SEMA Wheels: Clear has staying power
Click for a mini gallery of some of this year's clear rims
Last year "clear" was very in at SEMA: Clear wheels, clear hoods, clear heels, even clear engine blocks. This year a few wheel companies are keeping the trend alive with more on the clear front. While there was a set of massive 30-something-inchers on a particularly clean Riviera, we also saw some slightly more tame sizes on display as well. The big ones on the Riv were from Rimshot, but Dub had some out there, too, on a nearby Benz. The Dubs didn't capitalize on the all-clear concept quite as well, but they seem a bit more realistic in some odd way. Still kind of ridiculous for anything other than display, they at least LOOKED somewhat usable.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rick 1:22PM (11/01/2007)
Staying power? I never knew they were here in the non SEMA world.
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Tyo 10:35AM (11/01/2007)
I understand people may not necessarily appreciate my personal taste, for Sleepers and understated, mostly stock looking vehicles. However this is just stupid looking. Reminds me of Covered wagons or those old 1800's Bicycles with the huge front tire.
To each his own, I guess
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nissanfreak87 10:42AM (11/01/2007)
subtle is the way to go, I want my car to be different, but not to the extent of being a cop magnet
so there are other people like me!
GT 6:04PM (11/01/2007)
yeah, same here, but I actually like clear wheels (if they can fix the problem of cleaning them...
what scares me about that car is how small those 'brakes' are....o_O...yeah, this one's a 'show car' but there's plenty of them like that driving on the road...
Pokey 10:36AM (11/01/2007)
What a waste of a perfectly good Boattail!
I hate to see great old classics like this turned into rubbish!
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Kevin 1:11PM (11/01/2007)
Glad someone else recognized the car... At least they did it to a '72 instead of a '71... would've been better to have done it to the uglier '73 (hope mine doesn't find out I just called it 'uglier' >_
Fooman 1:30PM (11/01/2007)
Poor boattail, I immediately thought the same thing. The boats are still bargin muscle car with very unique looks. They came with the Pontiac 455 block and a great low and wide look. Sure the interior is craptastic, but I have thought of getting one of these to build, but there are very very few in socal that are up for sale.
Kevin 3:53PM (11/01/2007)
Fooman:
I have to correct you on one point. The Riv did NOT have a Pontiac engine.
Up through the mid 70s, each GM division had their own engines. Pontiac had a single V8 block that they used for all their engines from the 326 through to the 455. Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Chevrolet all had engines of their own design.
The Buick, Olds and Pontiac engines had the same transmission bolt patterns, but other than that they were entirely unique engines, each with their own design quirks.
The Buick 455 gets to wear the title of being one of the lightest, if not THE lightest production big block engine (ignoring the aluminum blocks) ever produced by an American manufacturer. It has some issues (weak oiling system, more prone to cracking blocks than some other engines), but it's a very, very good engine (as is the Pontiac 455, in point of fact).
nissanfreak87 10:42AM (11/01/2007)
where did this "Donk" obsession come from? 30" wheels on a nasty Riviera with stock brakes? yeah, that's safe.
and that's not clean, it's hideous
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Kevin 6:52PM (11/01/2007)
You're looking at the brakes from the wrong viewpoint...
See, in a car the size of the Riv it doesn't really matter if the brakes work or not. ;) ;) :P Somebody in a Sentra ran into mine before I got it. Totalled the Nissan; had to replace the panel that covers the radiator crossmember between the top of the grill and the front of the hood on the Buick. And that's it. No other damage. At all. So yeah... don't need to worry about the brakes, it's not your problem. The guy that you plow into might want to worry about your brakes, but you don't need to. ;)
In all seriousness though, you're right. The brakes on the car aren't very good. They're better than many of its contemporaries (the '73 T-bird took >200 feet to stop from 60, the Riviera did it in like 160ft or something, iirc, according to one comparison test), but they're still not great... And adding all the additional leverage that comes from a wheel that diameter is just asking for problems. Especially since brake cooling is going to be dramatically reduced with plastic rims.
LoneWolf 10:45AM (11/01/2007)
Pokey, u read my mind!
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mk 10:55AM (11/01/2007)
That could have been a cool car, with a real resto-mod job. It looks like someone spent time and sweat equity in that paint job, but WHY?
Rivs and others are still rare enough not to be as common as the chevelle or camaro car-show queens. With some taste, a Riviera like that could be very cool.
As it sits it is a running/rolling joke. It has everything, (good donor, money, hard work) except any sense of taste, and without it, it is off the deep end, and the rest doesn't count for much.
What sort person with any shred of self respect would ride in something 8-feet tall, and emblazoned with "donkeyfrog", let alone own it?
The huge clear, heavy, and all sort of stupid wheels are just the beginning of this travesty.
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FLR 11:02AM (11/01/2007)
Hey, does anyone here remember why wheels starting getting larger in the first place? For performance. Less sidewall, less sidewall flex. Duh! I remember back in the early 90's that 16" was considered a performance tire!
Well, my Vette has 18" on the front and 19" on the back. Those are pretty huge! This is the point where the sidewalls are pretty small and you really can't go much smaller to keep the ride somewhat compliant. Also, much bigger and you actually have to lift the vehicle.
Donks...other than screaming "look at me I have no car sense" what is the point? About 5 years ago I saw an 80's Camaro on a monster truck wheel package driving down the street. The guys inside thought they were cool. All the people coming out of the clubs were pointing and laughing.
I fear this is where the Donks will go. Sigh.
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Hulkster 11:18AM (11/01/2007)
I am sorry, but that is stupid. I can't even give it points for creativity!
I happend to see an old Monte Carlo with a nice paint job and these hideous 23" dayton wheels. The guy had to make a good head start turning in order to clear the curb.
I love to see the durability of those wheels through our fine roads here in Michigan!
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Gumby 3:28PM (11/01/2007)
WTF? All I can think about when I see those is Chris Rock talking about strippers wearing clear heels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2e9pBuR-e8
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tweezy 2:14PM (11/01/2007)
just shows off how pathetically small the brakes are on most of these things.
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Gooch 12:56PM (11/01/2007)
Not that I would ever do anything like this to a vehicle -- it's just not my thing -- but the irritation displayed by the posters here surprises me. We are for the most part performance enthusiasts. Other people use their cars for a different sort of expression. Why would you even care about this segment of enthusiasm? It's not like it takes away from the guys who like high performance. Whether we like it or not, it is a sort of automotive enthusiasm.
I wholly understand that it isn't to many people's taste, though. No understatement, no practicality, little in the way of safety and no sensibility. Kind of corny, really.
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Wally 1:01PM (11/01/2007)
You make a good point.
I get aggravated at these idiots b/c a car like this is dangerous, not because it looks retarded. The ridiculous sound systems are another point all together...
georgejetson 1:35PM (11/01/2007)
Hideous.
Can this trend die now, please?
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Luis 2:14PM (11/01/2007)
The "donkey" portion of the name on this car is about right. The second part should have read donkey "_____"...well, insert your own word there.
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