Posted on 07/23/2003 7:47:25 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
Keeping it wheel with rims
DANTE SPELLER’S gleaming, 20-inch rims sparkle in the sun like diamonds. The chrome monsters jack up the gray Mazda Millenia parked in the driveway of his Portsmouth home.
Speller, 24, an Army security officer, spent $3,500 to decorate his tires with custom chrome. He’s invested more than $8,000 on after-market accessories, including five TVs, a DVD player and stereo system.
Now he is eager to move on to the crown jewels of rims: 21 inches or more. “The biggest rims are the prettiest,” he said.
These days, chrome wheels are big business, transforming ordinary auto parts into urban fashion statements. The bigger they are, the better.
To upgrade to 21-inch wheels — 16-inch might be considered standard for a car this size — Speller would need to trade in his 20s and pay another $1,500 for a set. If the oversized rims don’t fit his Millenia, he might buy a new car. It’s going to make him the envy of his friends and attract attention from the ladies. Or so he says.
“It’s all about who can have the best.” Five years ago, the most popular rims — known as dubs — had a 20-inch circumference. Now those are dwarfed by 22-, 24- and even 26-inchers.
“It’s a status thing,” said Warren Lee Durand, owner of Lee’s Tires and Rims, an after-market accessory shop in Norfolk. About 40 to 45 percent of the store’s business comes from the high-end wheels, which start at about $3,000 a set, he said. Durand, who opened Lee’s 18 years ago, estimated his store has fitted custom rims on at least 8,000 vehicles since 2000. The demand for flashier, more expensive rims is growing annually, he said.
“People typically want the biggest rims that can fit on their vehicle,” Durand said. Lee’s most popular rims are still 20-inchers, he added, because they’re more affordable than the larger sizes.
Rims can cost as much as $4,500 per wheel. Some people put pricey custom wheels on junkers worth far less than the wheels themselves. Credit rap music for the craze. Rims have been the subject of rap songs since the mid-1990s.
“You see the Bentley got the 20-inch chrome, ya heard me?” — “U Heard Me,” 50 Cent
“I put dubs on cars — when I ride, I’m fly.” — “#1 Stunna” by the Big Tymers
“We thuggin’, rollin’ on dubs, off up in the club, whylin’ like what.” — “We Thuggin’,” Fat Joe featuring R. Kelly
Rims are “like a culture,” complete with their own language, said Alex Irwin, 27, a salesman at Lee’s Tires and Rims. Some of it is popularized by celebrities who flaunt them in videos or on TV. Shaquille O’Neal pointed to the chrome 22’s on his red Mercedes Benz on the MTV show “Cribs.” Wheels themselves have their own argot. They are “twinkies,” “blades,” “shoes” and “sneakers.” The 23-inch wheels are often called “Jordans,” a reference to Michael Jordan’s jersey number.
Cars, Irwin said, are a significant part of the rap image these days. They’re the new jewelry.
For some young people, it is embarrassing to have factory wheels. The only thing worse would be hubcaps.
“You can have a car completely done up, but if you have factory wheels on it, people would laugh at it,” Speller said. Chrome wheels haven’t always been in vogue. Ten years ago, there were only a few designer rim producers. In 1991, U.S. sales of custom rims were $1.26 billion, according to the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association. Today, the custom-wheel industry is a $3.23 billion-a-year business, with about 150 companies. Specific models, sold under brand names like Lexani, Lowenhart, Vault, Limited and Milano can sell for up to $15,000 a set. The wheels that command the biggest price tags are Sprewells, named for Latrell Sprewell, the New York Knicks player who owns Sprewell Racing. They keep spinning like pinwheels even after the car has stopped.
Patricia McDonald, bookkeeper at Joe’s Tires and Rims in Norfolk, said plus-sized rims still have a few kinks in them, especially when they’re put on thinner tires. The ride becomes bumpier, she said. “But most people who buy them don’t care about that,” she said. “They want them for the looks.”
Car manufacturers such as Dodge and Saturn have jumped on the chrome bandwagon, designing “customizable” vehicles that allow drivers to choose rims as big as 20 inches.
Durand said he has seen some older customers — men in their 40’s and 50’s — buy rims for their luxury cars. But the typical buyer is still a teenager or a man in his early 20s.
Tyrell Beamon, 28, owns a black 2000 Cadillac Escalade decked out with six TVs, a camera in the license plate, headrests that read “Beam,” tinted windows and a backseat full of 12-inch woofers.
But his 26-inch Bazo spinning rims offer a serious gawk factor when he stops at a red light and they keep spinning.
“They’re guaranteed to spin four minutes after you stop,” said Beamon, a gospel music producer. His fancy rims cost him $17,000. He has invested about $35,000 in souping up his SUV — $3,000 more than he spent on the vehicle itself.
But Beamon doesn’t advise people to buy the high-priced rims if they can’t really afford them.
“It’s a shame that a lot of these kids out here are dumping their paychecks straight into wheels, not caring about a savings account or a new house,” he said.
For those who can’t afford it, local rim stores have financing plans.
Steven Bryant, a 19-year-old Tidewater Community College student, plans to spend about $150 a month for his $2,500 new wheels, complete with chrome rims, on his 1995 Chrysler Sebring. Bryant, who lives with his mom in Chesapeake, has 18-inch rims now, but he wants 20s.
“I have a part-time job, and my mom is going to help, so I got to get ’em,” he said. “I have to get bigger.”
And anyone want to bet that Steven Bryant, the 19 year old doesn't have health insurance, and if he does, how many like him don't yet spend huge sums on rims yet we are supposed to feel sorry for them and kick in many hundreds of dollars to get them health insurance or other welfare benefits.
I'd like to see that. Just to see it.
Ginuwine: "Hell yeah" : "Have you seen those Big Tymers pull up in the front of the club Twenty-fours like hell, yeah"
Lots of pop-culture references to 24's these days, meaning, of course, 24" rims.
I've seen these. Pretty neat, but SEVENTEEN THOUSAND?!!??
The real brand name of the "Sprewell" wheels is Davin. Personally I think spinning wheels are a fad. They don't impress me.
It reminds me of the old joke, the mouse and the elephant...
An elephant and a mouse were walking through the woods, when all of a sudden the elephant falls into a big hole.
The mouse yells, "don't worry, I will get you out", so he leaves and comes back with his corvette, throws down a line and tows the elephant out of the hole.
Again the two were walking when the mouse falls int a similar hole. The elephant says, "Don't worry, I will get you out!", The Elephant then straddles the hole, alows his *ahem*(women readers) to fall down int to the hole, where the mouse gratuitously climbs up and out.
The moral of the story is; If you have a big *ahem*, you don't need a corvette!
I saw one set. Sort of cool looking.
I'd pay $50 extra on my next car to have 'em.
If they still let us drive cars in 2010...
--Boris
"President Bush better do something about this economy," said Mr. Iza Freakinidiot, as he drove his $35,000 SUV to the auto accessory shop to have $40,000 worth of accessories put on it.
That kind of stuff only works for Harleys anyway. 8^)
I thougt I was losing my mind the first time I saw them.
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