speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

I notice that a lot of people are going with black wheels these days. What inspired this fad?

I had this idea for my Grand National back in the day. I was going for the "sinister" look. Here is a pic of my GN with blacked out Vette wheels circa 1989.

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

It isn't a fad if it looks good. Some cars they look excellent on, others they look godawful.

samson_420

iTrader: (1)

I am feeling the black wheels more of a fad now. . . I am seeing more cars with black or black painted wheels.

Some cars they do look good on, but some not so much.

$750 L98

iTrader: (7)

I think it started when people took the hub caps off of cars with steel wheels. It was a stealth, or "street fighter" look without the caps. I did black C5 Z06 Motorsports on my black C4, certainly a good look on black cars, especially when lowered with dark tint. I don't like them as much on 4th gen cars though. For a 4th gen bird, you can't beat TTIIs IMO.

t/a98

iTrader: (6)

I was running black wheels about six years ago. It was just showing up as a standard Color option back then. I didn't notice any black wheels on other cars back then though...

PontiacFan

iTrader: (104)

I've been sayin' for years, ..., Member #4 of the Black Wheel Haters Club, ...
Not a fan.

(From a person with gray wheels, & gold wheels, ...)

senicalj4579

iTrader: (41)

Sure as hell not me. IMO I would never give up chrome wheels for something that looks dirty all the time

BowTieDrifter

i blame Rob Dyrdek and his "murdered out" suburban.
all the kids saw it on MTV and thats what they do to thier cars now.

better than putting a fireplace in the trunk i guess...

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

Has anyone ever seen Trust's old T/A? That is the definition of black wheeled-sex.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

It's just a style. I have mixed feeelings about it; I like it on certain wheels and certain cars, but not on others.

That's TOO much black for that car, IMO. It would have looked better with a polished lip.

DownSouthWS6

iTrader: (1)

^That car is the best looking black on black T/A of all time. All Black > chrome lip.

I think the color of the car depends on whether or not it looks good with black rims though. As for my car (red), I'll always stick with chrome on it. I also think black and white are the only colors that looks good for painted rims. I've had friends with red, pink, purple, green, etc rims.

Scoobysnacks

iTrader: (1)

I think black rims only became a fad when all Honda kids started riding around on ugly black steelies thinking they look cool....

REAL black rims usually look good but not on all colors IMO

MonmouthCtyLS7

iTrader: (6)

Last 5-10 years id say...I orginally did it because I hated the look of silver wagon wheels(like most) and it was a cheap alternative...Now there still not the nicest but they look much better.

StreetsideStig

Haha, so true. Believe me, though, it was a huge improvement over the broken plastic hubcaps on my 1990 Accord.

I think black alloys look good, but I'm kindof a sucker for colored wheels. The color has to match the car, though. I'm no designer (thankfully), but black wheels on a navy blue car just don't work. That's why chrome is always a good choice.

Buffalo

I love my black ZO6 wheels. I too have mixed feelings about black wheels. Some cars look awesome with them, some look absolutely terrible.

Rauch

I believe you can blame whoever painted steelies black originally. I agree with the others when they say that it looks good on some cars, and horrible on others. It all depends on your color combo and style of rims you want.

Chrome looks even dirtier... ALL the time . The amount of maintenance required to keep the finish is rediculous and chrome is more of a fad than black rims. "Oh mannnnn look at dem chrome 26's on dat caddy." Big rims is more of a fad than color of the rims. Style of rims is a big fad too. Spinners, for instance.

I don't know... Just my 2 cents.

Derek

BayArea ws6

To each his own.I also like that all black TA in the pictures above.

Buffalo

LOL, I forgot about spinners.

RedHotG8

iTrader: (1)

Black wheels look like crap since they blend in with the black tires. It also makes the car look cheap, like the owner removed the hubcaps and is running plain black wheels. I have yet to see a car in pics or in person that looked good with black wheels.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Chrome is pretty easy actually, compared to polished (non-clear coated) wheels....now THOSE are work.


Not at all. The chrome Cragar S/S wheels on my Nova were first introduced in 1964. Both chrome and black wheels have been around for many decades, previously in steel though. Chrome wheel accessories (trim rings, hub caps, etc.) have been around since well before the SBC V8 engine even.

Black and silver were the most common colors of factory steel wheels. However, there have been many examples of factory color-matched wheels (to body color) decades before that became popular with the ricers. Here is an example with a factory color matched setup (this is a '70, but this option was seen on various cars long before 1970):



That I agree with. Popularity for various styles comes and goes, but if something was ever truly popular there will usually be some sort of following for it, even when others have moved on.