History Period correct rims for 54/55 custom?

Hi all.

What rims are period correct for a 1954/55 custom car - chrome reverse like on the sexy purple 54 Victoria, or wheelcaps like on the awesome 51 Victoria?

(I'm upgrading the 14" rims on my 52 Victoria to 15" all round.)

Your advice will be very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Dave V.

 

This is more of an opinion than advice.
Flames on customs were extremely rare in 1955, and of a more primitive style (such as the crab-claw look of Von Dutch). I think chrome rims (and 'baby moons') would best suit the later look of your ride.

 

Chrome wheels WITH HUBCAPS were used as early as 1952 (maybe even earlier), but reversed chrome wheels run naked didn't really become popular until the early '60s.

 

Also on a custom running chromies was cool but you had to have a coned center cap. Baby moons were cool but the coned center cap was the cats meow!!
Full wheel covers were also cool. Like caddy sombreros.

 

I would think the hot ticket in '54-'55 would've been the '53-'55 Old "Fiesta" wheelcover. Or perhaps the '53 Cadillac wheelcover. Chrome reverse and standard offset chrome open wheels seems like a later '50s and definitely early '60s thing.





BTW, what appears to be a '65-'66 GM hardtop roof on the '54 Victoria is an interesting idea. Vent window's a little clunky though.

 

full wheel covers on painted steel wheels.

 

Thanks for your opinion 'Mo. I appreciate it.

My aim is to get it looking like it was done in 1955. The first step is the wheels. The paint job can come later.

So I want wheels that were period correct for 1955.

 

Thanks 50Fraud.

Can someone tells me (with pictures), the difference between CHROME WHEELS and REVERSED CHROME WHEELS?

 

Thanks Fuzzy Knight. Would chromies with a coned center cap have been done in 1955? Do you have photos of this set-up?

 

Thanks froghawk - so it seems chrome wheels WITHOUT a wheelcap was not done back in 1955.

And, like I've asked in my reply to 50Fraud, what's the difference (with pictures) between STANDARD OFFSET CHROME WHEELS and CHROME REVERSE WHEELS?

 

Thanks alteredpilot.

 

Here's an easy illustration:



The wheels in the FRONT are standard offset chrome wheels. The wheels in the REAR are reversed chrome wheels. All of these are '50 Merc wheels and hubcaps. The reversed rears use Buick rims on Merc centers, because the inside of the Buick rim has a nice conical taper.

Note that this particular setup was used on hot rods as early as '52, but the different wheels front and rear would not have been used on a custom during that era.

The point to the reversed wheel is that it appears much deeper, and the hubcap is deeply recessed.

 

Awesome illustration and description. Thanks 50Fraud. So basically the front or the back as shown in the photo above (as long as consistent) would have been done on a 55 custom?

I think I like the front better. Are the hubcaps only covering the middle of the wheel?

 

That Ford is hot shit as it sits. I like it.

 

That's essentially correct, assuming that you're not running skirts. If you were planning to run skirts, reversed wheels on the rear might create clearance problems with them. Reversed wheels on customs didn't really happen until the '60s anyway.

And yes, the hubcaps cover only the center of the wheel, but these are specifically '50 Merc. Only '49-'51 Merc and some Lincolns used those large dogdish hub caps, so the appearance would be somewhat different (smaller hubcap) using Ford or other wheels.

 

Single bar flipper hubcaps were quite popular during the mid '50's mounted to red painted steel wheels and wide whites. Sombrero's and the tri-bar flippers also were popular. Chrome wheels were out of reach for most unless you worked at a chrome shop.

Love the look of that purple custom with the chrome wheels and spider centers. But they didn't become popular until the late '50's/ early '60's.

 

Best thing to do to do it right is to start hunting down 1955 Era custom car magazines. Probably more in 56 too as there was usually a several month lag between when photos were taken and they showed up in a magazine.

The early chrome wheels were actually the wheels the car owner pulled off the car and took to the chrome shop to have done. From what the older (older to me) guys said the chrome shops bitched and whined to no end about those wheels being taken in. It wasn't until the late 50's early 60's that you could walk in and buy a set of chrome wheels easily.

 

Thanks for the advice Mr48chev.

So chromed standard steel rims were done in the early to mid 50s, if the chrome shop was obliging.

 

Thanks 50Fraud. Standard offset chrome is the way to go.

 

Thanks High5. But they were around in the early to mid 50s?

 

Too some degee,but most ran wheelcovers

 

Blackie Gegeian was already running chrome wheels when he won AMBR in 1955.
All chrome was courtesy of Fresno Plating.

(Restored car, photo by F.R. Childers):

 

Most of us poor boys just ran bare rims, usually painted red.

 

Cool car... Thanks for the pic.

 

Because it was the cheaper option?

 

Was about to ask the same question. Thanks!

 

Hi again 50Fraud.

I have had this explained to me - the ones that cover most of the wheels are called wheel covers rather than hubcaps.

So the picture of the cool Ford you attached, and the Blackie Gegeian car, are both running "hub caps", where as the picture below and the 51 Victoria in my original post are both running "wheel covers"?

Cheers,
Dave <!-- / message -->

 

Yes, those that cover the whole wheel to the edge of the rim are technically called "wheel covers" although most (including myself) call them all "hubcaps."

In most of my 1955-56 books and magazines the custom cars are all running full wheel covers not chrome wheels. (I'm not saying it didn't happen, just that the vast majority are running covers.)
Popular choices include the Olds Fiesta covers shown above and aftermarket "smoothie" or "full moon" covers, plus a random assortment of just about anything you can imagine, especially 1953-'55 high-end cars. I like '53-54 Lincoln covers myself and I think they'd make sense on a '52 Ford. They're also pretty affordable when you find them.

 

Thanks for your response Dave.

 

IMO, full wheelcovers make early customs look their best.

This thread by Rikster shows the early/mid '50s photography of Marcia Campbell and I believe she captured the look of these earlier cars before George Barris and his style took over.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=417750