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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | Here's a striking example of matching color rims on what I presume seems to be a brand new 1957 Dodge Coronet. Would it be assumable that this was a factory option? Complete postcard can be seen at: http://www.forwardlook.eu/postcards/cards/CASanBernardinoAntlersHotel.php
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Location: Netherlands | I would *think* painted wheels would come mainly with 'dogdish' wheel caps. | |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Neil will likely know the "factory facts" for the ins-n-outs of body color wheels, but my
experience is that they are typically seen with "dog dish" wheel covers. Maybe that is
only because they are more noticeable with more wheel exposed ? Can't speak for Dodge,
but 58 DeSoto typically has Argent wheels, unless it has the body color wheels and dog dish
hubcaps. Still, I cannot ever recall seeing paperwork directly stating this is how it was done.
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: Royal Oak, MI | Makes sense... argent wheels blend better with chrome/stainless full wheel covers (only the thin outer edge of the rim is visible with the wheel cover on), while the dog-dish hubcaps need body-color wheels for a more "finished" look. | |
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Account deactivated by owner's request
Location: On this barrel | Their are a couple shown in this thread that have body colored rims: http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=29020&posts=32&start=1 | |
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Location: Connecticut | AFAIK, all rims were either argent (silver), black or in the case of Dodges, grayish with an outer band of white.. Any colored rims are a custom job. Practically speaking, it would have been too expensive to body color rims. Ron
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Location: DFW, TX | .
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Walter passed away on Jul 29, 2014. We will miss you, Walt!
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Location: Heaven Above (Formerly Oklahoma City,OK) | Are youse guys tellin' me I gotta repaint the rims on my '55. I done painted 'em twice already, primersealer(black) then Black and then Almond. Now you say they gotta me Argent, 'cause I got full 4 bar wheel covers ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Uncle Walt | |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Magra, Sweden | This wreck show the outer rim was painted eggshell white with black center.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | THAT'S the photo of the 56 Dodge wheel(s) that I was trying to find, in regards to a question about how
the 1956 Dodge wheels were/are correctly-OEM painted.
Thord, that wheel's inner area is actually a dark gray color, not black.
The 57 Dodge, at the top of this thread does have dog-dish 'hubcaps' on it, so the wheels are body-painted.
I've got an interesting BxW vintage photo of a stripper 57 Coronet convertible that has the standard full-width
wheel covers on it, but, it has dark body-colored wheels.
The car (even-) is a single color, no radio, no mirrors, and features a full-load of cheer-leader-looking damsels,
parked in front of a "Root Beer" stand, so, it appears to be a sort of Publicity-photo set up.
My thinking is that the dealership (or, the owner) installed the full wheel covers as an inexpensive way to jazz-up
the car's appearance, beyond the car's having had the standard Doggie hubcaps originally on it.
"Nobody", back then, would fool around with painting a car's wheels, so that it would match that new-car's body color,
such as commonly occurs today.
Edited by d500neil 2010-04-23 2:47 PM
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Expert
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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | 55CRL - 2010-04-23 8:05 PM This wreck show the outer rim was painted eggshell white with black center. ...or..., it was color matched with the lower side of the body...
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Expert
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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | d500neil - 2010-04-23 8:44 PM "Nobody", back then, would fool around with painting a car's wheels, so that it would match that new-car's body color, such as commonly occurs today. That's why these postcards/photos are so interesting, in the aspect that they represent the way these car were when (almost) new. | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Jim, that 56's lower body color is not the OEM 1956 "Sapphire White" color. | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | There's also a GREAT photo of the OEM 1959 Dodge's wheel(s), with the car residing on a car carrier, over on the
"Postcards" message-thread, if anyone wants to find and post-up that image, here.
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Location: Parts Unknown | ronbo97 - 2010-04-23 1:10 PM
AFAIK, all rims were either argent (silver), black or in the case of Dodges, grayish with an outer band of white.. Any colored rims are a custom job. Practically speaking, it would have been too expensive to body color rims. Ron
Wouldn't it be expensive to paint the rims TWO colors (grayish with an outer band of white - as mentioned above) ???
Seems like that would cost more than the body color . . . I thought the rims were cream colored for a few years ???
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | All cats, in the dark, are gray.
All wheels were built/assembled in this shade of gray-ish primer, then, were finished coated in various colors,
including the Universal-Factory color of eggshell-ish.
For a long time, I had difficulty accepting that the dog-dish cars got a special painting of their wheels, but that certainly
appears to be the case.
The 57 Dodge advertising program featured all of the 'illustrated' cars wearing (air-brushed-in) color-coordinated wheels.
Unfortunately, in the real-production-world, only the doggie-cars got color coordinated wheels. I've got a lot of 'factory/dealership'
photographs showing even all black cars having only the 'white' wheel rims.
Fortunately, the factory advertising 'implies' that some/all of the rest of the cars "could" have color-coordinated wheels, so,
virtually all non-original (mine included) 57 Dodges are seen to have 'colored' wheels.
In 1958+, the factory advertising only showed the white wheels as being universally installed ('sorry', 1958+ers!)
Edited by d500neil 2010-04-23 7:15 PM
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Expert
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Location: Connecticut | Neil - I have never seen any documentation that wheels came in any colors other than what I described in my previous post. I can't believe they would stop the line and paint the wheels pink or blue or green just because someone ordered (cheap-o) dog dish hubcaps. Makes no sense. B/G - The gray/white wheels were for all cars, no matter what color. The gray was probably the same mixture that they sprayed trunk and hood undersides for Plymouths, so the shade probably varied widely. Painting just the outer band off-white saved the company a few nickels on paint per wheel.
Ron
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Ron, I'm 'with' you on dis-believing the in-efficiency of delaying the production/paint lines, to paint up a set of
LOW-rent dog-dish wheels, but, I've never seen a real OEM photo of a Doggie-car that did NOT have body
colored wheels on it.
So, as my Freshman Psych-prof said : "It's not that I don't believe in ghosts [there being no 'Ghost-Funsters' shows on
the tube, back then], just go BRING me one to look at."
I've seen all of the doggie-cars wearing colored wheels on them; I'll go check my "Dodge Reporters" [in house newspaper]
tonite, and maybe I'll find a "painted-Doggie", or two.
Go look at Jim's stripper-Coronet sedan, again, at the head of this thread.
Do you believe that the happy owner (or, God forbid, the dealer??) would have given a rat's-pattoukie(sp?)
about whether the car's wheels happened to match the color of the lower body area, and, would have, then,
painted them in the exact-same shade of blue, as the rest of the car?
Edited by d500neil 2010-04-23 7:46 PM
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7807
Location: Williams California | I can remember Earl Scheib advertising their paint jobs as a youngster, and special offers included painting the wheels body color. Some of the old postcards are showing cars a few years old, and fender benders, sand storms, and other needs for a repaint may have occurred in that time span.
---John | |
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Elite Veteran
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| Not to make this any more confusing, but . . . the 58 Dodge wagons I have seen, including mine, have all-ivory wheels--no gray inner section. These are wheels that look original, off-white, with plenty of rust and wear at the rim.
I'm talking about 3 or 4 cars here, so I do not pretend to know this was true across the board. But an original "wagon wheel" is 6 inches wide, so maybe the all-ivory wheels were painted to make it easier to select the wider wheel, where needed at the factory.
Just to tweak it further, the 58 Dodge wagon brochure, shows a wheel in the spare tire bay . . . with the gray inside.
GO FIGURE.
Sparky
Edited by sparky7 2010-04-24 12:09 AM
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Account deactivated by owner's request
Location: On this barrel | This is a striaght from the factory, non painted wheel from a 56 Dodge, that I own. Original.
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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | Wow! A two tone wheel! Indeed that seems more expensive to fabricate, at first thought. Also, you'd start to suspect that the two separate parts are sprayed before they are assembled (welded). But then again, they might have used an employee's smart idea from the box and used a simple spray mold to do the job properly, and save on paint. Not that it is of any great importance, but I therefore would like to have a closer look at the inner side that 56 wheel.
Both my 57s had lower body matching Ivory painted wheels, before I decided to have them upper body matched powder coated. | |
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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | big m - 2010-04-24 2:57 AM I can remember Earl Scheib advertising their paint jobs as a youngster, and special offers included painting the wheels body color. Some of the old postcards are showing cars a few years old, and fender benders, sand storms, and other needs for a repaint may have occurred in that time span. ---John This seems very likely. A very plausible explanation to me. But the reason I brought this up is that the 57 Dodge in the postcard at the top of this thread seems to be the youngest car there.
Edited by Jim Hoek 2010-04-24 3:41 AM
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Expert
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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | Looking at that 56 wheel again, it is almost like the center part is sprayed grey after the wheel was mounted. The nuts and threads seem to have to same gray. And do I see a little ivory where it is scratched? And rust (no grey) where the ivory on the rim is scratched?
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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | Filip (thanks) send me these, of his 1957 DeSoto Firesweep.
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Location: new york |
I've had a lot of original FL's and the Grey and white and argent wheels have been on every one. But I think body color look's nice or RED!!!! HAPPY MOTORING! Victor.
