Modern wheels look shit on old car thread

[rusty_vw_man]

I was born in 1981 in Watford. 

For the most part I can see nothing wrong with most of these pictures - I even really like some of them. 

I am clearly sick in the head. 

Luckily my wife has more taste and as such everything I have owned rolls on its original steel wheels and where possible original hub caps. Doesn’t stop me wanting those huge deep dish alloys though!

Go on, keep the lovely lovely pictures coming……

[warch]

If there’s even a chance of upsetting a purist somewhere with your choice of wheels then I say go with it. Nothing pleases me more than someone spluttering about originality because something that’s been on the road for decades isn’t exactly as it left the showroom.
 

Especially as wheels are the ultimate bolt on accessory. 

[Bmwdumptruck]

For me Minilights and Wolfrace slotmags are kind of a period accessory for older vehicles.  So the Jag on the slots and the mk2 tina on minilites look fine.   If I ever get my mgb on the road I’d consider minlites for it if budget allowed.  
But some of these oversized skinny tyre combos look shite.

[Supernaut]

26 minutes ago, warch said:

If there’s even a chance of upsetting a purist somewhere with your choice of wheels then I say go with it.

The most amusing part of this thread is the number of people getting their knickers in a twist.

[motorpunk]

21 hours ago, chadders said:

I'm happy with these:

That colour is fab.

[Matty]

1 hour ago, motorpunk said:

That colour is fab.

If there's one thing BL got right it was colours

[Metal Guru]

2 minutes ago, Matty said:

If there's one thing BL got right it was colours

Yeh, The various shit browns of the 70s were great.

[agent]

There was a curious pair of entries into one of the recent Anglia Car Auctions, two same colour Cavalier convertibles both equipped with different sets of wheels off a 2015ish Corsa or Viva (the modern shitty one) or something. Not even any fancy VXR ones, just regular spec alloys but I guess someone had a very specific taste here.

[motorpunk]

13 hours ago, captain_70s said:

There is definitely an Austin Allegro over there, presumably ex-embassy, which is now rwd and on springs!

I now want to drop everything I’m doing, fly to Cuba, and find it! What a story that car could tell! 

[IronStar]

15 minutes ago, agent said:

There was a curious pair of entries into one of the recent Anglia Car Auctions, two same colour Cavalier convertibles both equipped with different sets of wheels off a 2015ish Corsa or Viva (the modern shitty one) or something. Not even any fancy VXR ones, just regular spec alloys but I guess someone had a very specific taste here.

 

Someone needed tyres and it was cheaper to buy the complete thing fitted? Someone wanted to keep the wheels but flog the car?

Needed a double-take, amazing how they both bent the hood in the same place! 😄

[EyesWeldedShut]

2 hours ago, warch said:

If there’s even a chance of upsetting a purist somewhere with your choice of wheels then I say go with it. Nothing pleases me more than someone spluttering about originality because something that’s been on the road for decades isn’t exactly as it left the showroom.
 

Especially as wheels are the ultimate bolt on accessory. 

You'd have loved my old Ser2a 88" - Metro seats, Safari rims, 205 Radials instead of 7.5x16s (traitor), Series 3 doors, Sherpa mirrors, even a brake servo.
Took it to something like the LRO show over at Billing (about 1998) and, wow, felt like a leper. Never went to another.

Wheels is wheels - I'm not a great fan of wired ones (had a wee job as a kid cleaning cars and there was a TR6 and an MGB that took ages to get the wires cleaned off properly) - but, so long as they're round and the tyres have tread then they'll do me (he says looking out at three out of three cars owned that do not have original rims on them  ) 

[warch]

16 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

You'd have loved my old Ser2a 88" - Metro seats, Safari rims, 205 Radials instead of 7.5x16s (traitor), Series 3 doors, Sherpa mirrors, even a brake servo.
Took it to something like the LRO show over at Billing (about 1998) and, wow, felt like a leper. Never went to another.

I used to have MG Metro seats backs and squabs in mine (thanks to a mate who couldn't drive for shit and managed to write his car off within 24 hours of purchasing it. I took them off the bases and mounted them to the Landrover mounts, they were really comfortable. I have had 205s in the past, but stuck with radials when I went to 750s. 

I went to a Landrover show at the Bath and West showground once with Mrs W and felt so out of place somehow that it actually put me off Landrovers for a bit. No one was actually unpleasant as such, but it didn't seem like a bunch of people who I felt like I'd really get on with. Weirdly I've been to other classic car shows and met really very nice people, especially old tractor and motorcycle people and the sorts of people who drive practical classics or FOTU type cars so I may have been projecting. 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, Metal Guru said:

Yeh, The various shit browns of the 70s were great.

