Carrol Shelby Wheels

[ITSAV6]

Anyone ever seen/had these? They were mesh like 88-90 Trans Am GTA wheels.

[Arne]

Back in the '80s we sold them at the tire outfit I used to work for at the time. The mesh style was called "CSS". They made several other styles as well. Most of their styles were kind of two dimensional, not many curves to them. They were OK wheels for the most part. I never owned any though, because that was about the same time that the first Enkei wheels hit the US market, and the Enkeis were so much higher quality that those of us in the business all bought them instead.

[jmortensen]

I had two sets, one 14x7 and one 15x7. The 15x7's were AT LEAST 25 lbs each, maybe more like 30. Heaviest freakin wheels ever. Must have been some lead/aluminum alloy or something.

I like the mesh look but ended up trading to a friend who had the 6 spoke ZX wheels. She drove home and called me and said: "My car seems slower and the brakes don't work right." I had warned her, but she had to have 15s.

[Arne]

True, they probably were rather heavy. But you need to put them in their proper context. Back in the early '80s, their competition was companies like American Racing, Appliance, Western and Keystone. The Shelby's didn't look too bad in comparison. They were one of the first affordable wheel makers to make their wheels hub centering, for example. I don't think I'd want a set now, but back in the day they were acceptable.