Fancy Footwork: 8 Cool Wheels from Autorama

Every year since 1964, hot-rod builders from all over North America have travelled to Michigan to pursue “the Nobel Prize of hot-rodding,” the Don Ridler Memorial Award, at the Detroit Autorama. Any participant in the three-day event is eligible, as long as the vehicle is operable and has never appeared at any other show.

Winning the Ridler requires a car with an impeccable attention to detail. Builders go to great lengths to leave no stone unturned, powdercoating and chroming chassis bits that you would never see without the help of a mirror or two. One of the most important details to get right on a car are the wheels. As a certified wheel dork, I love seeing the creativity and variety of cool rolling stock at the Detroit Autorama. Here’s a look at some of our favorite wheels from last weekend’s show.

Meshtastic

Pro-touring builds answer the question, “What if we take a vintage muscle car and make it perform like a modern one?” The style, which originated in the mid 1990s and saw a boom in the 2010s with outfits like the Ringbrothers, borrows heavily from motorsports—both aesthetically and parts-wise. And nothing says motorsports quite like mesh wheels. The mesh-style wheel was pioneered by Jim Hall, the creator of the Can Am Chaparral race cars, and later copied endlessly by companies such as BBS and CCW. (Hall reportedly regrets not securing the intellectual rights for the design). The multi-spoked, forged-aluminum CCW LM20s on this Road Runner are probably as no-nonsense as a mesh wheel can get.

Many, Many Spokes

Speaking of spokes, Autorama had plenty of them, especially in the lowrider section. Wire wheels, particularly of the small-diameter 100-spoke variety, have long been a staple of cars that bounce up and down on hydraulics. (That said, one of the most famous lowriders rides on Cragars). The wheels featured here are not Daytons, the century-old manufacturer that is the Kleenex of wire wheels, but rather Luxors, a more recent American brand.

Deep Dish

The 1939 Ford, like many prewar cars, has bulbous, pontoon-like fenders that could fit a lot of wheel and tire. And many enterprising hot-rodders and customizers have done exactly that—whether to fit a big slick to put the power down or just to fill the void for aesthetic purposes. This particular Deluxe Coupe goes wild with width. The 19-inch forged aluminum Boze Alloy rear wheels are 12 inches wide.

Big Blades

If you are going to spend the BIG BUCKS necessary to build a highly customized contender for Autorama, you might as well go all the way with some one-off wheels. The owner of this 1990 GMC truck took inspiration from the fourth-generation Corvette’s “Saw Blade” wheels, albeit in a much larger diameter. The wheels, which are 20 x 8 inches up front and 20 x 11 in the rear, were designed and machined from billet aluminum by Sage Speed & Custom.

Fuchs for the People

Fuchs wheels might be more associated with Porsche, as they were a factory option, but the fat five-spokes are also popular with the modified Volkswagen crowd. The chrome Fuchs on this Karmann Ghia contrast nicely with its matte lavender paint.

Real Steel

This GT-2 Camaro race car was way more go than show. Sports Car Club of America Grand Touring classes are for tube-framed “silhouette” cars that don’t have much in common with their road-going siblings. Although cars in the GT-2 class can run any size wheel and tire, so long as they don’t exceed 12 inches of width in the front and 13.75 inches in the rear, this car runs 15-inch-diameter steel wheels made by Basset. Basset wheels have long been popular with circle-track racers and road racers alike, because of their durability and relative affordability.

Satisfying Symmetry

Work, a Japanese brand known for making high-quality aftermarket wheels since 1977, has always been a master at radial symmetry. These Work Equip 40s really do it for me, especially because the number of lug holes matches the number of spokes.

Put It All on Red

I’d like to think that the riff from Motörhead’s 1980 speed metal classic “Ace of Spades” inspired this choice of hubcap. I know that song is more about cards rather than roulette, but lead singer Lemmy Kilmister, who was a fan of all types of gambling, likely would have approved.