P.S. Just returned from spring Carlisle . Not to many FL's , A nice 55 Dodge and a solid 60 Plymouth HT. | |
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Expert
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Location: Parts Unknown | Great pics !!! Does anyone know if the factory ever just had the rims painted
cream/off-white only ? What about the trucks of the same years ??? Am I to
believe the factory never had the rims body color ??? (any years) . . . ? | |
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Location: Warren, Michigan | Is it at all possible that the paint booth at the dealer (if so equipped) could have done something like that AFTER it left the factory? | |
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Location: The Mile High City | 
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Those rims had to have been painted by the owner, or the dealer, or, it
was built with the standard equipment dog dish small hubcaps on it.
I could bore the hell out of you-all who doubt this, by posting many OEM-factory/dealership
photos, from the Dodge Reporter which show ALL 57-58 Dodges (not having the dog-dish
hubcaps, that is) as having the white-ish wheel rims installed on them.
In that regard, I just looked at my 57-58 Dodge Reporters, and, unfortunately, the only
dog dish hubcaps seen therein are installed on white-ish looking cars.
I'm going to send Clive a large-ish photo therefrom, showing a 57 Royal 4-dr sedan
(as confirmed by its fin-emblem) which has the doggies on it.
You'll note that the 'body color' has been applied WELL-inboard on the wheel (to the extent
that the body-color reaches, at least, the perimeter of the small dog dish hubcap), as compared
to the spread of the gray-primer, as seen on the wheel cover-equipped cars on this thread, and
elsewhere.
The wheel painting, on the dog-dish cars may well extend to a virtual covering of the complete inner
area of the wheel, because the body-color obviously extends past the outer edges of the dog dishes.
Pic sent to Sir Clive.....
Edited by d500neil 2010-04-25 12:06 AM
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Location: The Mile High City | It was coded for the spinners (what's more, I think in '58 at least - full wheel covers were standard on all but the Coronets). That leaves only the first two possibilities - perhaps! 
"Nobody", back then, would fool around with painting a car's wheels, so that it would match that new-car's body color,
such as commonly occurs today.
Edited by Lancer Mike 2010-04-25 12:38 AM
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Location: The Mile High City | Were black wall tires standard equipment on Dodges up and down the line? It would be interesting to see an old photo of a factory black wall tire with a eggshell rim. Once you step up to the white wall tire, the eggshell rim makes perfect sense. | |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Location: .Norfolk..Mafia.. ,England UK | d500neil - 2010-04-25 4:55 AM
Those rims had to have been painted by the owner, or the dealer, or, it
was built with the standard equipment dog dish small hubcaps on it.
I could bore the hell out of you-all who doubt this, by posting many OEM-factory/dealership
photos, from the Dodge Reporter which show ALL 57-58 Dodges (not having the dog-dish
hubcaps, that is) as having the white-ish wheel rims installed on them.
In that regard, I just looked at my 57-58 Dodge Reporters, and, unfortunately, the only
dog dish hubcaps seen therein are installed on white-ish looking cars.
I'm going to send Clive a large-ish photo therefrom, showing a 57 Royal 4-dr sedan
(as confirmed by its fin-emblem) which has the doggies on it.
You'll note that the 'body color' has been applied WELL-inboard on the wheel (to the extent
that the body-color reaches, at least, the perimeter of the small dog dish hubcap), as compared
to the spread of the gray-primer, as seen on the wheel cover-equipped cars on this thread, and
elsewhere.
The wheel painting, on the dog-dish cars may well extend to a virtual covering of the complete inner
area of the wheel, because the body-color obviously extends past the outer edges of the dog dishes.
Pic sent to Sir Clive.....
This is the best view of a Dog Dish equipped
car, that I found, in the Dodge Reporter
in-house newspapers that I have for 1957-1958.
I could not find any dog-dish cars which have a
dark lower body, with corresponding dark-colored
wheels, unfortunately.
This car is a 57 Royal 4-dr sedan, which also
has a nice view of its undercarriage.
What's really interesting about this car is that it has
white wall tires, with the dog-dish hubcaps.
Note that the light-ish body-color paint that has been
applied to the wheels completely covers-over the gray
primer which is seen on the other (full-wheel-covered-)
cars' wheels on this thread.
The question now is: was that body-color paint applied
all the way to the center of the wheel, or was there still
some gray primer that was not covered-over by the
body-color paint?
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Ny | Looking through various pictures I have, including the photocopies sent to me from CHS, I thought that the 55 desoto's came with a factory black wheel. All wheels on mine were black. However, we made a small discovery as we were replacing the tires on the front. The right front wheel was not original, but the left was. And the back side of the wheel appears to be painted blue. Were the fronts repainted later down the road? Or did they use a colored primer? I just thought it interesting and worth sharing here.
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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | Another postcard with body color matching wheels.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | ...That's a black car, with dog dish hubcaps on it (and having black painted wheels).
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Expert
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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | The following on behalf of Neil. How do 'you' prove a negative-condition or situation
(i.e.: NO 1957-1958 Dodge non-Dog-Dish cars had OEM body-colored wheels)?......
Here's a lot of photos from my stash of 1957-1958 Dodge Reporter newspapers, and several photographs:
1st pic shows an OEM 57 wheel , which shows that the gray color was over-sprayed onto the Eggshell....why THAT second color was applied: I dunno! The tire is 8.00x14"
Next are a progression of 1957 Dodges.
Then comes a red 1958 CRL vert
The next car is a Coronet, but note its photo caption that says that it was "made available by Dodge P.R. dept.
If ANY car would have been doll'ed-up with body-colored wheels, it would be a car that was owned by Dodge P.R .
Then, there's a green(?) 58 Coro vert.
And then: a fancy-dancy 58 Regal Lancer (with the OEM "Eggshell" wheels on it).
Sid will like the next one: a BLACK 57 CRL, with after-market fender skirts (but, still with them white wheels on it).
Them, another-few 58 Dodges ...white verts don't 'count', as far as having white wheels on them.
Then, there's a few 57 "Show cars".
A 57 black-wall car, on the assembly-line.
A 58 CRL vert (in white)...
But, next: a 58 Custom Sierra wagon, with "Spinners".
Then, a 58 Cori(?) D500
Then, a few 57's, but several black-wall cars seen.
Then: a dark-colored 57 CRL MOVIE-car, with the wheelcovers removed, showing the gray inner wheel areas.
Finally, I've attached an Ebay-screen-photo, showing a dark- colored 57 Coro vert, which is a STRIPPER model, as it has the standard 1-color paint, plain glass, NO radio and no right-side rear view mirror....posed in a local "publicity"
photo 'Cheer-leader' photograph, but, the car has had the 'lower-level' plain wheelcovers attached to it.
My belief is that this car was an OEM dog-dish car (see next
photo..) and that the plain wheel covers were added----if you are "Jazzing-up" the car, from OEM plain-covers, you would, obviously install the SPINNERS, so, the plain-covers would be an appropriate up-grade to the doggies, especially on a stripper-model.
The other possibility is that the wheels were painted, but, since the wheels are the same COLOR as the body, it is more likely that the doggies were replaced with the plain-covers.
And, finally, I adduce: Charles Phoenix's "Slide of the Week"
which shows a plain-color 1960 Plymouth convertible, which has Dog- Dish hubcaps, with body-colored wheels on it.
Edited by Jim Hoek 2010-04-25 4:25 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Thanks, Jim; now go to bed!
Meant to add, above, that the stripper Coro vert may have been owned
by a local dealership, and that it may have been provided to the
A & W as being a prop for the publicity photo; if the Girls were promoting their school, it
would, logically, have been identified, in the photo set up
IF the car was owned by the A&W , "A&W" should have been shown on it,
for advertising purposes, one would think.
And, apparently, naming of the dealership was not a priority, either.
Hard to believe that the car may have been privately owed, and that the owner, who
had some-sort of affinity for teen aged girls....ahem...would NOT have been
interested in having a RADIO be installed in the car, a convertible model????
Also, that 1960 Plymouth vert, with the dog dish hubcaps on it, is the top-of-the-line FURY model.
Edited by d500neil 2010-04-25 9:32 PM
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: Fairfield County, CT | My contribution to this thread is an example of the argent rims as found on a 59 Dodge Coronet (Custom) built in the Delaware plant. The back is a medium gray (what's left of it). The 59's (and maybe others) had a very deep bead that seemed to curl over a bit to hold the wheelcovers that clipped in there. You can tell a 59 wheel because you can see the wheelcover "bite" marks into the bead and no scratches where they normally are.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Joe, can you, or someone else, go over to the "Postcards" thread (last page on it, to date) and post-up the great
image on it of the 59 Dodges that are seen, sitting on the car-carrier?
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 988
Location: Kansas City, Kansas | This is a great thread. I hope we come to some conclusions with it. I seem to see a lot of contradictions. For the record, my original '60 Adventurer with full wheel covers has satin black wheels.
