This is a ways off for me but I just have to ask all you old school people what has the hot wheel for Japanese cars in the 70's. I'm interested in the SSR Mk series wheels and I want to get a wheel size that is period correct. So again what was a popular size in the late 70's early 80's, what will fit the 79 car, and what was a popular make or model wheel?

 

MiniLites and Panasports in 13" x 6 or 7" width. You can get them in the 4x110 wheel pattern
still as well.

 

These are BBS 15 X7s. Very popular back in the day and will fit with only minor fender lip work. Rather hard to come by these days in 4 X110, however.

 

People were not nearly as 'rim' conscious in the early 80's as they are now. The optional cast-aluminum wheels on the -7 (waffles or the LE wheels) & even the more-common 'plus' aluminum wheels were all standouts in a world dominated by steel rims and hubcaps. Factory-available aluminum or magnesium wheels were still rare.

Most wheel swaps I recall back 'in the day' were done on muscle cars, not sports coupes, and tended to be classic "mag" designs like the ever-popular Cragar SS mags or deep-dish 'slotted' wheels (they weren't even called 'rims'). A few went with drilled & bolted 'drag' wheels.

More exotic sports cars (british, italian, etc) almost all went in for the wire-spoke design. Mesh wheels, in fact, were an imitation of the wire-spoke design originally.

This might be a local phenomenon, too; car fashions used to vary region-to-region a lot more back then; the internet has homogenized car tastes.

People cared more about the tires than the wheels, at the time.

 

I still like my Panasports!!!

 

DD I think you've convinced me to keep my waffles. So then the next question comes up what's a tire for the 13x5.5 inch wheel in the 185/70 size. I was going to order a set but at 500$ order, put on, and balanced I just want to see what you guys are buying. I'm sorry for you guys answering questions that have been asked before, I just don't have the money to throw around to find if something is good or not (college sucks).

 

80's, if I was ever to go aftermarket, I think I'd go with the Panasports. They are iconic, and they really suit the car.

Redliner, I lucked into my 205/60-13's when they were on-sale at Pep Boys about 3 years ago; they were inexpensive and for non-competition 'spirited' driving they work out just fine. Unfortunately, they are NLA.

Tire Rack Still has Sumitomo HTR T4's in 185/70/13. $61 apiece in stock.

 

And if your going waffles then make sure you get RWL on those new tires to really
make them pop.

 

the more famous 4 x 110 wheels of the period would include the minilites ( pics above ) and hotwires in 13 and 14

for 3 piece racing rims ( lightweight )
rays eng/ volk racing artisan spirit ( in 14 ) [ used on some of the euro racers = TWR ]


the volks are particularly light and a genuine 3 piece

these are repainted centres,, normally they are gold /silver

other 3 piece choices would be the simmons rims from australia usually B45 and FR