Cragars vs. Keystones

[Mark]

Around here, Cragars never seemed to look new after two or three summers, even if the wheels were stored inside and kept away from the streets in winter.  The plating on the centers would start peeling.  It isn't officially an automotive swap meet around here without a set of old Cragars with the centers painted over.

Those wheels were first sold in late 1963...cast aluminum center with steel tabs cast in around the perimeter, enabling the center to be welded to the steel outer rim/hoop.  Both sections are plated, not 100% certain but I would guess prior to assembly.

You'd think that over the course of 55 plus years, they'd either have figured out that aluminum and chrome plating don't really go together, or (like the American TTII) make both parts out of aluminum and just polish them.  I wouldn't trade my TTIIs for ten sets of Cragars, yet last time I checked the Cragars sell at a higher price.

[peteski]

5 hours ago, webestang said:

I'm a slot man..............or as I called them in high school.......Jelly Bean mags.

 

Yeah, I do like those.  But I also liked Centerline rims (and used them on my Camaro back in the day).

[JollySipper]

What ever happened to the chrome Cragar SSTs? You never see them ran on anything anymore, not even old muscle cars.......

[slusher]

On 7/22/2016 at 2:48 AM, slusher said:

I like Cragars but Keystone Classics was the rage of the 80's when I was in high school...

 

You can’t go wrong with either one...

[Mark]

9 hours ago, JollySipper said:

What ever happened to the chrome Cragar SSTs? You never see them ran on anything anymore, not even old muscle cars.......

Same problem as other Cragar wheels...plating got punky after a couple of summers.  There's one of those Eighties billet-wannabe Cragar wheels that, in addition to the chrome plated aluminum center, had a plastic center cap (not the usual 3" or so one, but one that covered the lug nut area).  Besides the plating on the aluminum peeling off, the plating on the plastic went away when owners used the same cleaner on it as on the rest of the wheel.  I saw a set of those on a car last summer, the guy was still trying to keep the centers clean but had painted the center caps.

[OldTrucker]

I've had them all. 

Always liked Cragar SS wheels but they peeled so bad after a couple years and the chrome pitted over time.

Keystone Klassics did the same.

I leaned more towards the original Torque Thrusts but my favorite, US aluminum slots.

 

 

[Oldcarfan27]

I always liked the Keystone Classics because they always reminded me of the wheels that were on my Hot Wheels cars when I was a kid.

[NOBLNG]

I’m a big fan of Keystone Classics and Oval slotted mags. They look good on any Muscle car.

[Snake45]

The very best Keystone Klassic Kustomags I've ever seen were in the original annual issue of the AMT '69 Riviera. Sadly, they're gone from the reissues. I used mine on the '66 Skylark I built in 1969 (which is about due for a rescue/resto). These days I carefully hoard any Keystones I find for a series of Sox & Martin builds I want to do. 

[Mark]

I'd leave that Buick exactly the way it is.

[Snake45]

7 hours ago, Mark said:

I'd leave that Buick exactly the way it is.

Oh I will, I assure you. It just needs a good cleaning inside & out, maybe a little Molotow where the chrome has worn thin, and so forth. 

[High octane]

Neither Cragars or Keystones for me as I lean toward body colored steelies with poverty caps.

[Oldcarfan27]

On 3/6/2021 at 6:58 AM, Snake45 said:

Hey Snake.

Was your Buick featured in an article in one of the old model car magazines?

It looks very familiar. Especially if you have the stock hood painted in a similar (but not exact) color, because you painted it years afterwards. 

I seem to remember the story going - You owned a bunch of old annuals but lost them in a bench fire. Got the insurance check and bought as many replacements as you could afford, although the collector prices were much higher than when they were new. This was one of one of the first ones you re-bought.

If it's not you, this Buick sure looks like the same car! ?

[Bills72sj]

I am a fan of both. Cragars look good on Chevys and Klassics look good on Pontiacs. (Your opinions may vary) Here are some pics of a few that have been in my life both 1:1 and scale.

 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Bills72sj

[Snake45]

8 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Hey Snake.

Was your Buick featured in an article in one of the old model car magazines?