I know a VERY few '60 Fireflites were built with dogdish caps. Does anyone know if all of those cars also came with satin black wheels? | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 471
Location: MN | If you'll take the word of a kid following Dad, a new car salesman, around the garage, I remember 55- 59 Dodges having white wheels w/ gray centers on full wheel cover cars & cars w/ hub caps being body colored. Plymouths were argent, I think Desoto were like the Plyms. Some younger guys painted wheels black a nice contrast w/o wheel covers or hub caps. In 60 & newer things changed all wheel cover cars had black wheels & color keyed for hub caps. Note the Goodyear Custom Power Cushion spare tire, the standard tire on a Dodge upgradfe to ww. Thanks for all the great era photos, note the Regal & Spring Special & other often overlooked 58's. I'm surprised @ the # of solid color cars. Our town there were nearly all 2 tone cars excepting a few black solids. We had an auto show @ the armory back in 57,58, they were effective. Probably the gala event in a small town next to fall new car showtime. Wheels we find on a car now may have been on several cars in 50 years time | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 314
Location: Fairfield County, CT | Here's the picture Neil asked to be posted showing 59 Dodges being rolled off a carrier. Obviously there are numerous correct O.E. rim finishes. These resemble the 56 style two-tone rims. The explanation could be the sources of the rims used at different plants. That's why I pointed out that my 59 was a Delaware car. It would be interesting to know where these cars were built. Another example of there being multiple correct original looks on a Mopar.
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Kansas City, Kansas | Joe Mac - 2010-04-26 9:41 PM
Here's the picture Neil asked to be posted showing 59 Dodges being rolled off a carrier. Obviously there are numerous correct O.E. rim finishes. These resemble the 56 style two-tone rims. The explanation could be the sources of the rims used at different plants. That's why I pointed out that my 59 was a Delaware car. It would be interesting to know where these cars were built. Another example of there being multiple correct original looks on a Mopar.
Since the full wheel cover'd cars were shipped without the wheel covers, how were the wheel covers shipped? Did the dealer already have boxes of them or were they placed in the trunk to protect them from theft/loss during shipment? | |
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Expert
Posts: 1819
Location: Vancouver, BC | slimwhitman - 2010-04-26 7:57 PM
Joe Mac - 2010-04-26 9:41 PM
Here's the picture Neil asked to be posted showing 59 Dodges being rolled off a carrier. Obviously there are numerous correct O.E. rim finishes. These resemble the 56 style two-tone rims. The explanation could be the sources of the rims used at different plants. That's why I pointed out that my 59 was a Delaware car. It would be interesting to know where these cars were built. Another example of there being multiple correct original looks on a Mopar.
Since the full wheel cover'd cars were shipped without the wheel covers, how were the wheel covers shipped? Did the dealer already have boxes of them or were they placed in the trunk to protect them from theft/loss during shipment?
In the trunk
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Account deactivated by owner's request
Location: On this barrel | Here are three examples of wheels matching a body color.
 (a.JPG)
 (b.jpg)
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a.JPG (37KB - 245 downloads)
b.jpg (122KB - 249 downloads)
c.jpg (87KB - 258 downloads)
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Robert, unfortunately, highly re-touched/air-brushed advertising-agency illustrations are the least-authentic
images that exist on our cars.
Next in line are any images of any 'restored' cars.
Vintage-original photographs are usually reliable and reference-able images, but, there are cars which have been (apparently)
modified, like Mike's 58 with its dark wheels, and 'my' photo of that 57 Coronet vert with its dark wheels, which can
and do confuse the issue as to whether a particular car's appearances is OEM correct, or not.
Then, there are the misleading images and/or statements contained within various factory publications, including, even, the Ross
Roy Propaganda brochures.
Factory-photos, of NON-prototype cars, and any un-questionably-Original/Surviving cars are the Gold Standard in showing how one or
more cars were actually built at a particular (.... because variances exist between THEM, too; E.G.: trunk finishings) factory.
In Re; the 57 Dodges, the advertising agency was apparently instructed to air-brush-in the cars' main body colors onto their
wheels.
There are a wide variety of body colors that are seen on the 'advertised' 57 Dodges.
The advertising illustrations have allowed 'us' to body-paint our cars' wheels and to claim (with varying extents of disingenuous-ness) :
"....That was how the factory painted them", when, in truth : ...."That was how the ADVERTISING AGENCY 'painted' them", is the correct
statement.
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Location: Vancouver, BC | ronbo97 - 2010-04-23 4:23 PM
Neil - I have never seen any documentation that wheels came in any colors other than what I described in my previous post. I can't believe they would stop the line and paint the wheels pink or blue or green just because someone ordered (cheap-o) dog dish hubcaps. Makes no sense. B/G - The gray/white wheels were for all cars, no matter what color. The gray was probably the same mixture that they sprayed trunk and hood undersides for Plymouths, so the shade probably varied widely. Painting just the outer band off-white saved the company a few nickels on paint per wheel.
Why can't anyone believe someone would order wheels painted the body colour? That was the norm until the mid-1950's.
And they would not stop the line while someone painted some wheels. Just as with any factory installed option on a car, the item would be ready for installation when the time came. Thus if anyone ordered wheels painted body colour the wheels would be painted and dried in time for the tires to be installed.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | An interesting aspect of the painting of the wheels (on stripper cars, typically) is that there are no special-highlighted
numerical-codings on the Broadcast Sheets or IBM cards regarding any special-handling/painting for a set of wheels.
There are "wheelcover" options, but, those codings are buried within the body of the B.Sheets and IBM cards, and easy
to 'miss' seeing.
A car, without a wheelcover option code, would receive the dog dish hubcaps and painted wheels.
I wonder if there were special instruction 'sheets' which would be sent to the painters, to tell them that a set of certain-colored wheels
should be painted-up, for delivery to the chassis-station on the assembly line (as occurred with the dashboard assemblers and
painters)?--YES, huh?
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Location: Kansas City, Kansas | Chrycoman - 2010-04-27 8:23 PM
Why can't anyone believe someone would order wheels painted the body colour? That was the norm until the mid-1950's.
And they would not stop the line while someone painted some wheels. Just as with any factory installed option on a
car, the item would be ready for installation when the time came. Thus if anyone ordered wheels painted body
colour the wheels would be painted and dried in time for the tires to be installed.
Bill, For someone to "order" painted wheels, wouldn't that have to be a standard "option" listed in ordering
paperwork? (unless you had insider connections). I really have no idea what the correct answer is, but I would
expect it would need to be listed as a "option". If it's not listed as a orderable option to a dealership, than how
would anyone know to order it or offer it to a customer? (making color-coodinated wheels ultra-rare).
Wouldn't the more likely scenerio be that the dealership painted the wheels on some of the cars with dogdish caps
(or maybe even full wheels cover cars) to give them a little pizazz on the the dealership lot?
Edited by slimwhitman 2010-04-27 10:08 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Slim is correct, that, as far as Dodges are concerned, there was no unique-special option listed for having
"colored wheels".
NOW, a knowledgeable sales-type-person could just say to some customer: "You just order a dog-disher, and
we'll see to it that your car is sold/delivered to you with a set of Spinners on it".
Or; "We can have your car's wheels be painted any color that your wallet desires"!
Ain't NOBODY, back-then, who cared about whether his car was 'documented' as having been built with OEM-painted
wheels on it.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 504
Location: southern Oklahoma | I think this guy probably painted his..... 
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Location: Parts Unknown | That hat has "Gay Rodeo" written all over it ! 
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Location: Parts Unknown | slimwhitman - 2010-04-26 6:44 PM
This is a great thread. I hope we come to some conclusions with it. I seem to see a lot of contradictions. For the record, my original '60 Adventurer with full wheel covers has satin black wheels.
I know a VERY few '60 Fireflites were built with dogdish caps. Does anyone know if all of those cars also came with satin black wheels?
************************************************
My 60 Fireflite coupe was a special order car, owned by the dealer's son. It had dog dish hubcaps on 15" wheels that
were P&A black. I SO wish I still had this car. Had I only realized how crazy-weird it was ! Given our ability to decode
these cars now, it would be very interesting to learn how the car left the factory and what gear it picked up in the dealer
service dept. It was (and remains) the only 60 DeSoto I have ever seen with back-up light delete block-off plates.
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Location: Parts Unknown | I have a vague memory of my old friend Jim telling me that body-color wheels were painted
up and matched to the car per the build sheet early in the production process. It seems to me
he said the paint shop made them up and sent them off to the chassis line where they met up
with the corresponding body as that build number came together at the body drop. Jim worked
at Pontiac from 55 to 65. Not sure if Mopar would do it the same, but it makes business sense.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 471
Location: MN | We have evidence concerning wheels right within Chrysler, Dodge & Ply did things differently so, why would Pontiac's painting be a good example? | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Gerry, Brent is discussing the painting protocol, and, duh, almost certainly what Brent has said probably occurred
with every manufacturer that had specially painted wheels, i.e., the Paint Shop got some-sort of notice to paint up
a set of wheels.
Altho I have no evidence of this, to me it would make sense that the wheels would get painted at the same time that
the car's body would get painted, but, what would happen to the wheels, for mounting/balancing purposes, and with
eventual mating-up to the car's chassis, I dunno.
I gotta believe that there was some accounting-paperwork attached with a set of wheels, to document/confirm their
eventual match-up to the proper chassis.
This-all seems like a lot of special-work to do, to me.
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Building incorrect cars since 2000!! | What really happened is that when they were blowing all that overspray under the cars some must have made it to the wheels | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | No, once again, you are wrong, Aaron.
