History Opinions: Poverty Caps

Dogs will like a used cat litter box if it has food in it...

 

I bought the ones for my chevy II years ago, $65 for the four, recently I saw some on evilbay, cripes, now I'm afraid to run them! Add a zero, and you are in the ballpark!

 

Just found this thread and never heard the term "Poverty Caps" before, "Dog Dish" yes, but not poverty. Bob

 

in the sixties all hot cars ran them never heard such crap as they were shameful. we called them bottlecaps

 

2 of my favorites.

 

For a long time I alternated between small caps with beauty rings, or spinners for special occasions, on my Victoria. I finally decided that it looks best with the spinners, and have left it that way for several years:

 

Well said! I get tired of people asking when am I going to get "real wheels" whatever that means...

 

Thats funny, sometimes I look at cars with custom and think about how much better it would look with "real" wheels. I consider steelies to be the only "real" wheel.

 

Have anymore info on the white one?? Looks killer!!

 

I'm running them

 

Those are awesome!

 

Has anyone found a wen page dedicated to poverty caps? I am a Ford guy and poverty caps were used, over lapping many different years. Is there a page that shows all the caps available by years?

 

We used full wheel covers [early-mid 60s] if we could afford them but I used center caps [poverty caps] with chrome reversed wheels for a nice look. Used them on my 57 Pontiac, 55 ford and 55 olds with blackwall tires.
In the early 60s everybody used full wheel covers.
My last 55 ford I used painted wheels and center caps....

 

I had a '70 Nova SS that had them, pulled them off and put on Appliance 5 spokes. The SS was 13 months old when it was totaled and then I ordered a '71 Malibu again with poverty caps. The 'bu came with stainless baby moon lookalikes that had the bow tie stamped on them. The Nova dog dish caps went on the Malibu and years later I put the Malibu caps on a '76 Torino work beater. I'm in traffic around 1984 or so and a guy at a light says "wanna sell those? " Yeah, $80 bucks. Pull over, I'll take them. They were a one year wonder, rare now. I think that guy knew what he was getting!

 

When I bought my '60 Edsel last year it had a set of poverty caps on it and a set of full wheel covers in the trunk. The first week I owned it I removed the poverty caps, painted the (white) wheels the same lilac color as the car, and put the poverty caps back on. I always liked that look better plus it's especially appropriate on my car because it has only 2 options-AM radio with no pushbuttons and 2 tone paint. It was the cheapest one available with a 6 and 3 on the tree and no power steering instead of a V8 with an automatic....

 

60 Fords were the best... I put a lot of them on chrome wheels... Can't find many now

 

One of the members wrote about a roadrunner with them. I used to do our new car prep on OT and the very first roadrunner we got had poverty caps and rubber floor covering it was CHEAP. They all came in that way for the first year. Some owners wanted full caps so we had a stock of cheapie full caps we put on. We had a nice collection of small roadrunner caps stashed away until one smart dude spotted them and bought them all in a big batch.

 

I like them cause I sell a bunch of them at swap meets and ebay. That way I can afford Starfires and Fiestas and other flippers, even 5 spokes on some of my cars.

 

I was at an auction of an old Plymouth dealer a while back and scored a NOS set for 68 and 69 Plymouths if anyone needs a set.

 

Back in December 1968 when I got back from Viet Nam I picked up the 69 Olds Cutlass S that I had special ordered with only 4 options and it had poverty caps. The next day the poverty caps looked fantastic on the new chrome reverse rims I had a local (Renton Wa) tire store put on. The 4 options were 310 hp 350, Muncie M21,, 3.42 Posi 12 bolt and an AM FM Multiplex radio that cost almost as much as the other three combined.

 

I can't stand dog dish hub caps.. They ruin the look of every car they are on. They make beautiful cars look ugly. I never saw them back in the day except on cabs, cop cars , and the 6 cylinder, 3 on the tree, rubber mat, no radio sedans driven by old cheapskates. This trend of putting them on muscle cars is the worst thing ever to happen to the hobby. Except for 18"+ wheels, thats a toss up. I bought a 68 Hemi super bee that had them. The seller told me how he searched far and wide and spent big money to get the "correct" wheels and hubcaps for it. The first thing I did was throw them in the trash and put some American mags in it. I hear guys complaining that no one will buy their car. well, look at the ugly poverty caps, what do you expect?

 

^^^^ So you don't like them?

 

Terminology. Hubcaps cover only the hub. Wheelcovers, self explanatory.
Poverty/dogdish=some bored magazine writer trying to be cute.
I took'em all off and ran bare wheels

 

Back in 62/63 seemed everyone wanted baby moons or 57 Plymouths in my area.
Few had aftermarket wheels or even Old's flippers. When I bought my first new car, a GTO in 65 I did not check the box for any of the wheel options, pulled the dog dishes off and painted the wheels black, later I put a set of chromed wheels on the front only.
By 67 most new muscle cars were delivered with some sort of factory option wheel and that started the "put rally wheels on everything " craze. IMHO it wasn't until 69/70 that street cars were now often seen with aftermarket wheels, mostly slots or Cragers or Americans and few had caps.
Today I see lots of caps and I love the understated look they represent and they'll always be in style and always on my car.

 

i.rant X2. Back in the day I also ran 57 Plymouth caps on my X frames. I'm now into dog dishes and run them on my 64 Biscayne and 63 Impala with no intention to fool anyone but because I like them. If anyone hears them run they know they don't have six cylinders. If you have purchased dog dishes lately you know they are in no way Poverty caps. Its difficult to find a set in good condition without paying through the nose.

 

I know those NOS Chevy caps will edge you towards poverty pretty quick, but as a friend once told me "Don't let $500 bucks ever keep you from having a nice car"

 

this whole post just goes to prove that car people are goofy.

 

On the right car they can look pretty sweet.

To each their own.....

 

My '59 Ford came with them, I had to de-rust them a little. The paint is a bit worn but they are in amazing shape. I have another set from a '49 Ford but prefer the original caps.

 

look better to me than no caps at all.