Yeah we all know they look good ,, but there's just so many it gets kind of boring. I'm not saying to do something dumb , but there has to be some other options to red .
I sure see alot of wide whites out there...nobody tired of those?...plus 99% of Detroit finest came with black steelies...sure seems popular still.....
I think its because those other cars tend to use them, but i do know that red wheels have been a hot rodder favorite for years. Anyone know when the first wheels were painted red?
On some cars I think red wheels look ok. I think now they're stereotyped as the rat rod wheel more often than not. My wifes car has red wheels and we absolutely can't stand them. We covered them up with a set of discs I had stashed in the garage. We're not even too crazy about the white walls, but they're brand new. Once these tires wear out we'll be getting some new wheels for sure.
Red wheels have been a hot rod favorite ever since 44 BC when Julius Caesar was seen quiet often sporting red wheels on his Hiboy through the street of Rome on his way to the Colosseum for the Chariot races. HRP
Some people just have to "hate" something. I've had cars with red wheels, blue wheels, chrome wheels, mag wheels, etc. the car itself dictates what wheels to run. Red has been popular for so long for a reason..they look good.
Red wheels are a hot rod staple,always have been,always will be. I'm sure some will disagree but I can't think of another color that has been used on wheels when building hot rod's as often red. I like red,but already having one car with red wheels I wanted to break the mold myself,,so I painted the wheels green on my truck,, HRP
I think "hate"might be a little strong, it's more that people think they have become a cliche. However, the way I see it is in order for something to become cliched, it first has to become overused, and in order for it to become overused it must have at some point been extremely popular, and in order for it to have been extremely popular it must have at some point been considered cool, and if at some point it was considered cool it can be again. There is a fine line between doing something because it's the right thing to do, and doing it just because everyone else does. Paul
In my area during the late '50s guys would just paint a red 'stripe' around the rim then put on a full hubcap so it looked like the entire wheel was red - it was easier than painting the whole wheel!
The wheels on my 48 are dark red. My reasoning was that they matched the cream and maroon interior in the car. I did this long before I knew of the HAMB or Rat Rods for that matter. Regardless there will "always" be someone who would have done something "different" had your car been theirs. I will be painting the original wheels back black and running those "overkilled" wide whites with the original full wheelcovers hopefully soon! 48 Poncho
I say let the owner of the car dictate what wheels they want to run,never let someone else tell you whats cool or looks good.it's one thing to get someones opinion but in the end do what you like.Dont feel like you have to conform to the masses or not conform just to say you didn't.Each car seems to have a voice and a soul of it's own and wheels are an important part along with stance that can make or break car so choose wisely.In my opinion red wheels are for 50's period style hotrods, and with a full cover hubcap they look good on kustoms where you just see the afore mentioned red stripe.However I do not like red wheels on 60's and 70's model cars . and trucks.The same thing goes with wide whites as those had phased out by about 61.
Since i have a Red Interior..why not match it. This was taken the day I lowered the Front, Of course I had to put the 'caps back on as it is a "Luxury" car... (this is before I cleaned the tires)
red wheels are text book rat rod. doing something different never hurts. plus red wheels dont go with every color car, but thats just my opinion
There were plenty of cars running around with red wheels in the '50s. It just looks good, particularly on a white or black car. Personally, the only time I dislike it is when the color actually clashes with the color on the color. (Red wheels on a purple car? Really??) When I built my black '53 Chevy I thought I was being clever by painting the wheels seafoam green, similar to the original color of the body. I was wrong - they'd look better red but I'm too lazy to respray them.
The Jalopy Journal
