Best Cragar SS wheels?

[Andrew]

Looking for some Cragar 5 spokes, either resin or from a kit. I have seen the Speed City ones and the spokes look too wide to me. does anyone know of better ones before I go searching?

[Casey]

Scale? Diameter? Width? Offset? Lots of Cragar S/S options available, so if we can narrow it down, that would help.

[slusher]

I always thought the ones in the AMT 70 Baldwin Motion Camaro was great in kit form...

[george 53]

Those, AND the Cragar S/S wheels from the 66 Nova are the nicest Cragars out there!!!!

[Snake45]

Those, AND the Cragar S/S wheels from the 66 Nova are the nicest Cragars out there!!!!

Yeah, those are nice. I think the best I've ever seen were in the original JoHan '66 Marlin. The ones in the original Monkeemobile weren't bad, either.

[AC Norton]

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....

[Andrew]

Thanks for the replies, not sure I'm going to find any Johan ones over here in the UK. I have a Monkeemobile but a reissue, still I will check it out. They are for a 1/25th project, not even sure they are genuine Cragars yet

[Kris Morgan]

Just added a set to my site. www.madmodeling.com Check them out and hopefully they may work for you.

[Andrew]

They look great Kris, will sort an order - will have a look if there is anything else I need!

[jeffs396]

IMHO, and if 1/24 scale is your thing, the best ones are in the Monogram late 70s El Camino with 'camper' (topper). They are deep and deeper and NICE!

[johnbuzzed]

Revell '67 Charger- not the Foose edition.

[Repstock]

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....

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

[Andrew]

Maybe I should have said, " best ones I am likely to find!".

Thanks all for your replies

[Ron Hamilton]

If you are looking for a set with the same offsets for the front and the rear, the ones in the Revell '67 Charger (Original kit, not the Foose Version) are tough to beat.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Ron Hamilton

[Casey]

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:

 

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:

 

AMT '37 Chevy? Same deal:

 

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

 

IMC VW Beetle:

 

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 October 31, 2018 by Casey

[Alan]

Andrew, the pic of the 1 to 1 wheels you posted are not Cragars, they are Rockets, that is what the 70 BM Camaro kit looks to have as well.

Alan

[Snake45]

If deep works for you, the Cragars in the AMT '65 El Camino and Chevelle Wagon aren't bad at all. But I believe they're all the same depth.

Casey, nice pics and rundown!

[StevenGuthmiller]

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

[Andrew]

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!!

[om617]

If i remember right you might find these wheels in the AMT 70 Impala "SS" kit,the orange car on box with hilborn stacks.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

What about the old AMT dune buggies? Those had Cragars, right? I've got some. I think they're the same offset, though.

[Snake45]

What about the old AMT dune buggies? Those had Cragars, right? I've got some. I think they're the same offset, though.

Yeah, but they're not particularly good. They're a little "squarish" as I recall.

[wrecker388]

Those, AND the Cragar S/S wheels from the 66 Nova are the nicest Cragars out there!!!!

I agree! Those wheels are beautiful!

[OutaFocus]

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.

[tim boyd]

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....

...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.

Hope this helps...TIM

Edited December 24, 2014 by tim boyd