Rostyle wheel
Rostyle wheels are a design of automobile wheels of American origin but made under licence[1] by the British firm of Rubery Owen – hence RO-Style – The Rostyle wheel was especially popular during the 1960s and 1970s.
The wheels had a characteristic pressed
In the United States, the wheel style was manufactured in
The first appearance of Rostyle wheels on the Rover P5B met with descriptions of them by some testers as "raffish" and "gaudy",[3] and ill-befitting a luxury saloon. At that time, some Rover road testers also referred to the wheels as "Ro-style", suggesting that the name, if not the style, may have first been developed specifically for wheels fitted to Rovers. Although this surfaces as "fact" on forums, it is not correct. The name "Rostyle" is a portmanteau word deriving from "R-ubery O-wen" (the manufacturer of the wheels) and "Style": "ROstyle": "Rostyle".
The firm's
1600E, originally designed for Ford Chairman Len Crossland's wife.Rostyle wheels were the only wheel option on the Range Rover for many years following its introduction. These 16-inch Rostyles were used on the Range Rover until 1986, when they were replaced by alloy wheels. The Rostyles then became optional fitment to the short wheelbase Land Rover (the wheels were not strong enough for use on the long wheelbase models). The Land Rover maintained its optional Rostyle wheels until 1995, becoming the last vehicle to offer them from new.[4]
As well as in Britain, similar wheels were made under license in Germany, Argentina and Australia.
Special masks must be made to paint the wheels of restored cars to resemble the originals.[clarification needed]
Max Sinclair, the sales manager for Rubery Owen in the 1960 to 1980 period, has stated that "We changed the face of motoring, and Mag wheels followed us as their reliability improved."
References
- ^ CAR magazine, October 1967, article "Rover V8: The Chips go Down in the Luxury Stakes"
- ISBN 978-1-4508-1547-5
- ISBN 0-907073-73-5
- ^ "Early RRC steel wheels". Defender Source Forum. Retrieved 2023-02-20.