It looks very familiar. Especially if you have the stock hood painted in a similar (but not exact) color, because you painted it years afterwards. 

I seem to remember the story going - You owned a bunch of old annuals but lost them in a bench fire. Got the insurance check and bought as many replacements as you could afford, although the collector prices were much higher than when they were new. This was one of one of the first ones you re-bought.

If it's not you, this Buick sure looks like the same car! ?

You have a fine, fine memory, my friend! 

I've been collecting Skylark glue bombs and parts. Giving serious consideration to building up new version of this exact model, close as I can get it. 

[Oldcarfan27]

5 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

You have a fine, fine memory, my friend! 

I've been collecting Skylark glue bombs and parts. Giving serious consideration to building up new version of this exact model, close as I can get it. 

I thought so. Now I have to go through my old stash of magazines to re-read that article. Now I feel I've known you for many years!

[bzbhoney]

well, to be honest the raiders basically look like cragars and in my world anything I saw that looked like cragars were called cragars.,  even if they were raiders., lol   only because I didnt even know there were two companies copying the same design.,  cragars are definitly cool looking but the raiders are just the same in my opinion., as a matter of fact I kinda like the more rounded-ness of the spoke on the raiders.  Im sure the Cragars are more expensive because youre paying for the name....but my question is, will the center caps of Cragars wit on the center caps of the Raiders?     I want to think that I had raiders back in the day when I thought I had Cragars because my rims had the ruonded=ness to them, similar to the bottom pic., and I did use Cragar center caps on them.,  so if they dont fit then it means I had Cragars., but if they do fit then Im sure I had Raiders.,   does anyone have an idea?  

[JollySipper]

On 9/19/2024 at 6:49 PM, bzbhoney said:

will the center caps of Cragars wit on the center caps of the Raiders?

I remember my old man's Raiders, the center cap was held in place by a kind of concave disc that went from inside the wheel, and a screw went through that.......... The "K" was embossed into the center cap. Someone here surely knows if the center caps are interchangeable or not........

[OldTrucker]

On 7/21/2016 at 11:53 PM, RAT-T said:

DIDN'T CRAGAR MAKE A SUPER SHALLOW FRONT WHEEL FOR DRAG RACING?

Yes! I had a set on the front of my 66 Lemans!

[OldTrucker]

There were also a terrible wheel that copied Cragar called Rocket. Saw several have the centers break away from the outer rim.

[Tim W. SoCal]

In answer to this thread, I prefer Cragar S/Ss, but I remember almost all of the Drag Race Mopars running Keystone Klassics back in the 60s and 70s. I had a set of Cragar S/Ss on my '64 Pontiac LeMans Convertible. I bought the wheels in 1975 and they were Uni-Lug, 5 on 4-1/2, 4-3/4 or 5 inch lug stud spacing. I had 8" wide wheels on the rear with L60 Posi-Trac Torque Twisters and 6" wide on the front with 5.60 tires. At that time, the Cragars were less expensive than the American 200Ss or Torque Thrusts, which were my other preferences. I also preferred their steel rims because, at that time, we did not have good enough adhesives for stick-on wheel weights to stay attached to the rim. I did learn how razor sharp the chrome plating on the Cragars was when I sliced my thumb open while polishing them one day (anyone remember Mother's Mag Brite?)

[OldTrucker]

14 hours ago, Tim W. SoCal said:

 (anyone remember Mother's Mag Brite?)

Yes.

On Cragars I would wipe them down with index daily.

[rattle can man]

All of these look good on period appropriate build. modern wheels look out of place on muscle cars or hot rods.

Are we talking Raider or Radir Wheels? 

[OldTrucker]

1 minute ago, rattle can man said:

All of these look good on period appropriate build. modern wheels look out of place on muscle cars or hot rods.

Are we talking Raider or Radir Wheels? 

I'm with you but beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess the saying goes! LoL

I still can't get past having anything over a 15 inch tire/wheel on the old cars.

[Can-Con]

I just went through the wheel catalogues at the link below and found no less then 24 companies that made close copies or outright clones of the Cragar SS wheel.

https://vintagewheelcatalogs.com/