OCEAN STREET VIDEO®
Name That Wheel Contest

This is the answer page for the Name That Wheel Contest. This information was provided by the "anonymous collector":

1) Empi 4-lug Sprint Star: All the Sprint Stars were chrome with black around the lug nuts.

2) Empi 8-spoke wheel: There were only a couple of 2-piece wheels made for the VW, and this was one of them.

3) Empi 5-lug Sprint Star: There is no black around these wheels because they are being restored.

4) Empi Rader: These wheels have steel outers with aluminum centers, rivited or pinned together. This combo makes them very difficult to restore, and the wheel-specific lug nuts are very rare. There were two versions of this wheel that were sold, one of which was retailed by Sears and Roebuck. That version had flat, non-ribbed spokes and no center caps. The wheel you see here has the ribs on the spokes and was retailed by Empi.

5) BRM, of course.

6) Empi 5-spoke: This was the other two-piece wheel, and it came in two versions. The late-style used a lug nut hole with bushings, and the early-style had tapered lug nuts.

7) Chapparell(sp?): This wheel had an aluminum center pressed and rivited/pinned into a steel outer rim. It came in 14" or 15" diameters, with 5" to 15" widths.

8) American Racing "Torque Thruster": One unique feature about this wheel was that it came in either aluminum or magnesium. It is very collectible.

9) Big Wheel: The wheel pictured here is 5" wide, but it did come in widths up to 12". It is also very collectible.

10) Volksmag1 ("Turtle"): Mfg. by Superior Industries, it was a dealer option for karmann ghias, and it's listed in the 1974 dealer sales brochure for superbeetles. It fits the karmann ghia well because of the 4.5" width and the funky offset. There was also a version of this wheel called the VolksmagII, but it had a black wrinkle finish.

11) Cosmics: Made in England, this wheel came in 4-lug or 5-lug porsche bolt patterns. This is a rare wheel.

12) Name Unknown: 4.5" wide, this wheel might have been made for the Brazilian Puma car.

Question #1: The Empi Rader(#4) was also made for american cars, and it was the wheel used on the Munster car.

Question #2: See #10 above.

Question #3: Talk about a loaded question ... most people guessed that the light-weight BRM was preferred, but the "anonymous collector" indicated the Empi 5-spoke had some racer appeal because the two-piece design allowed the owner to change the tire himself. Feedback welcome!

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