Wheel trims - The Good, The Bad and the downright Shocking

[TheOtherStu]

My first car. Hated them. Went straight down to Halfrauds and replaced them with some £15 shite

[NorfolkNWeigh]

5 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Pre 1976 Dolly hubcaps = good.

Post 1976 Dolly hubcaps = bad.

I also had the chrome embellisher rings, nicked from my 1300, non HL Dollys all came with generic dog dish hubcaps.

Those plain chrome hubcaps fitted to non HL Dolly 1300 and 1500s, were first used on the Toledo, but my favourite use of them was on Met Police 2500s . Presumably the full stainless trims would fly off in chases and the 2500S alloys too extravagant.   

 

[ProgRocker]

In the spirit of this thread, I have now removed the trims from my Hyundai.

Bit of a bugger as you may notice the chrome wheel nuts. They hold the trims in place so it was out with the jack...

I'd like to source some centre caps for it if they exist, a bit like the ones that fit on an Escort Mark 3 L/Popular/base. 

[moosemansjukebox]

I always like these trims that were on early Rover 216s.

I

I actually prefer steelies with plastic trims over alloys on nearly all cars - probably a sign that i'm a bit too much into the poverty spec level of trim. 

[Jerzy Woking]

Quite like these on my base spec Fiat Doblo   

Have to jack up the car and take the wheel off to remove them. Tjey are quite heavy things.

Unlike the MkI Mondeo GLS I had in the mid 90's. Right front wheel trim popped off and was last seen spinning along Thame High Street.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

How about trims you thought were alloys, we’d already had the e34 M5. What about the Prius and various Vauxhall’s from around 2009 , I only discovered these Insignia wheels were plastic trims when I rented one .

[BL Bloke]

8 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

Possibly because I’m a little OCD/ASD if a wheel or wheel trim shows the wheelnuts, the pattern should be a multiple of that number.

4 stud holes, 12 vent holes. Works.

5 stud holes 16 vent holes not good

You won't like the trims on my Saxo then. 

[Barry Cade]

2 hours ago, Jerzy Woking said:

Quite like these on my base spec Fiat Doblo   

Have to jack up the car and take the wheel off to remove them. Tjey are quite heavy things.

Unlike the MkI Mondeo GLS I had in the mid 90's. Right front wheel trim popped off and was last seen spinning along Thame High Street.

Fiats always have 1 hole in the trimz which will go over the bolt head, so you can put the wheel on before the trim, or take it off without removing the wheel . Just make sure you line the valve up !

[Barry Cade]

Love these..  Challenger Rallye wheels with shiny chrome rings that make the wheel look like it has complete circles in the reflection.9

[Jerzy Woking]

Thanks for that Barrycade. Tyre place took the wheel and trim off when I had a leaky valve. Wasn't paying much attention so did not see that its just one bolt keeping the trim on.

[dozeydustman]

2 hours ago, BL Bloke said:

You won't like the trims on my Saxo then. 

The mismatch between nut/bolt pattern and vent patter really does my noggin in. I like the car they’re fitted to though

[Barry Cade]

1 minute ago, Jerzy Woking said:

Thanks for that Barrycade. Tyre place took the wheel and trim off when I had a leaky valve. Wasn't paying much attention so did not see that its just one bolt keeping the trim on.

No, it's 1 bolt that doesn't keep the trim on 🙃

[Jerzy Woking]

I see now. Put the wheel on using one bolt, then the trim on with the other three. That makes perfect sense.

Either way, i do like them!

 

[Yoss]

On 6/25/2021 at 11:28 PM, AnthonyG said:

Triumph PI ‘fake rostyles’ also a favourite. Never really understood why Triumph didn’t just fit proper Rostyles as the PI was hardly a cheap model.
Maybe it was a Triumph vs Rover thing - Rover used the real thing on their P5. 

Because the Triumph only had a 4 stud hub and 4 stud rostyles don't look as good. I mean they're OK on a Chevette or Midget but not on a perceived quality car. So you put a fake 5 stud trim over the 4 stud wheel and bingo, you get that executive look for a fraction of the price. Marketing genius. 

