Rostyle wheel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rostyle wheels are a notable design of wheels for cars made by the British firm of Rubery Owen, a diversified industrial company which made many car parts. The wheels had an unusual pressed steel form to imitate the few ribs of mag wheels at the time, but were painted black (or perhaps body color) and aluminium. They were designed to do without hubcaps or wheel covers, and were especially popular during the 1960s and 70s.
The firms MG and Rover, amongst other British sporty cars in the 1960s often specified these wheels as original equipment instead of ones made of light alloy (aluminium or magnesium) or wire wheels. Rostyle also made chromium plated wheels for Jensen, Rover and, famously, the Ford Cortina 1600E, originally designed for Ford Chairman Len Crossland's wife.
They were made in Britain, as well as under license in Germany and Argentina. The Rostyle wheels had a metal label in the center with the emblem of the car company on it. Today, special masks must be made to paint the wheels of restored cars to resemble the original.
Max Sinclair, the sales manager for Rubery Owen in the 1960 to 1980 period has stated that "We changed the face of motoring, and Mag wheels followed us as their reliability improved."
This article about an automotive part or component is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
