Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

Best Cragar SS wheels?


Recommended Posts

the 60s 70s era Johan sets are the best in my opinion. the shape of the spokes, detail of the dust cap, and general appearance have always stood the test of time. I am not certain if any resin ones are made...sorry....the ace.... :huh:

I agree. The ones from the JoHan Comet (C:112-200) are really the best I've seen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Which tires are you planning to use, Andrew? If it's a bias-ply 1/25 scale tire as shown in the picture, your options are going to be limited. Radials are far more common, and especially in 1/25 scale, so tire size will determine which wheels will fit.

As Jeff suggested, the 1/24 Monogram (most recently labeled as Revell in the 3'n1 version) '78 Chevy El Camino kit has a nice set of deep and deeper Cragar S/S wheels like so, but the center cap detail is missing, and the spokes are slightly 'square' if that makes sense:

78elcoCragarSSbothdish.jpg

78elcoCragarSSfront.jpg

78elcoCragarSSfrontdish.jpg

78elcoCragarSSrear.jpg

 

I think the AMT 1/25 Baldwin Motion '70.5 Camaro would be the easiest kit to find a set of big 'n' little Cragar S/S wheels with matching tires if it must be 1/25 scale.

The 1/24 Revell '37 Ford Coupe's Cragar S/S wheels are very nice, with good center cap detail, but they are all the same width/offset, and would be too shallow for you needs I suspect:

CragarSSinGYBSSS.jpg

 

AMT '37 Chevy? Same deal:

aaaaaf46-6b32-4ad8-a8fe-707927873404.jpg

 

AMT '50 Ford Convertible...spokes are a bit squared off to my eyes:

359b22a6-a55b-47dd-95a2-e19575f490b9.jpg

6a93f4a1-a99e-41bb-b9f6-7bbaecb82f80.jpg

7a417234-09ad-4c8c-95f5-be8bc43d7652.jpg

 

IMC VW Beetle:

10ba672a-14c4-4393-84b9-df0e313f624b.jpg

49fbad87-b3a6-4f83-b6d4-807cef56e449.jpg

 

The 1/25 Revell Charger and Coronet mags look more like an off-brand Cragar S/S knock-off to be honest, and I would not recommend using them. Most of the '60s era AMT kits which contained Cragar S/S wheels were 14", which end up with the spokes looking a bit stubby.

Edited by Casey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The old AMT Cragars were always the best in my opinion. The '37 Chevy & the '65 Galaxie come to mind, but I know there were others. I had a 1:1 set on a Chrysler years ago & the AMT ones looked spot on to me. They had the correct spoke shape & the right "domed" center cap with the Cragar logo. Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow! Great response guys! I would like the BM Camaro for my stash anyway - none in the UK that I can find though so I may get a couple in the New Year. The MAD ones look good too but I would need to Alclad those I suppose. As for tyres, not too concerned about the treads as long as they have the right "look". These sizes were popular in the UK in the '80's and I have a few cars I want to build from that era so I may have to get the raised lettering done, maybe laser cut or photo etch, possibly even get the tyres 3D printed! This may be getting too complicated!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As stated earlier, the best Cragar SS wheels come from Johan. I especially like the wheels in the original issue AMX S/S car. The detail in the center caps is unbelievable and the overall shape is spot on. In the AMX they have both shallow and deep offsets, perfect for 70's SS and PS cars.

Johan is often overlooked for quality well detailed parts because the kits were issued over and over and the molds were in bad shape, but for their day and even into current times, the detail and shapes were great.

Consider that in the 60's they were producing kits with combustion chamber detail in their Hemi heads, Cylinder detail in their Oldsmobile blocks, etc.

For 60's and 70's SS and PS builders they produced the best wheels including fantastic Keystone Kustomag Klassics in the Sox & Martin 71 Cuda, Great Fenton slots, and even superb Motorwheel Spyders in the Eddie Shartman Maverick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DSC_0201-vi.jpg

Another source is the MPC "Mummy Machine" kit (itself a reissue of the Carl Casper "Phone Booth T"), which has been reissued several times, most recently in the early 2000's by AMT-Ertl. The same wheels are in the MPC "Paul Revere and the Raiders Coach", which was also reissued under the AMT-Ertl label in the early 2000's.

These are the very best I've found for the "shallow and deep" Cragar S/S wheels used on funny cars (such as the original Nelson Carter Super Chief Charger from the cover of Car Craft magazine) and other period drag racers from the late 1960's/early 1970's with narrow tires up front and wide slicks out back.

Several photos of these wheels on completed models....

DSC_0290-vi.jpg

DSC_0323-vi.jpg

...and the first usage on this model circa December 1969-January 1970 (the chassis - with a different body - won "Best Detail" at the 1970 Detroit Cobo Autorama MPC Model Car Contest, billed at the time by Car Model Magazine as "The World's Largest Model Car Contest".....but I digress....sorry.

DSC_0522-vi.jpg

Hope this helps...TIM

Edited by tim boyd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...