Want to try again?
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Location: Parts Unknown | horace - 2010-04-30 11:01 AM
We have evidence concerning wheels right within Chrysler, Dodge & Ply did things differently so, why would Pontiac's painting be a good example?
**********************************************************
I am only offering this little anecdote as some "inside" information on how things were done in
Detroit back in the day .... a perspective that has not been brought up heretofore in this thread.
I cannot say how it was done and rely on the testimony of crusty old farts like Jim that were there
to learn. Likely, it was done in some similar fashion between companies, as all tried to do the job
as efficiently as possible and copied each other often if someone came up with a "better" idea.
Here's the whole scoop .... I worked in a restoration shop in the early 80's where an emphasis of
interest was placed on unusual cars. Much of the work came by personal contact with the shop owner,
and he and his friends really prized the strangely equipped cars. They were also largely into Pontiacs,
and hence the subject came up about body colored wheels because dog dishy hubcap cars were a hot
commodity. Jim, having spent ten years in the body and body drop area relayed how it was done to
match the wheels to the car. I wish I had a clearer memory of the specifics, but essentially an order
came in and if the wheels were NOT to be the standard color, the paint shop was sent a build ticket to
get a set of wheels painted up and in the pipeline to be met up with the car at some point during
assembly. Conversely, he said that they DID NOT have a giant rack of different colored wheels waiting
for that special colored car with dog dishies.
I seem to recall someone (original owner type person) tell me that they had the dealer paint their
wheels a special color for them when they bought the car. So, I suppose that might be an option too ?
I know nothing. Just reporting things as I heard them !
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | ..That certainly seems to be logical, B. .
I'd sure like to know how the paperwork coordination worked, as far as how/when the paint shop (wheel-paint
booth?) was notified to paint-up a set of wheels---seems logical that the wheel-booth would have had a stash of the
standard wheels on hand, rather than receiving the subject wheels to paint-up.
But, then-again, there were different wheel sizes among the different car models, so, maybe a set of wheels arrived
there, tagged-up to be painted, and forwarded-on, to the chassis-station.
I can imagine all sorts of SNAFU-situations, on the various assembly stations, where the correct interiors, dashes, and
suspension-component sub-assemblies might not be present when a particular car arrives AT that assembly station!!!
Whaddaya DO; stop the line (yeah, right..) or pull the car off the line (no way, Jose), or put on any-old SUBSTITUTE parts
that are lying there, at-hand (there-ya-go)....but, in the immortal lyrics of F. Laine: "Rollin, rollin, rollin, keep them
DODGES rollin...'sembly LINE..."
Edited by d500neil 2010-04-29 7:43 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Actually, I can 'see' the wheel-booth receiving an Order Sheet to go find a size/set of wheels, on hand, and then go
paint 'em up, and then attach that Order sheet to the wheels, so that they then get sent off to where they'll receive the proper size/type of tires, and be mounted/balanced and, finally be sent off to the Chassis Station.
The Supervisor, there, then has to ensure that 'this' bare chassis gets 'those' wheels (and brakes, and T/bars and axle-ratio) properly installed on it.
Tough job, car-after-car-after-car/day-after-day...
Edited by d500neil 2010-04-29 7:56 PM
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Kansas City, Kansas | Seems like a lot of speculating going on here. Again, how would a dealership know how to order a color coded wheel if it was not on the order sheet?
I know there are going to be a few RARE exceptions (somebody that knows somebody to get something special) but it seems too specialized to have occured more than a handful of times. Funky exceptions like that were handeled by the dealership, not the factory. That WAS the job of the dealership...to add optional equipment and tweak the car to the new owners taste (if the new owner wanted to pay for it!) But I bet most were done in the new owner's driveway. If they were too cheap to buy full wheel covers, they were probably not going to pay for the dealer to paint his wheels. | |
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Location: Parts Unknown | While a dog-dishie Chrysler might have been a rarity, such a Plymouth or Dodge was not so uncommon.
Perhaps some more production line/ dealer delivery / car carrier photos might bear out how often these
dog-dishie-body colored wheels cars were built. How many dog-dishie cars got standard paint wheels ?
I would submit that there WAS a code or designation that dealers could note to the factory for
body colored wheels. I have some dealer stuff for late 50's DeSotos that goes so far beyond sales
lit .... I never knew this stuff existed until I stumbled onto it. But it explains a LOT about how the
sales dept. worked with the factory. I am sure I have only a small slice of what was going on at
the time.
Out of curiosity, what is the standard color on a 60 DeSoto wheel ? My dog dishie wheels were P&A black, ..
.. and 15" ! By the time I got the car it had sat in a holly hedge for many years and the wheels were quite crusty.
Still, where the paint was still decent, it appeared to be a very old and well applied spray job with no visible
earlier paint under it. Maybe this car is not a good example because it was a dealer's personal car, but I have
seen too many body colored wheels mated to dog dish hubcaps to think this was some massive first owner
driveway conspiracy.
Interesting thread.
Hey Neil, .... if you think the in-house logistics of mating colored wheels to the right car would be a b!tch,
think about all those export and other hybrid models you see sprinkled in amongst the standard production line cars
in photos ! Whole interiors, special trim and dashboards. Yikes ! 
Wheels = 1 part x 5
Export model = 1,512 special parts to grab !!!!
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Extreme Veteran
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Extreme Veteran
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Expert
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Location: DFW, TX | Not to throw more fuel on the fire, but this is a scan from my 1957 DeSoto dealer brochure showing quite clearly a Firesweep sedan with body-colored wheels. And we all know which assembly line built those-
Now I don't expect this image to be definitive, not by a long shot. But at least it shows that body colored wheels were being considered for the dog-dish cars.
We have a Forward Look car designer on the board... does anyone know a factory worker??
 (firesweep 001.jpg)
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Expert
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Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands | If I were a customer ordering a dog dished car from a brochure showing it with body colored wheels, I'd expect the same without any doubt and wouldn’t hesitate to mention it when it would be delivered w/o.
Plus all the paperwork shows a one digit code was used for wheel/cover options. With three different wheel covers and the ultimate option of no wheel cover, wouldn’t that leave sufficient one digit possibilities for a simple option of color coordinated wheels?
Here’s a part of an IBM card, showing the wheel options.
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Building incorrect cars since 2000!! | d500neil - 2010-04-29 5:57 PM
No, once again, you are wrong, Aaron.
Want to try again?
Did not know I was wrong before.
What you don't realize is I don't care. So hurry up and figure it out I just dying to find out how the wheels got colored. | |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Jim Hoek - 2010-05-01 1:28 AM
If I were a customer ordering a dog dished car from a brochure showing it with body colored wheels, I'd expect the same without any doubt and wouldn’t hesitate to mention it when it would be delivered w/o.
Plus all the paperwork shows a one digit code was used for wheel/cover options. With three different wheel covers and the ultimate option of no wheel cover, wouldn’t that leave sufficient one digit possibilities for a simple option of color coordinated wheels?
Here’s a part of an IBM card, showing the wheel options.
*********************************************
This would be my point exactly. While it seems redundant to have separate slots for wheel covers AND deluxe wheel covers, as
both could be given a different number code under a single "wheelcovers" heading. But to exemplify the point, one could denote
the options under single checkpoint like so:
WHEEL COVERS
1 = hubcaps/standard wheels
2 = hubcaps/special color
3 = hubcaps/15" wheels/standard color
4 = hubcaps/15" wheels/special color
5 = standard wheelcovers
6 = deluxe wheelcovers
7 = wire wheels chrome
8 = wire wheels painted
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Location: The Mile High City | Ok, so far I am convinced that we can't be certain about wheel color. I have seen the gray and white wheels and I know those are correct. I have also seen correct colored wheels. When you know they produced both (which we do), almost anything could happen - and probably did! | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | The "Wheelcovers" (option code 402), for 57 Dodge would pertain to the ordering of the 'plain' full width wheel covers,
IF one of the major option-groups (which happens to include those plain-wheelcovers as being a part of it) is NOT ordered,
just as the "heater/defroster" was included within another option-package group.
If the particular option group (having the heater/defroster included 'in' it) was NOT ordered, then, the heater/defroster
individual-option (# 374) WOULD be 'noted', (on the P/T plate, the Broadcast Sheet, and on the IBM card copy).
Same thing for the "Del Whl/Covers"(Spinners; #403); they were included as part of one option group, but IF that option
group was NOT ordered, but, the owner WANTED to have the 'Spinners', then the 'Spinner' option code #403 was
'noted', and it superseded the standard dog-dish hubcaps' installation.
In other words: IF an option group was purchased, ALL of its individual-options (like the wheel covers and/or the heater/defroster)
would NOT be individually-separately noted on the P/T plate, the B.-Sheet, or on the IBM card.
Its/their presence was (already-)included within the subject option group's listing.
The "Dog Dish" hubcaps were the STANDARD equipment feature on ALL 57-58 Dodges. You got them on EVERY car model (along with
the body-painted wheels!) UNLESS it was built, or was ordered, as having one of the two optional wheel covers on it (in which case
you got the WHITE colored wheels).
There was no OPTION code for 57-58 Dodges, for having "colored/painted" wheels.
