Case of the Mondays: Bad Rims Ruining Muscle Cars

When we were kids, we all played with Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars. Heck, you probably had hundreds of ’em. It was sort of a right of passage for us car guys. But, as wild as some of those Hot Wheels cars might have been, there was no way we’d really want a car that looked like a front-engine dragster with a human skull for a cab or ridiculously-painted hot rods that change colors when you get them wet. Yet, somehow, there’s some dudes who just haven’t figured out the difference between what was cool as a kid and what is cool as an adult.

While the list is nearly limitless as to how to ruin a perfectly good muscle car, we’re going to have to step in and say that “dubs,” those obscenely-stupid rims you typically see on early-80’s Monte Carlos and mid-90’s Caprices, are right at the top of our list. Here are some of the biggest offenders. Try not to throw up…


New Camaros are appealing to a wide array of enthusiasts. While the muscle car community welcomes everyone with a passion for these cars, shoeing these ponies with rims this big (not to mention ugly) removes it’s ability to do anything other than clearing road debris.


We’re certain Burt Reynolds would slap this guy right across the face for doing this to a ’78 Trans Am. The Bandit does not approve…


Oh yes, you too, Mr. Foose are guilty of muscle car abuse. Quadruple and quintuple-tone paint jobs, drop-down LCD DVD screens, massive bass box speakers, neon iridescent interiors and gaudy 24-inch rims does NOT make a muscle car. It makes a hoopdie.


What was Chrysler’s most aerodynamic B-Body, the ’71-’73 Chargers and Road Runners were super successful NASCAR machines. Now, it has been reduced to more of a flying cheese wedge on rollers skates. Well done.


What was arguably Chevrolet’s most muscular design, the ’70-through-’72 Chevelles looks “redonkulous” while these shoes beneath it. Forget acceleration. Nevermind handling. These take the muscle out of this legendary muscle car, and that is a shame.

About the author

Kevin Shaw

Kevin Shaw is a self-proclaimed "muscle car purist," preferring solid-lifter camshafts and mechanical double-pumpers over computer-controlled fuel injection and force-feeding power-adders. If you like dirt-under-your-fingernails tech and real street driven content, this is your guy.
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