Unusual wheel painting , old school ?

[Greg Myers]

I've seen this on real drag cars back in the day. Anyone know why, or what the purpose is ?

[Mark]

Usually both the front and rear wheels will be painted that way.  If they look different when the car is coming off the line, then you've got wheel spin.

[Greg Myers]

Never seen both painted, only the rear.

[Greg Myers]

[Greg Myers]

Or, just front ?

[Ben]

Now they put a white stripe on the tire to check for wheel spin.

[Greg Myers]

[Greg Myers]

Jim Schild in his book "Maximum Performance MOPAR Super Stock Drag Racing 1962-1969" , states " The Two -color wheels were originally used to visually check for wheelspin, but they soon became a popular fad. "

[Johnt671]

It was the 60's. That would look pretty trippy back then Cheech and Chong "wow man look at the wheels. They're red, no white, no red."

[FordRodnKustom]

Guess the fronts were painted like that at times to check if they were off the ground during the run?

[Chuck Most]

It's done on demolition derby cars as well- in that case it's for safety reasons. If a car flips over or or gets wedged in with another car, the first responders can easily tell if a wheel is still spinning.