Features Hot Rods with Bare Painted Steel Wheels Thread

1955 - 1956 - 1957 Chevrolet WOW!

The flat paint looks so nice to me.. It reminds me of the old cars and it doesn't show all the little waves and bumps in the body..

This green/white 55 is a perfect example of how the old cars looked back then.. Even the tires painted half and half looked good on this car.. They used to do this to check when the rear tires were slipping.

 

Definitely has “the look”

 

1958-59 So Cal

Hello,

With access to all top name hot rod/drag race builders in So Cal located within a short driving distance of Lion’s Dragstrip, the Northeast Long Beach location was involved in plenty of reconstructed Chevy and Ford wider rims for all applications. The Junior Thompson/Jim Cassidy street roadster had some big slicks mounted on extremely deep bare painted steel wheels. They were probably made at Henry’s Machine Works in the Northeast portion of Bixby Knolls. That shop was responsible for the majority of custom machining on a lot of local hot rods and drag racing vehicles.

What do two young teenagers with a future in drag racing do to look forward? My brother had a pair of 9 inch wide steel Chevy rims made at Henry’s Machine Works. When we went to pick them up, I was actually puzzled. They would not fit on our 58 Impala although they had a Chevy bolt pattern. They would fit on our 1940 Willys Coupe, but only if we radius cut the rear wheel openings. Plus, we only had a set of 7 inch wide Bruce Slicks on standard wide 15 inch Chevy rims that saw double duty on the 58 Impala and the 40 Willys.

Jnaki

So, what was my brother thinking? Since we were limited on our budget build, perhaps the 9 inch wide Chevy rims would be a first step with some new M&H 9 inch wide slicks. In July of 1960, we had a set of M&H Slicks on order, ready for pickup in Los Angeles. But, our talk had developed a work list and the bigger slicks were some of the last additions prior to getting the body painted and radiused wheel wells finished. We also had wide Halibrand Mags to go with the wider M&H Slicks. We even had the narrower front Halibrands of the same style also ready for pick up.

The 9 inch wide Chevy rims were painted a black and sat in the corner of the backyard garage until the ad came out. Some kid from Long Beach bought them and was going to run wide street tires with the rims for his hot rod. At the time, no one had 9 inch wide Chevy bolt pattern rims for that size of a tire. The rims sold fast.

 

1959-60 Dosser Automotive which was the old Reath Automotive Model A sedan with Joe Koenig, etc. (Dosser Automotive was located within three blocks of our old high school.)

Hello,

Back in those early days, hot rods were built with whatever parts were available or styling choices. A lot of the styles came from drag racing and with the bare bones look from the fender less coupes and sedans, the look filtered onto the street. The last thing was the cost of chrome rims or in the early 1960s.

Magnesium/aluminum rims that started showing up on drag race cars and then some street cars. Only, those at the drags did not have to worry about being stopped for various violations to the said hot rod without fenders or running boards. It was a functioning performance look and that also was dictated by money.

Usually, the extra monies were spent on the motor. It wasn’t always the shiniest hot rod or the most spent on chrome accessories, but how it was built. This white Model A sedan had the look of contrasting color, white, with yellow accents on the roll bar and frame. Throw in some yellow wide rims for the big Bruce Slicks and narrow yellow rims for the front tires made up the Altered Sedan look.

Jnaki


Over the years, this sedan had a long list of owners and drivers. The time we were able to film the sedan racing, it had different motor configuration and owners changed hands, too.

At Lions in 1959-60, there was this sedan that just made everyone look, when it came to the line. It was once Koenig/Sundin sedan, Reath/Maillard (a great combo), and the Dosser Bros chopped sedan. Eventually, it became known as the Dosser/ Reath Automotive sedan. You could not walk by it in the pits without stopping to look at it. It had a white body, yellow frame, yellow wheels…what a set up. It was very loud and fast. Here is a compilation of the runs we were able to film at Lions.

 

Choc Hunt's award winning custom 1955 Thunderbird

 

No history

 

57 Corvette fuelie.

 

It's always fun to run around with exposed nuts...

 

Mine near a Zombie castle somewhere in Austria (I did not stay long).

 

Doug Cook 1937 Tahitian Red Chevy Lion's Dragstrip

Hello,

History shows up and tells a story. In the early street legal Gas Coupes and Sedan Classes, it was hot rod heaven. Bring what you have, make sure you have a scattershield and off to the races… big motor? Usually A/Gas. Smaller motors? C/Gas or B/Gas as per weight of the overall car vs. motor. A true street hot rod proving grounds with what you spent your hard earned money to make look good and go fast, or as fast as you could. For those that had smaller motors, Flathead or other, D/Gas.
1959
So, what does a guy like Doug Cook do? Changes the rear axle gears to get a better ratio for the drags, test drive it on the daily street trips and then show up at Lions Dragstrip to race in C/Gas or without added weight, B/Gas on Saturdays.

We saw and filmed different versions of the 37 Chevy coupe. painted wheels were the changing factor, but still had the whitewall street look tires with gold painted rims. The black on black? The dragstrip added slicks that were allowed in the class races.

Then, get out the gold spray paint can and match the front wheels for the look, as it pulled away from the starting line.

Doug Cook total

Prior to the Tahitian Red Color that was on Doug Cook’s 1937 Chevy Coupe, it was painted black. So, the similarities are endless. Except the Tahitian Red 1937 Chevy Coupe is/was a record setter at the dragstrip, while still retaining the legal street Gas Coupe and Sedan label.



January 1957



1958 So Cal

 

Back to "Bare Steel Wheels"......

 

Unfinished/under construction pictures count?

 

Hello,

Not only does it have painted wheels front and rear, but what brand of coupe is this Altered Coupe from 1959? Someone mentioned a Plymouth. Or perhaps a 31 Chevy 5 window coupe? Others have said a Model A coupe with a different chrome radiator/grille.

1959

Even in “competition only” cars, painted wheels were the norm. Then if some extra money came into play, perhaps chrome wheels or the new “mag” wheels set would look nice on any drag racing car.
But, the backyard spray cans were lifesavers for many of the early drag racers builds.


Jnaki

Since the rear rims are Red, they might be add on slicks of different widths or overall size. If the rear wheels were Gold to match the front, that is probably the norm. The Gold color would be on the normal street tires in the towing situation. Then at the drags, the different Red rim slicks were added for competition.
Could this old coupe be similar?

 

No histroy

 

That red coupe is definitely not a Model A. I don't believe it's a Plymouth or a Chevrolet, either. The shape of the rear quarter window is distinctive for each of those makes, and the car in the picture doesn't look like any of them. I'd guess it's an off-brand like a Star or a Terraplane.[/QUOTE]

 

Could it be a Beacon?

 

“Sometimes “

 

Joseph Beaudoin

Bare wheels and quad headlights, the revisionist history, trend chasing, recovering Boyd worshippers must really hate this car!

 

From the 1959 movie The Giant Gila Monster.

 

my 62 fairlane

 

My roadster on Redbeard's Nor Cal Reliability Run.

 

On all my cars at least every few weeks.

 

From Hemmings

Fast and furious, circa 1962: The further adventures of a hot-rodding teen

By Jim Van Orden on Feb 11th, 2018 at 8:00 am


The wild summer of ’62 That’s the way things went that summer of 1962. Fast and furious…punctuated by beer drinking, drag racing, cute girls at the New Jersey shore, and dirty hands from hours working on hotrods. Grease under fingernails was a boy’s badge of honor. My friends and I were 18, high school graduates, and feeling our oats.

Hotrods were hotrods back then and the word “ratrod” didn’t exist. But another friend, Barry, had a 1934 Ford five-window coupe, hand-sprayed in different shades of primer, deserving of that title. Devoid of fenders and bumpers, top chopped four inches and interior stripped of headliner, seats and window cranks, the car was a missile on wheels.