There was no option code, or otherwise, for NOT having any hubcaps or wheel covers installed on a car (no "hubcap Delete" availability).
All of this information (except for the different option-code-numbers) is true for the 57-58 Dodges.
Going back up to Danny's illustration, it is interesting to note that that model of DeSoto WAS built on the Dodge assembly
line.
Whether 'all' of the 57 DeSotos were advertised as having body-colored wheels, or, just this one Firesweep model, I don't know.
So, a Firesweep owner could 'argue' that his car "should" have colored-wheels on it, but, such an argument is not supported
by factual-production evidence.
..And, Jim, those option codes #402 & 403 are not "wheel" options, but, are wheel COVER options.
Edited by d500neil 2010-04-30 7:37 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | So, if a person WANTED the painted wheels (or, wanted the painted wheels/doggies), he could NOT order either
of several complete option groups, which both happened to INCLUDE the plain, or the spinner, wheel covers; he
would have to order, individually, all of the option group's features that he wanted, and each individual option-feature
would, then, be noted separately on the B.-Sheet and IBM card.
The owner would have to buy the plain, or the spinner wheel covers from the dealership and install them after the
car was built and shipped to the dealership (or, the dealer could throw-in the wheel covers, as part of the negotiated sales-deal).
Edited by d500neil 2010-04-30 7:48 PM
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: MN | You ask for a factory worker, as I stated my dad sold new Dodges, I saw the finshed product at the dealership or on the transport trucks! Dodges 55 -69
white & gray wheels w/ full wheel covers hub caps had body colored wheels. Now if you have a converse situation a buyer may have dealt for changing of wheels or tires to make the deal on a car @ the dealership. Most Dodges were however sold with full wheel covers or fewer w/ spinners, they were however a medium priced car. The 2 57's I owned as a lad were full wheel cover cars w/ white/gray wheel. The 2 59's I owned were 1 Coro w/ hub caps & painted wheel the other full wheel cover white gray wheel!
Here's how I envision the "controversy" the dealer order comes in, oh how great it would be to have an old dealer order blank. Parts were put on the chassis probably starting with "WHEELS" , V-8 or 6, power flite or torqueflite or 3spd body then options & matching tire/ wheel out the door soon to be sold by a freindly/helpful Dodge salesman perhaps w/ long financing of 24 MONTHS. | |
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Location: Parts Unknown | d500neil - 2010-05-01 3:17 PM
Going back up to Danny's illustration, it is interesting to note that that model of DeSoto WAS built on the Dodge assembly
line.
Whether 'all' of the 57 DeSotos were advertised as having body-colored wheels, or, just this one Firesweep model, I don't know.
So, a Firesweep owner could 'argue' that his car "should" have colored-wheels on it, but, such an argument is not supported
by factual-production evidence.
***********************************************
A Forward Look era DeSoto in any model is as rare as hen's teeth. Being a semi-upscale car in its lowest form and with models
rivaling Chrysler's top shelf cars at the high end, few buyers did not step up and put the basic full face wheel covers on their new
DeSoto. I have been a hardcore DeSoto goon for 30 years and in the time have seen only THREE surviving hubcap cars in that
time from the 57 and later years.
Ed Petrus could tell us what was the stock color for 57 wheels, but I can tell you directly that 58 DeSotos got Argent paint on the
standard wheel. I have never seen a 58 hubcap car, but I have seen a 57 and it had seafoam painted wheels to match the body
color. Another 57 recently sold in Britain also had body colored wheels, if memory serves. Both of these cars were Firedomes and
NOT built on the Dodge production line. The all black 60 Fireflite I owned had black wheels.
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Expert
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Location: New Castle PA | OK, so now that my name was mentioned (thanks, Doc!) I might as well get into this dogfight. I have only ever seen a handful of 1957 DeSotos with dogdish wheelcovers, and those wheels were either body color or black. I honestly don't know which, if either, is correct factory issue. My GUESS is the body-color ones, as Doc says.
For cars with full wheelcovers (1957 DeSotos only that I'm talking about), the overwhelming evidence supports Wayne Graefen's "1957 DeSoto Adventurer Handbook for Restoration and Judging". It says, and I quote, "The factory first painted the wheels the semi-gloss light gray used on the underbody of the car. Next, the outer surface only was sprayed gloss black with some overspray carrying through the brake cooling slots." That's what I subscribe to as correct for '57 DeSotos as a rule, and that's what I've told people for years, and it's how I've restored my cars.
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Location: Parts Unknown | Thanks Ed. I was thinking the 57's were not Argent, but my brain is getting fuzzy.
So, out of curiosity, did Argent prevail with DeSoto in 59-60-61 ? 20 years after dealing with cars that were intended
only for parts and were largely swapped around, as far as wheels go, have left me unsure.
I kept the dog dishies from my 60 when I sold it ... the buyer did not want them. I later found an extra in a wrecking
yard in Omak. I would love to build a super el cheapo 57 Firedome someday in those colors of Danny's recent post. I
dropped the ball and let a wasted rusty convertible in those colors get away from me in PA years ago that was bare bones.
Ed, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to that car, would you ?
I have never see a 61 with dog dishies, but I assume they kept using the new-for-57 hubcaps through to the end, as they
were definitely used through 60.
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Location: New Castle PA | I used to know of a couple of junked PA convertibles, but I've lost track of them through the years. Sorry! I knew of one may who claimed he found one with a tree growing out of it, but when I pressed him for photos, location information, etc. he quit writing. Don't know if he made it all up or was so paranoid that he thought I'd try to steal the car from him. | |
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Location: Parts Unknown | The car, as I have photos of it, sat on a mown patch of grass beside a barn. It was a very faded aqua or seafoam
green color, no sweep, single headlights, and most notably, was a 3-onda-tree car ! It was a real gonner for rust,
looking as if the body were falling down over the frame. Even so, if this car were still out there, I'd like to take it on
because it was so weird !
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Kansas City, Kansas | Doctor DeSoto - 2010-04-29 9:17 PM
Out of curiosity, what is the standard color on a 60 DeSoto wheel ?
My '60 Adventurer (unrestored and original) has black wheels. You would never know without taking off the wheel cover because it covers the entire wheel all the way to the tire....unlike the earlier wheel covers that allowed a 1/2 inch or so exposed. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 471
Location: MN | Car line to car line year to year there were changes Dodges 60 & aft were black wheel for full wheel cover cars body color hub caps
Pre 53 wheels wrre interestingly the same on Dodges
Edited by horace 2010-05-02 1:30 AM
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Location: Vancouver, BC | d500neil - 2010-04-30 4:46 PM
So, if a person WANTED the painted wheels (or, wanted the painted wheels/doggies), he could NOT order either
of several complete option groups, which both happened to INCLUDE the plain, or the spinner, wheel covers; he
would have to order, individually, all of the option group's features that he wanted, and each individual option-feature would, then, be noted separately on the B.-Sheet and IBM card.
The owner would have to buy the plain, or the spinner wheel covers from the dealership and install them after the
car was built and shipped to the dealership (or, the dealer could throw-in the wheel covers, as part of the negotiated sales-deal).
If you wanted wheels painted colour you could not order ANY OPTION with wheel covers???? Sorry, makes no sense.
As I stated before from the 1930's through to the mid 1950's wheels painted body colour were the norm. They even had a pin stripe in a contrasting colour. No, if Chrysler could keep this all sorted out in the era BEFORE computers, why on earth would it be so difficult with computers keeping track of the parts needed and when?
Way back when, the wheels travelled with the body and were painted at the same time. So why could they not do that in 1957? No sales code? Every hear of notes? We have seen some broadcast sheets with black dash pad. Why not body colour wheels?
They would not stop the line and wait for wheels. They make sure the correct seats are there on time, the correct steering wheel, all the needed mirrors, etc. So why not coloured wheels?
Someone stated they have all the 1957 codes. If so, what are the options for codes -
421 to 429
431 to 439
441 to 449
501 to 509
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Location: Las Vegas, Nevada | I was going through my rims and found one that is painted argent front and back, but is egg shell white around the outer edge.
It is the older design, which came before the 1957-'59 model years. I need to share a photo of it.
K. | |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Chrycoman - 2010-05-02 11:42 PM
From the 1930's through to the mid 1950's wheels painted body colour were the norm. They even had a pin stripe in a contrasting colour. No, if Chrysler could keep this all sorted out in the era BEFORE computers, why on earth would it be so difficult with computers keeping track of the parts needed and when?
Way back when, the wheels travelled with the body and were painted at the same time. So why could they not do that in 1957? No sales code? Every hear of notes? We have seen some broadcast sheets with black dash pad. Why not body colour wheels?
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Bill,
I always thought those pinstripe wheels were custom. At least on the post-30's cars.
How late were those wheels done with the pinstripes ? I have seen them with multiple stripes, ... I think as many
as three. Would these still have been in production as late as 57-58 on hubcap cars ?
