Trying to track down a bit of automotive minutae
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What was the first car with modern (cast/forged/machined) wheels? Up until a certain point your only options for factory wheels were wire or stamped steel with a hubcap. Let's try to figure out what car was responsible for changing that.
The person reading this is a doo-doo head
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@EssExTee Bugatti in the mid 20's. I'll try to find a pic from mille miglia last month that shows them.
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@EssExTee
Note that a lot of that style of rim were actually magnesium alloys. If you didn't polish them regularly they would oxidize.
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As @Italia noted, the Bugatti Type 35 came standard with alloy wheels in 1924, but it wasn't a mass-market car.
In the late 1940s, Panhard used an oversized finned aluminum brake drum that doubled as the wheel hub. A steel rim was bolted to that hub.
Cadillac introduced something close to the modern alloy wheel in 1954. It was standard on the 1955 Eldorado and optional on other models.
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@Italia I probably should have specified mass production
The person reading this is a doo-doo head
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@EssExTee yeah there's some Alfa and Abarth stuff in the 40's / 50's too but definitely not mass market.
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I suggest refining the question to be the first mass produced American car. Europe were using them far earlier than US I believe.
Especially given the wheel is a US market wheel.
