Nine iconic retro wheel designs

Next time you pore over a new car, spare a thought for the souls tasked with styling those four metal hoops on which it sits.

With a finite number of patterns, shapes and spoke designs that can be used, creating something totally new can’t be easy. Think about it: you literally have to try to reinvent the wheel every time. Play a game of alloy-spotting in the local parking lot and you may have a similar epiphany: rim templates are mostly derivative of each other. So, we decided to reflect on some of the notable rollers to see the light of day.

This is not a definitive catalogue, of course, but a shortlist to start conversation. Perhaps it is telling that most of these choices (except one) are of a 1990s and early 2000s vintage, from certain idolised vehicles of my era. Let us know what your list reads like.

1. BMW: Style 21 M System II Throwing Star

Yes, that is the full, official title for the wheel used on the vaunted E34 M5. Interestingly, this is a wheel cover and not a one-piece alloy. It is underpinned by a generic, black-painted rim. On the M5, you could also have the Style 20 cover, which looked like a fan in an office air-conditioner.

2. Mercedes-Benz: Barock/Bundt/Mexican Hat

Probably the first car wheel I ever took real consideration of as a child, as seen on the family W123. The template had a vast breadth of application, right from the legendary W123 to the flagship W116 S-Class and beyond. The aluminium wheel even saw use on the W126 S-Class of the 1980s.

3. Porsche: 993 Turbo Twist

As the last of the air-cooled variety, this generation of the 911 will forever hold a special place in the hearts of ardent fans. Clichéd as it sounds, the Turbo Twist style of wheel seems as if it was designed to look like it were moving even when still.

4. Alfa Romeo: 147/156 GTA Teledial

The November 2003 press release for the South African launch of the 156 GTA details standard fitment of 224/45/ZR17 wheels. Curiously, the distinctive style of the 17-inch did not seem to have a specific name attached to it. But Alfisti will immediately categorise it as part of the “Teledial” variety, named so for obvious reasons. The brand has a history of exquisite wheels with circular cut-outs central to the aesthetic theme.

5. Volkswagen: BBS 409

The internet is a fantastic place. Without it, finding the obscure style numbers for certain alloy wheel designs would take longer than necessary. You may know the BBS 409 wheel from the VR6 derivatives of the third-generation Volkswagen Golf and Jetta: a version of the iconic duo that remains sought after more than two decades after birth.

6. Opel: Kadett 200ts five-spoke

Sometimes not even a thorough Google search yields a result. All the comments about the wheels of the famed Opel Kadett 200ts are the same: that they were 16-inch and with a five-spoke pattern. Well, duh. Another thing we can infer is that designers in the 90s loved giving performance cars alloys inspired by turbines – and the hairdo of Sonic the Hedgehog.

7. Audi: 8D060125NZ17 S-wheel

Type in this completely unsexy arrangement of numbers and letters in online. And what comes up is a six-spoke wheel design that was rather instrumental in the formative years of the Audi S-division establishment. It was the style of alloy that featured on the B5 S4, C5 S6 and 8L S3.

8. Saab: ALU36 three-spoke double

There are some terrifically strange wheel designs to be found in the archives of Saab (RIP). Among the more mainstream was this Y-shaped arrangement, found on the first generation 9-3, which some might say was a relatively popular sight on South African roads when the brand had a fair presence locally.

9. Ferrari: 166475

The part number for one of the prettiest five-spoke arrangements ever, completing the lusty appearance of the Ferrari F355, poster supercar for many a dreamer in the 1990s.