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Location: New Castle PA | Chrycoman, I can't help with ALL the codes for 1957, but I believe the 421 is the steering wheel clock, 431 the special crankcase hookup to the air cleaner that some cars had, and 441 the rear-of-the-front-seat cigar lighter. | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Going back to Bill's comment, about the assembly line NOT waiting for any 'man'....in all likelihood,
if the correct body-color wheels had not yet arrived, (and were not apparently GOING to arrive, in
the very-near future...) for a certain dog-dish car which had arrived at the Chassis Assembly Station,
one can easily imagine that the harried Line Supervisor would make some sort of notation (to cover his ass)
on his Shift-Production Report (and, on/with the car, too), and would see to it that some other (white) wheels got put onto 'that' car,
and that the Line kept on moving.
Probably, a 'defective' car would be set aside, at the Final Inspection Station, until its (minor-) defects could be
remedied.
Bill, you mis-state my comment: if a person WANTED OEM body-colored wheels on his car (yeah, like THAT conversation
would ever have been brought-up, at the dealership, in the 50's...) the sales-type-person COULD have told him
that he merely needed NOT to specify either of the two option groups which INCLUDED one of the two full-width wheel covers
in them, and, also, NOT to order, individually, either the 'plain' or the spinner' wheelcovers...
Presto: dog dish hubcaps were installed (even on a CRL Super D500 vert), but the wheels were ONLY painted in the primary
(non-white) color of the car---Jim's postcard, at the top of this thread proves 'that'; the dog-dishes' wheel
colors are not necessarily related to the paint color which appears on the middle ("Saddle") area of the car.
There was no 'custom-ordering' of (any-color) painted wheels, for a Dodge--you only got the primary non-
white color, when you 'got' the dog dish hubcaps.
...And, the dealership would have confirmed on the Sales Order that the car was to be delivered to the
customer with (dealer-installed) wheel covers on it.
Edited by d500neil 2010-05-03 5:04 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | We all know that "production defect" cars were allowed to leave the factory---makes you wonder what kinds of screw-ups were
caught and DIDN'T get to leave the factory....
There must have been some REAL beauties, that got to the end of the line.
Edited by d500neil 2010-05-03 4:40 PM
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: MN | Let's think about this wheel cover cars had white gray wheels! Wheel covers were $15-20 I suppose on a $3000-4000 car. Would it not be rational for the factory to have charged $15-20 for painted wheels(which of course this was not an option). Think of the era CHROME was the theme. Dual chrome antenna, dual chrome mirrors & dual chrome exhaust deflectors. Full wheel covers were sold on most Dodges! These were depression era customers who wanted some flash after suffering through the depression & WW2. They wanted some glamour yet were practical ie... if painted wheels were avail they wouldn't have paid exra just to cover them up!! Painted wheels seem important only in the 21st cent | |
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Location: Parts Unknown | horace - 2010-05-04 8:39 PM
Let's think about this, .... wheel cover cars had white/gray wheels. Wheel covers were $15-20. I suppose on a $3000-4000 car. Would it not be rational
for the factory to have charged $15-20 for painted wheels ? (which, of course, this was not an option).
Think of the era. CHROME was the theme. Dual chrome antenna, dual chrome mirrors & dual chrome exhaust deflectors. Full wheel covers were sold on
most Dodges. These were Depression-era customers who wanted some flash after suffering through the Depression & WW2. They wanted some glamour,
yet were practical, ie... if painted wheels were available, they wouldn't have paid exra just to cover them up!! Painted wheels seem important only in the
21st cent
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I am not following the logic here. You are correct, MOST cars (Dodges included) got full face wheel covers. And you are correct again in pointing out the
era as being largely themed by "loud" styling, colors, and chrome. But you are describing "the rule", and we are discussing "the exception".
The 50's were the ever-optimistic, consumer driven paradise where even the whimsical idea of flight permeated the cars you could buy. But not everyone
was on the same page when it came to embracing the new economy and whimsy. Some clearly wanted (putting their money down on the table) the less
flashy cars, even in an era of flash. My own grandparents were very different in their consumerism this way .... They were both Buick people, but one pair
bought bright colored top-of-the-line Roadmaster and Electra 225 2 door hardtops and convertibles (and did it every 3 years), while the other had a dark
green 50 Special 2 door sedan with dog dishies and 3-onda-tree, which he later traded in on a stripper all-white 60 LeSabre 2 door sedan with dog dishies.
Incidentally, BOTH of the latter cars had no radio. Grandpa said "cars were for driving, not listening to music!", adding that such a distraction was what
caused accidents !
Had they been Chrysler fans, both would have been buying Mopar's Buick equivalent - DeSotos ...... one buying the Fireflite coupe or ragtop with wire wheels
and all the goodies, the other going for the Firesweep with rubber floor mats and no radio or added zing ..... likely with no color sweep and blackwall tires. It
would be this Grandpa that would wrangle the salesman into the cheapest car he could get. To him, Buick meant one step down from Cadillac for "quality", but
all that goo-gah stuff was just things waiting to break. He wanted the name, but beyond that, just the basic car. He went out of his way to have dog dish
hubcaps TWICE in the 50's, and if body color wheels were how they came, then that is how he would have ordered the car.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | I do not believe that the color of the wheels, on a dog-dish, or, on a full-wheel-cover car made a bit of difference to 99.999%
of the new car buying public, in the 50's.
The person who insisted on getting the doggies was the man (no wimmen allowed) who lived thru the Depression, and who knew
the value of a buck, and who probably did not 'require' a radio in his car, or power brakes; he probably grudgingly accepted
power steering in it (just like I could give a Rats-behind on having a DVD--is that what you call them?--player, or a navigation
system---WTF--- in my car, today).
That buyer also knew that a Chry/DeS was a bigger car than a Dodge, and he'd rather buy a "more-valuable" (stripper-)
Firesweep/Windsor than a loaded-up Dodge.
"I don't need all that crap on my car, and give me the plain hubcaps (doggies) too".
NO salesman would ever risk a sale by informing a Prospect that the full-wheelcover cars only came with 'white' wheels on them.
He might, however, compliment the order-er of a set of Doggies by saying :"You know, those 'wheels'
come with paint, to match your car's body-color, at no extra cost, of course.... ; The full-wheel-cover cars
'only' have white paint on them"----but, then, the Prospect might insist on HAVING his car come with the
white painted wheels on it, so, maybe Mr. Salesman would learn to keep his mouth shut, and just keep-on nodding
his head, sympathetically, toward anything that Mr. Prospect has to say to him, until the Sales Order is signed!
Nobody cared about the color of the wheels on their cars, and, if they DID, the dealership, or the owner, could arrange to
get the wheels be painted-up to the buyer's desires.
Edited by d500neil 2010-05-04 3:54 PM
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Location: Parts Unknown | This is a funny thread and I am realizing how much I am becoming my own Grandfather/s, replete with grumpy attitude
and disdain for all the fuss of new things and ideas. Why can't things just be left alone ? I can hear them say !!
I spent 2 $#@! hours yesterday trying to program a new watch .... first electronic watch I have ever owned. I finally
gave up after getting it to do NOTHING and called my 12 year-old nephew. 5 minutes later he had it all working and was
giving me that odd "kid" look like "what was so hard about that ?" F#@ing kid !!!
Next thing you know I'll be taking him out for ice cream.
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Location: MN | Please let this thread DIE! | |
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Location: Kansas City, Kansas | horace - 2010-05-04 9:23 PM
Please let this thread DIE!
You must have full wheel covers on your fwdlk.... | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 471
Location: MN | Look real close spinners @ that | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Gerry, after 1957, Dodge no longer had advertising which showed the apparent existence of colored wheels
on their cars--notwithstanding any images of the Dog-Dish cars, that is.
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Location: The Mile High City | d500neil - 2010-04-30 4:17 PM
The "Dog Dish" hubcaps were the STANDARD equipment feature on ALL 57-58 Dodges. You got them on EVERY car model (along with
the body-painted wheels!) UNLESS it was built, or was ordered, as having one of the two optional wheel covers on it (in which case
you got the WHITE colored wheels).
It may have been that in 1957, all Dodge models had hubcaps as a standard equipment feature. But there was progress in 1958: hubcaps were standard equipment ONLY on the Coronets. The Royals and Custom Royals came with wheel covers as standard equipment. For 1958 Plymouths, wheel covers were standard equipment only on the Belvedere and Fury. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 471
Location: MN | My Ross Roy Data books of 58 show CR, Roy, Cor, Sweep, Dome, Plaz, Sav, & Belv all std w/ hub caps in 58! Flite had wheel covers std. I believe Furys had std gold center wh covers. And so on the saga goes | |
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Location: The Mile High City | Hi, Horace -
Look at order code 511 on sheet 3 of the 1958 Plymouth Dealer Order Sheets on the homepage.
"Covers - Wheel - Set of 4......available for all except for Belvedere and Sport Suburban - Std. these models."
At the top of the page, Accessory Group 311 confirms it.
Ross Roy is good, but sometimes it can be wrong. I have seen similar information for 1958 Dodges: Royals and Custom Royals have wheel covers standard. Optional equipment on Coronets - I will have to dig out my source on that.
I am not sure about the wagons, but I would guess that in 1958, Sierras and Custom Sierras had standard wheel covers. Suburbans, maybe not.
Edited by Lancer Mike 2010-05-10 2:25 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Mike, you're saying that only the 58 Belvie and the Sport Suburban had standard (full-width) wheel covers on them.
The other models came OEM with the dog-dishes.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Heh, heh: HEATERS were optional (because they were pricey, and PLY/Others could advertise a lower base price
without them, and SOME cars were sold without heaters in them)...but 'hubcaps' (doggies) were STANDARD items
because EVERYBODY expected to get a car with something installed over the wheels----at least until 1969.5.....
Edited by d500neil 2010-05-10 2:35 PM
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA | My unrestored '59 DeSoto has two-tone rims. Here's a pic of the spare showing the two colors (white and "trunk gray") 
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
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Location: bishop, ca | Hiya, David!
Yeah, this motif is just about the Corporate-Standard wheel finishment.
Take a look at yours, though; doesn't it look like the gray was applied on TOP of the white???
That makes NO sense to me---white on top of gray primer; sure, but 'primer' on top of "paint" ????
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | Doctor DeSoto - 2010-04-29 12:00 AM
slimwhitman - 2010-04-26 6:44 PM
This is a great thread. I hope we come to some conclusions with it. I seem to see a lot of contradictions. For the record, my original '60 Adventurer with full wheel covers has satin black wheels.
I know a VERY few '60 Fireflites were built with dogdish caps. Does anyone know if all of those cars also came with satin black wheels?
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My 60 Fireflite coupe was a special order car, owned by the dealer's son. It had dog dish hubcaps on 15" wheels that
were P&A black. I SO wish I still had this car. Had I only realized how crazy-weird it was ! Given our ability to decode
these cars now, it would be very interesting to learn how the car left the factory and what gear it picked up in the dealer
service dept. It was (and remains ) the only 60 DeSoto I have ever seen with back-up light delete block-off plates.
DoctorDeSoto,
Any chance you have a photo of the 60 Fireflite you could post here? I'd love to see what the block off plates for the back up lights looked like!
I didnt know you could order them without back up lights!
Now I am curious,didnt every 1957 Plymouth leave the factory with backup lenses? If they were standard on the plymouth,a low price vehicle,why would they be an extra cost option on the DeSoto?
What about the '58's? I know the moved the back up light to the lower bumper panel that year,but did they all get one,or was it an option?
Edited by 1960DesotoAdventurer 2010-05-10 5:51 PM
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | d500neil - 2010-05-10 2:33 PM
Heh, heh: HEATERS were optional (because they were pricey, and PLY/Others could advertise a lower base price
without them, and SOME cars were sold without heaters in them)...but 'hubcaps' (doggies) were STANDARD items
because EVERYBODY expected to get a car with something installed over the wheels----at least until 1969.5.....
If you didnt buy a heater,how would you defrost your winshield on cold or rainy days?
didnt it eventually become a standard that all cars had to have a heater? | |
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Location: The Mile High City | d500neil - 2010-05-10 12:29 PM
Mike, you're saying that only the 58 Belvie and the Sport Suburban had standard (full-width) wheel covers on them.
The other models came OEM with the dog-dishes.
I am assuming the Fury had standard wheel covers too, but yes - in 1958, the Belvedere, Sport Suburban, and Fury would have come from the factory with wheel covers. A Savoy or Plaza could have either hub caps (standard) or wheel covers (optional).
The exceptions are probably out there somewhere, but from what I read of the factory literature - this is what I would expect.
In 1958 Dodge passenger car land, Royals and Custom Royals came from the factory with wheel covers. Coronets could have either hub caps (standard) or wheel covers (optional). | |
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | Doctor DeSoto - 2010-05-01 12:59 PM
Thanks Ed. I was thinking the 57's were not Argent, but my brain is getting fuzzy.
So, out of curiosity, did Argent prevail with DeSoto in 59-60-61 ? 20 years after dealing with cars that were intended
only for parts and were largely swapped around, as far as wheels go, have left me unsure.
I kept the dog dishies from my 60 when I sold it ... the buyer did not want them. I later found an extra in a wrecking
yard in Omak. I would love to build a super el cheapo 57 Firedome someday in those colors of Danny's recent post. I
dropped the ball and let a wasted rusty convertible in those colors get away from me in PA years ago that was bare bones.
Ed, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to that car, would you ?
I have never see a 61 with dog dishies, but I assume they kept using the new-for-57 hubcaps through to the end, as they
were definitely used through 60.
What do 1960 DeSoto dog dish hubcaps look like? | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | 60DeSAdv, if you lived anywhere but in the Desert SoWest, you'd probably opt for the heater/defroster option.
We've seen several cars on these here 'boards', that did/do-not have the optional heaters in them.
In the "Plymouth/DeSoto Story" (-book), I'll bet that there might be a photo or two of a Doggied-up Soto.
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Location: Parts Unknown | I will dig out one of my dog dishies and take a photo. DeSoto used the same cap from 57 to 60 (and likely 61 too, ...
but I have never seen an original 61 wearing them). It is unmarked, but has a distinctive shape and painted black rings.
Come to thinkof it, look back in this thread at the 57 FireSweep ad showing the seafoam green sedan with body colored
wheels and dog dishies ..... those are them !
The back up light block-offs were simple sheetmetal "plugs" that were spot welded in place and sealed with Au-Vee-Co (sic?)
before painting. I do have plenty of photos of this car, but none are digital and I am in the Dark Ages for all this fancy-pants
scanner jazz to copy them.
Just as an aside, somewhere above in this thread it was mentioned that the black wheels were "satin" in finish. Likely this
was P&A (parts and accessories) Black, ... a special paint for underhood components and such .... generators, brakets, inner
fenders, grille blackout, etc.
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Location: Parts Unknown | My 60 Fireflite had no heater. Bought new in Bellingham, Washington, just a few miles from the Canadian border !
It also had clear glass, rubber floor mats, no radio, no back up lights, or wheelcovers.
It did have a crossram 383 and a 3-onda-floor, 3.23 posi, 15" wheels, and 12" brakes.
I suspect this was no ordinary commuter.
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA | d500neil - 2010-05-10 5:43 PM Hiya, David! Yeah, this motif is just about the Corporate-Standard wheel finishment. Take a look at yours, though; doesn't it look like the gray was applied on TOP of the white??? That makes NO sense to me---white on top of gray primer; sure, but 'primer' on top of "paint" ???? Vice versa. The center and all of the rear are gray. The rim has a hastily applied white section. | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Thanks, Dave; white-over gray(primer) would certainly seem to be the logical protocol, but some cars, like
Robert B's wheel-pic, on page-1 of this thread, appear to show the 'gray' being applied over the white....
Hopefully, Brent can dig-up his OEM dog-dish wheel, and can determine if the body color was applied over
all-gray(primer) or whether the body color was applied over a mass-bulk-painted Corporate-white outer
wheel area.
So, the questions remain:
1) Was the factory provided with pre-painted (White-over-gray) wheels, by the subcontrator?
2) Was the factory provided with ANY paint, or primer, applied onto the wheels that it received from the subcontractor?
3) Was the body-color applied over the Corp-White paint, or was it applied over the gray primer?
4) Was there a special dedicated wheel-painting booth (with its own stash of wheels on-hand, or, were the wheels-to-be-painted shipped individually to that booth) ?
The body-colored wheels were sent away to be mounted and balanced, before they joined up with the bare chassis assembly
station, at absolutely the correct moment when the subject chassis arrived at that station.
There were way too many variables, regarding the tire-type(Rayon/Nylon) and size-style, to have any pre-made-up wheels be
lying around, waiting for a random chassis to arrive, at the chassis assembly station.
Edited by d500neil 2010-05-11 3:53 PM
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | Jim Hoek - 2010-04-25 4:15 PM
The following on behalf of Neil. How do 'you' prove a negative-condition or situation
(i.e.: NO 1957-1958 Dodge non-Dog-Dish cars had OEM body-colored wheels)?......
Here's a lot of photos from my stash of 1957-1958 Dodge Reporter newspapers, and several photographs:
1st pic shows an OEM 57 wheel , which shows that the gray color was over-sprayed onto the Eggshell....why THAT second color was applied: I dunno! The tire is 8.00x14"
Next are a progression of 1957 Dodges.
Then comes a red 1958 CRL vert
The next car is a Coronet, but note its photo caption that says that it was "made available by Dodge P.R. dept.
If ANY car would have been doll'ed-up with body-colored wheels, it would be a car that was owned by Dodge P.R .
Then, there's a green(?) 58 Coro vert.
And then: a fancy-dancy 58 Regal Lancer (with the OEM "Eggshell" wheels on it).
Sid will like the next one: a BLACK 57 CRL, with after-market fender skirts (but, still with them white wheels on it).
Them, another-few 58 Dodges ...white verts don't 'count', as far as having white wheels on them.
Then, there's a few 57 "Show cars".
A 57 black-wall car, on the assembly-line.
A 58 CRL vert (in white)...
But, next: a 58 Custom Sierra wagon, with "Spinners".
Then, a 58 Cori(?) D500
Then, a few 57's, but several black-wall cars seen.
Then: a dark-colored 57 CRL MOVIE-car, with the wheelcovers removed, showing the gray inner wheel areas.
