How much???!!!

[40plyrod]

Well I'm still patching rust on my 40 sedan and trying to imagine what the finished car will look like, I'm thinking like if someone were to customize one in the late 40's early 50's. I wasn't there but I would suspect that back then the main reason to customize a car was to make it look newer or a higher line. With this in mind I have started looking for wheels and tires for my plymouth. I would imagine that back then the majority of wheels were hubcapped and a customizer would have choosen a hubcap from a more modern or higher style car. I found these on the bay, http://cgi.ebay.ca/1961-CHRYSLER-IMPERIAL-LEBARON-HUBCAPS-FULL-SET-4-/360187870867?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item53dcdebe93 is this was these are worth? I have no desire to buy these but I sure wish I had a set to sell, it would help out the build considerably.

[Plymouthy Adams]

This a classic example of: GOTTA PAY TO PLAY

I admit my 1954 Plymouth original wire hubcaps are a tad expensive in my book but compared to these..they just pop bottle caps..

[Autonut1]

I am 69 years old,so as you can imagine, I was there. You have got it all wrong. The reason to customize back in the days was to have a car that you put your own imagination into. Such as the paint job. Like where you painted on the flames,( coming out from the hood,from the fender wells ect.)and how you modified the engine or even replaced the engine with a biger one.

You also saw a lot of different things done with the suspension like lowing the car all-around, droping the front and raising the rear, or even raising the front and lowing the rear. My personal favorite was the rake ( lowing the front and raising the rear ).

Oh yes, don't forget the Mag Wheels!

P.S.

Can you put some pictures of your Ply. on site? I have a 40 Ply P-10 sedan, if you have Questions about yours, perhaps I can help.

Autonut

Edited July 31, 2010 by Autonut1

[BobT-47P15]

ONLY $5,000??? Man, you'd have to want perfection and have lotsa play

money. I do believe I'd simply keep shopping at swap meets and salvage

yards. They do look perfect, for sure.

[JoelOkie]

I had them on my 3rd hand Chrysler Imperial I had in high school. I think I threw them all away one by one whenever I would have a flat and be in too big a hurry to put them back on. Joel

[louie the fly]

Hubcaps.com has them for $90 each. Ring Johnny Rosen and tell him he's dreamin! I read the ad. "Funny" wording to say the least.

[40plyrod]

Here's some pictures of my plymouth, looking more like a hotrod than a custom. As for those hubcaps I thought that I would save money by running hubcaps instead of mags and use that savings for whitewall tires. Here I thought that the whitewalls were the expensive part not the hubcaps.

[BobT-47P15]

In the olden days, in terms of wheels, they used the fancy

"flipper" or "spinner" caps, sometimes the smooth caps, or caps

from a more expensive car like Cadillac or Olds.

There were a bunch of aftermarket caps available.

Here's one.......

Olds......

[1940plymouth]

Autonut1,

Can you post some photos of your P-10?

Thanks,

Bob

[BobT-47P15]

If you want to see what wheel covers are used on older style

rods and kustome, just go to the hamb and look at guys posts

of pictures from car shows. Look thru as many as you can find

and you'll see basically the same type caps used by many people.

Depends on what look you like.

[GeorgeLeonard]

Im 64 years old and I dont think 40plyrod has it all wrong at all. In my opinion everyone wanted a newer car but for most of us, that goal was simply out of reach. So what we did was buy a car we could afford and try to make it look more modern or at least a little cooler. Adding fins, replacing single headlights with dual headlights, removing chrome, all fell into that category. I think what everyone wanted or at least everyone I knew. would have traded their car for a brand new one off the showroom floor in a heartbeat. And then you would do something small like remove the hubcaps to make it look more like a racer or put on baby moons if you could afford them.

[LAKOTA169]

On my '59 Pontiac, I removed all the names and emblems, lowered it all around, added lake pipes and a tube grill. I replaced the 14" Pontiac wheel with 15" buick Wildcat wheels. This was around 1964. My '54 merc, I reversed the rear shackles to raise the rear. Also removed emblems. Baby Moon and Full moon hubcaps were popular. People would customize the full moon caps by adding Buick portholes or chrome drawer or cabinet handles to make spinners.

[GeorgeLeonard]

I love the idea of using chrome drawer handles on hubcaps to make spinners. That's the stuff Im talking about!- cheap but imaginative. I going to go to Home Depot tomorrow to see if they have anything I can use. Good stuff!! Thanks:cool: