By some estimations, steel wheels should have faded into obscurity about two decades ago. That’s based solely on my highly unscientific and not-at-all-researched memory of when the used hub cap shop in Downers Grove, Illinois, closed its doors for good. Nothing left to sell, and no one left to sell to, presumably.
As the twentieth century faded into history, alloy wheels—once a pricey option reserved for high-performance and luxury cars—had become as common as fuel injection (itself a differentiator at one time). Steel wheels with plastic or metal covers looked decidedly down- market as overall equipment levels were rising across the automotive industry. If you wanted to see a steel wheel in the 21st century, your best bet was to rent a compact sedan. That’s how uncool they’d become.
Yet somehow, like cockroaches, GM 3800 V6s, and Converse Chuck Taylors, it seems steel wheels refuse to just die. In fact, they’re making a comeback of sorts—especially naked, sans cover—on some of the coolest vehicles in dealerships today. But how did that happen?
First, let’s take a quick look at the history of the wheel. We’ll skip the first few thousand years and fast-forward right to the automotive wheel, which in its earliest form evolved out of those used on primitive bikes and old-fashioned wagons.