Finally, I've attached an Ebay-screen-photo, showing a dark- colored 57 Coro vert, which is a STRIPPER model, as it has the standard 1-color paint, plain glass, NO radio and no right-side rear view mirror....posed in a local "publicity"
photo 'Cheer-leader' photograph, but, the car has had the 'lower-level' plain wheelcovers attached to it.
My belief is that this car was an OEM dog-dish car (see next
photo..) and that the plain wheel covers were added----if you are "Jazzing-up" the car, from OEM plain-covers, you would, obviously install the SPINNERS, so, the plain-covers would be an appropriate up-grade to the doggies, especially on a stripper-model.
The other possibility is that the wheels were painted, but, since the wheels are the same COLOR as the body, it is more likely that the doggies were replaced with the plain-covers.
And, finally, I adduce: Charles Phoenix's "Slide of the Week"
which shows a plain-color 1960 Plymouth convertible, which has Dog- Dish hubcaps, with body-colored wheels on it.
WoW!
Women sure were beautiful back then!
That lady in picture 0093 (too bad the photo cropped off her face) and the one in 0099................ to qoute the great Art Carney "VaVaVaVoom!"
Edited by 1960DesotoAdventurer 2010-05-11 6:51 PM
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Location: Parts Unknown | d500neil - 2010-05-12 12:51 PM
Hopefully, Brent can dig-up his OEM dog-dish wheel, and can determine if the body color was applied over
all-gray(primer) or whether the body color was applied over a mass-bulk-painted Corporate-white outer
wheel area.
**************************************
I am going to be no help at all on the WHEELS. I saved the hubcaps, but the wheels are 20 years gone now ! 
I question whether my wheels were factory installed, or dealer installed. They were 15" and the four on the car were
P&A black and looked to be well done ..... meaning as crusty and awful as they were after sitting in a holly hedge for
many years, they were rusty, but not peeling to show another color underneath. I noticed this because the spare in
the trunk was beige ! Go figger !
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: MN | Thanks but, until I see bettrer doc I'll stick w Ross Roy! | |
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Location: On this barrel | d500neil - 2010-05-11 1:51 PM
Thanks, Dave; white-over gray(primer) would certainly seem to be the logical protocol, but some cars, like
Robert B's wheel-pic, on page-1 of this thread, appear to show the 'gray' being applied over the white....
I took a closer look at mine .... like Dave says, the whole wheel was painted grey primer and then the white paint was applied (over the primer) to the outer section.
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Inactive by user's request
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada | Administrator - 2010-05-11 6:44 AM
Vice versa. The center and all of the rear are gray. The rim has a hastily applied white section.
That is exactly how the one rim I have is painted.
K. | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Well, thank you, guys---that certainly makes sense; the paint was applied over the (gray) primer.
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Location: .Norfolk..Mafia.. ,England UK | POSTED FOR NEIL D500
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Location: Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island, Canada | Neil asked me to post this, the 1960 Polara Wagon from Mr. Hobbs Vacation with painted body color rims.
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Veteran
Posts: 210
Location: San Diego, CA | Here is a picture of my 57 Chrysler being picked up, brand new, from the Detroit factory. The wheels are all black and looking at them today, yup, they are all black.
James
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Location: .Norfolk..Mafia.. ,England UK | POSTED on BEHALF of NEIL D500
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Location: Blythewood, SC | Neil, seriously, open a photobucket account FOR FREE and load the photos yourself. It is not that hard. In fact, it is easier that translating your posts into English. | |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Be careful what you ask for.....
Sir Clive is my filter.
The wheel is from a 1956 Dodge D500, and its suspension, brakes, and wheels are being
sold for only $100.00, as listed elsewhere on our website.
Edited by d500neil 2010-05-26 2:56 PM
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Location: Lower Mainland BC | Very late to the party but I offer this, from the trunk of a very minty low mileage 56 CR
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: MN | Your spare is an excellent time capsule | |
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Regular
Posts: 56
Location: Washington, PA | Here is one in a 57 that is probably original. I have the same thing in my 57 which I believe is original, but mine could of come from a 58 Desoto that was in the same collection, I will never be able to know for sure. We have a 56 in the family that was bought new as well as my 57. I plan to check it when I can. It is a plain jane coronet. Just wanted to give what info I can.
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57Dodge-Trunk - Copy.jpg (205KB - 212 downloads)
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Regular
Posts: 56
Location: Washington, PA | Here is the original spare I have that could have came from my 57 or a 58 Desoto. (each where in the same collection so I can not be 100% sure. I find it very odd that the grey seems to be clearly painted over the white not the other way around. I also am putting an picture of the owners manual showing a white wheel. I realize it could be airbrushed over, but seems odd that they would go to that extent in the owners manual to show a white wheel in a black and white image. But still that doesn't mean cars from different date did not get different colored wheels. I also have a couple of old pictures of the car when it was more in its prime and probably had the original wheels on it. Of course to throw a wrench it it, it does not have the original spinner hubcaps on it. They where stolen and for a short while the car had the standard ones. I am not sure of this end short of the wheel like the spinners, or go to the edge, but if they end short like the spinners I think the car may have had white wheels originally.
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D500 Lincoln Memorial copy.jpg (385KB - 207 downloads)
D500 Parking lot copy.jpg (436KB - 198 downloads)
IMG_20170424_180523405 copy.jpg (244KB - 189 downloads)
IMG_20170424_180538286 copy.jpg (301KB - 188 downloads)
IMG_20170425_134316661 copy.jpg (447KB - 194 downloads)
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| Painted they are! white... so they match the white walls... case closed | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 471
Location: MN | REREAD the wheels thread AGAIN, as a Dodge dealers son around the "garage" a lot w/ full wheel covers had white/gray wheels hubcap cars were main body color. Dealers dared to change tires from car to car, take off or add wheel covers, yes, even change seats to get the sale!! Even in the 50's technology had advanced far enough to spray bomb wheels which many of us did when buying a used car. D500 Jim showed ample pics of iin the flesh in time photos. MOVE ON!!!! | |
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Regular
Posts: 56
Location: Washington, PA | Horace, when you say hub cap cars you mean dog dish style right? I am sure mine didnt come with body color, it was either black, or white and grey. It came with spinners originally. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 471
Location: MN | The proper term is hub cap but it has been bas***dized to dish. You're lucky to have a spinner car, they were regularly stolen. A guy who worked@ the garage owned a 58 CR station wagon white w/ red fins/top w/ spinners. He played in a band @ night so they were stolen. he replaced them but again they were stolen so onto full wheel cover for him.. What is you car & color I had a Black D500 Coronet Lancer 2dr stick then an all red C/R lancer which had been all charcoa before I bought my Pheonix D500 | |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6500
Location: Newark, Texas (Fort Worth) | some on this Dodge:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parting-Out-1957-Dodge-Royal-Sedan-Hood-Onl... | |
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Regular
Posts: 56
Location: Washington, PA | Funny you say that, my uncle was at a local garage or gas station with this car shortly after it was bought and a guy said he liked those hub caps. So apparently my uncle told him where it would be at some point and told him to help himself to them and got them covered by insurance. That is why in some of the pictures on here they where not on the car because he ran the regular ones for a while until he got new spinners. I think in all my parts I have another set and a half or two of them. Its odd because some are painted black on the inner circle and some are not. And I cant remember if all of the Knight heads are gold but I am thinking only some are. Here is a picture of the car. Here is a picture of it I took today. I really wish I had painted the wheels white now. I think it would looks so much better with out the black ring between the spinner and the white wall. Can any one tell me why sometimes this page lets me post pictures 500kb and others its 250?
Edited by eScore 2017-04-27 10:36 PM
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IMG_20170427_173450734_HDR copy.jpg (470KB - 197 downloads)
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 471
Location: MN | Black center 58 stainless center 57 I always wondered about the bumper guards nice looking but worthless | |
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Expert
Posts: 1906
Location: Ontario, Canada | | |
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Regular
Posts: 56
Location: Washington, PA | I think the wheels in the eBay action are probably what mine had new. I messaged the guy to try to get those wheels if the are correct date codes. The red looks awesome but I am trying to keep my car 100% original, and it seems so rare that any of them came with the sadle color wheels. I am going to put an standard cover on a wheel today or tomorrow, if it is the same diameter as a spinner I think I know based on the picture of the car in DC in black and white above that my car came with white wheels just like the eBay car. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 427
Location: Ohio | Original wheel and spare wheel from a 1960 Dodge
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IMG_1731.JPG (44KB - 185 downloads)
IMG_1732.JPG (50KB - 185 downloads)
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 427
Location: Ohio | Another original spare wheel painted with color by factory. This one from a 1961 Dodge
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IMG_1736.JPG (44KB - 198 downloads)
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 471
Location: MN | In 60 the game changed black wheels for full wheel covers & spinners but colored on hub caps. Keep in mind a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then so new & used car dealers changed wheels & tires to "get the deal done". Car dealers were aggressive & accommodating back in the day compared to present time. Case in point when we were buying a used Challenger last year getting a stripe or replacing mufflers & resonators was tiring, however those 2 dealers received a pass on the sale! | |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6500
Location: Newark, Texas (Fort Worth) | 57 dodge in an ad for Texaco:
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57dodgetexaco.jpg (364KB - 183 downloads)
57dodgead.jpg (331KB - 192 downloads)
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