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

The Jaguar XJ40 Sovereign must be one of only a handful of cars which came with alloy wheels as standard which listed hubcaps as an extra cost option. These stainless steel hubcaps are rare and were £250 extra on the later Sovereign, more on the standard XJ6. I like them but my favourite hubcaps are probably those fitted to the Rolls-Royce Silver clouds and early Silver shadows.  ACE wheel discs are splendid things too, from an earlier era.

 

 

[Yoss]

Skoda Felicia. 

For the first year or so the came with these little black caps. A bit basic. 

But then they got these which are far more stylish and compliment the steel wheel nicely. 

At the same time you could have these full size plastic discs. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as the which cars got which. I've seen all trim levels with both types. Maybe you got to choose when buying new. 

But I think the little silver caps are by far the best. I actually think they look better than many of the alloys that were available at extra cost. Wear your steelies with pride*.

 

 

 

*He says with his own Felicia sitting on Ronal R10's. I can see the hypocrisy before anybody says anything. 

 

[PrinceRupert]

16 hours ago, TheOtherStu said:

My first car. Hated them. Went straight down to Halfrauds and replaced them with some £15 shite

Not gonna lie think these are pretty cool. 

[bunglebus]

21 hours ago, captain_70s said:

I remember my dad cursing those hubcaps while trying to hold them and the wheel in place while getting a nut started

20 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

My MK1 Sierra ended up with some aftermarket trims that took their inspiration from those. I think at this point I had 13" on the front and 14" on the back...

 

[TheOtherStu]

7 minutes ago, PrinceRupert said:

Not gonna lie think these are pretty cool. 

Hmm, mebbe for a giffer.🤣

[beko1987]

15 hours ago, Jerzy Woking said:

 

Unlike the MkI Mondeo GLS I had in the mid 90's. Right front wheel trim popped off and was last seen spinning along Thame High Street.

I'm off into thame town at lunchtime, want me to have a look for it? What end was it? 

[Jerzy Woking]

4 hours ago, beko1987 said:

I'm off into thame town at lunchtime, want me to have a look for it? What end was it? 

If you can find it, you have a career in archeology ahead of you, as it disappeared sometime in 1997 or 1998.

Cheers

[JeeExEll]

WTF are these?  Aftermarket??

 

They were available for around a year on the first of the Mk3 Cortina 1600GTs,  late 1970 - to maybe early 72, on plain steel wheels, as an alternative to the Rostyles.  Trims discontinued in the UK when the 'dartboard' sports wheels became standard issue but possibly continued in other areas.  

Now very rare in the UK.

Have never seen them in any pics of other period Escorts or Capris (Euro Taunus?)  but maybe they were available at that time.

[MisterH]

Basically any Volvo 480 with wheel trims looks abhorrent:

 

And I have a particular dislike for the dustbin lids they put on Sunbeam Rapiers, they need to be Rostyles on there:

 

But some Wheeltrims I love are the ones they put on the Subaru XT:

How hard is it to lose wheeltrims? I would forever be driving paranoid, especially if it was something rare

[dozeydustman]

Ford dartboards are such a nicely styled wheel they need little more that the conical cover on the centre hole.

I prefer the matt black to the chrome. A case of less is more for me.

Same applies to Peugeot dartboards

 

[bunglebus]

6 minutes ago, MisterH said:

How hard is it to lose wheeltrims? I would forever be driving paranoid, especially if it was something rare

Depends - some fall off with regular boredom, some, like the ones my Passat was equipped with, and the Sierra GLS ones I posted yesterday grip like limpets and are a fight to get on and off without breaking them.

[bunglebus]

2 minutes ago, dozeydustman said:

Ford dartboards

Around here they're called "Tinilites"

[JeeExEll]

These stainless steel trims are also rare, supplied on the first of the Mk2 Granada 2.3L saloon and estates from around late 1977 - 79, as seen in the 1977 launch brochure (which I had once but can't find online).  Only used by Ford on the Granada 'L' models although limo and hearse builders used them too.

[Dan_ZTT]

20 hours ago, BL Bloke said:

You won't like the trims on my Saxo then. 

 

all I can see when I look at those trims is a surprised starfish

[MisterH]

1 minute ago, Dan_ZTT said:

 

all I can see when I look at those trims is a surprised starfish

It cannot be unseen

[Dan_ZTT]

22 minutes ago, MisterH said:

How hard is it to lose wheeltrims?