And I thought i was a bloody misery 😉

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 13/10/2025 at 22:06, grogee said:

i think the grille on the green one is moar offensive than the wheelz 😱

[bunglebus]

My friend's Hillman arrived wearing FWD Ford fitment wheels with spacers

Actually not too terrible especially as I like black with a silver lip, but they went on a Fiesta he was selling, will be getting 14" 4 spoke Revolutions instead

[eddyramrod]

Revolutions are a gorgeous 4-spoke, and right at home on a 60s car.  But surely a Super Minx should be on 13s?

[chadders]

3 hours ago, Matty said:

If there's one thing BL got right it was colours

That's actually a tiny bit different to the original Citron.

It's what's provided in rattlecans now as Citron but as I found out to my cost when rattle canning it it's a bit different to the original paint. I compared it to the inside of the boot so it's not due to fading. In the end I had to buy 12 or more additional cans and ask for them to be all from the same batch or you could see the difference between the bonnet and the front wings, which was f....ing annoying, expensive and very time consuming

 

[McRusty]

I had Revolutions on my Capri and was very happy with them 

[reb]

4 minutes ago, McRusty said:

I had Revolutions on my Capri and was very happy with them 

I've never liked these, I'm a firm believer that wheels should have an odd number of spokes/holes.

[Lankytim]

The fella who lives opposite seems to be a serial Minor botherer and recently had this parked outside. It was actually very tidy up close but the wheels really looked odd to me 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, chadders said:

That's actually a tiny bit different to the original Citron.

It's what's provided in rattlecans now as Citron but as I found out to my cost when rattle canning it it's a bit different to the original paint. I compared it to the inside of the boot so it's not due to fading. In the end I had to buy 12 or more additional cans and ask for them to be all from the same batch or you could see the difference between the bonnet and the front wings, which was f....ing annoying, expensive and very time consuming

 

Could be worse. My car was almond green before the previous owner painted it shed door blue with a yard brush 🤣

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Revolutions are a gorgeous 4-spoke, and right at home on a 60s car.  But surely a Super Minx should be on 13s?

Maybe but they look a bit lost. 14's are very rare too, normally 14+ are the 5 spoke versions. What's on it in the picture are 15s

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, reb said:

I've never liked these, I'm a firm believer that wheels should have an odd number of spokes/holes.

Each to their own, I love Revos and Ford RS 4 spokes as well as a few other 4 spoke designs

 

[chadders]

6 minutes ago, Matty said:

Could be worse. My car was almond green before the previous owner painted it shed door blue with a yard brush 🤣

The 'joys' of old cars eh.

[EspenO]

31 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

The fella who lives opposite seems to be a serial Minor botherer and recently had this parked outside. It was actually very tidy up close but the wheels really looked odd to me 

Mondeo mk1, from one of the posher trims? 🤔

[eddyramrod]

6 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Each to their own, I love Revos and Ford RS 4 spokes as well as a few other 4 spoke designs

 

10" Mambas!  Absolutely the best wheel on a proper Mini.

[FakeConcern]

8 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Revolutions are a gorgeous 4-spoke, and right at home on a 60s car.  

Agreed

8 hours ago, McRusty said:

I had Revolutions on my Capri and was very happy with them 

Looks great

8 hours ago, reb said:

I've never liked these, I'm a firm believer that wheels should have an odd number of spokes/holes.

That had never occurred to me 

6 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Each to their own, I love Revos and Ford RS 4 spokes as well as a few other 4 spoke designs

 

I did consider Mambas for my first car, but went with Revolutions, their factory was near and I picked them up from there

Originally the centres were black, but it started to peel after a week or two and I took them back to be repainted. When it happened again I stripped the paint off and left it natural.

[Matty]

17 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Revolutions are a gorgeous 4-spoke, and right at home on a 60s car.  But surely a Super Minx should be on 13s?

Absolutely

[DavieW]

19 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Revolutions are a gorgeous 4-spoke, and right at home on a 60s car.  

Love 4 spoke Revolutions and think they suit any 60s, 70s and some early 80s cars. I was never a fan of the 5 spokes. 

[Crackers]

Right, come on then... 

The only people that didn't like these wheels were on the forum. Almost everyone who saw it in the flesh commented on how much the wheels completed the car's look. 

I agree. I don't like 3500S steel trims, they look stodgy. It's not a stodgy car, it needs some wheels that give it muscle.