Cragar wheels

Cragar Wheels – The Original Muscle Car Wheel Since 1964

No single aftermarket wheel has shaped American automotive culture more profoundly than the Cragar S/S. Introduced in 1964 by Roy Richter — owner of Cragar Equipment Company and Bell Auto Parts in Bell, California, and a founding member of SEMA — the Super Sport wheel was the result of nearly two years of design refinement and testing. Richter's goal was to create a wheel that was stronger than conventional steel, affordable enough for everyday enthusiasts, and distinctive enough to become the standard-bearer for the muscle car and hot rod lifestyle that was exploding across post-war America.

He succeeded beyond any reasonable expectation. The Cragar S/S went on sale in 1964 and immediately sold out. The design's genius was in its construction: a two-piece assembly combining a chrome-plated steel rim with a die-cast aluminum center, with five deeply attached spokes engineered to handle the extreme lateral g-forces and high-speed torque loads of drag racing. That deeper attachment point for each spoke gave the S/S structural integrity far beyond anything available at the time — proven stronger in lab testing than any conventional steel production wheel. According to Roy Richter, no other wheel in existence could match it. Cragar's advertising called it "the World's Most Famous Wheels," and based on sales figures and cultural impact, the claim is nearly impossible to dispute.

Drag Strip to Main Street – Cragar's Cultural Reach

The Cragar S/S did not merely succeed in the market — it became a cultural touchstone. Racing legends Don Garlits, Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen, Dick Landy, Bobby Unser, Shirley Shahan, and Bill Jenkins ran Cragar S/S wheels on their championship-winning factory-backed race cars. Pioneering land-speed racer Ak Miller ran S/S wheels up Pikes Peak. And when Gary Gabelich's rocket-powered Blue Flame set the land speed record at 622.407 miles per hour, it ran specially designed Cragar wheels — earning the brand the extraordinary title of "the World's Fastest Wheels."

From the drag strip, the S/S crossed over into mass popularity on muscle cars, street rods, custom vans, and lowriders. By the late 1960s, if you drove an American performance car and wanted to signal your membership in the performance community, you ran Cragar S/S wheels. The design spawned an entire generation of imitators — Keystone, Rocket, Western, ET, Superior — but none matched the original's authenticity or sustained commercial success. In 1972, Roy Richter received the "Manufacturer of the Year" award from an all-star drag racing poll, and that same year established the elite Cragar Five Second Club for drag racers who broke the six-second elapsed time barrier.

Over Sixty Years of Continuous Production

What is perhaps most remarkable about the Cragar S/S is not what it accomplished in 1964, but the fact that it never stopped selling. Through the 1970s and '80s muscle car revival, through the retro styling trend of the 2000s, and into the present day, the S/S has remained in continuous production — making it one of the longest-running, most consistently successful wheel designs in automotive history. Today's Cragar wheels are produced by The Carlstar Group, which has honored the brand's legacy while incorporating modern metallurgy, more precise machining tolerances, and superior chrome plating processes that improve durability without compromising the original visual character.

The modern Cragar lineup extends well beyond the classic S/S to include the SS GT series with a more aggressive concave profile, the Eliminator series for contemporary muscle and street truck applications, the Soft 8 series for clean steel-wheel aesthetics, and the Street Pro series blending vintage elements with current fitment specifications. Across all series, Cragar maintains the classic chrome-and-black visual language that made the brand iconic, available from 14-inch classics to 22-inch modern applications in multiple widths and in chrome, gloss black, polished aluminum, and gray machine finishes.

The Authentic Choice for Classic American Builds

For anyone building or restoring a 1960s–1980s American muscle car, hot rod, or street racer, Cragar is not just one option among many — it is the authentic original. The brand carries a documented racing heritage, a 60-year production history without interruption, and a design that has proven its enduring visual appeal across multiple generations of car enthusiasts. Cragar's uni-lug fitment system on classic S/S models accommodates multiple bolt patterns from 5x4.5 to 5x5, making them compatible with nearly every classic American platform without requiring offset adapters.