delivery and the like. Don't suppose they were ordered very often. I have seen 16 and 17 wheels on half ton pickups and pickup based panel trucks and Suburbans made as late as 1968.
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