First of all "thanks Luke!!"
After my odyssey with wheels, rims and tires and whatnot, I must say that there is no definite answer to this question. It may seem funny that I (who was the first on this forum to have those big rims on IIRC) like a nice car with 15 inch rims better than anything else in most cases.
I actually never liked the low sidewall ratio on classic cars. But then I never really liked my convertible either. There was something missing to it.
Then a guy was selling those 18 inch rims and I went and tried them on and suddenly I liked what I saw there. But it didn´t stop there. Once the big rims were on the car it was sitting too high, although it had previously been lowered and looking good.
So I had to lower it even more and then everything fell into place and made the car look like it does. And I was completely taken by the looks.
But you also gotta remember that my car is far from stock appearance, even if it takes a second glance.
It has been stripped of all the moldings and bright work, the fender extensions and hood moldings have been painted, all the lettering and badges have been removed etc. which gives the car a sleeker and slightly more modern appearance. That again makes the big rims and low tires look more at home on it.
If you take a car that has all factory looks and add big rims and low profile tires, they will look like add ons. They will look out of place.
So the type of rim you use on the car is defined by the general aspect and style of the car and, in return, they will again define the general look of the car. It´s a circle.
I love a nice car with classic looks and a killer 15 inch rim (best with a deep dish 10 inch wide rim in the back) with bulging tires. Nothing screams "muscle car" more than that.
Last week I saw a yellow 1970 Mach1 with 15 inch "Nascar" like rims, where the center is flush against the brake disks (unlike the Magnums that have that middle section pointing out). The rims had no center caps and were painted black. To top it off, the car had bulging white letter tires and it looked so badass I wanted to take it home on the spot.
Big rims would not have worked on that particular car.
To sum it up, I must say that there are cars on this forum with big rims that I love but there are some with 15 inch rims that just look stunning!
So it all depends on the personality of your car.
I just thought of something else: I strongly believe that if you go the big wheel route the style of the wheel has to be a classic one. Mine are basically huge Torq Thrusts.
A fancy new shiny modern rim that will look good on a Hyundai will not necessarily look good on a classic. Many people who don´t like big rims on classic are not aware of the fact that they saw a car with rims that were too modern to go with the car and they will blame it on the size instead of the looks.
And another thing is that most modern rims are flush on the outside surface. But for our cars you need a deep dish. Use a flush wheel and it will again look out of place (most of the times). I wish mine had less offset and had a deeper dish in return.
Case in point, I prefer this look for the front - but I need to see if the P245/60/R14's of today would rub in front or not.
-Kurt
I have 245/70/R14s on mine and have plenty of clearance, so 60s should be fine.
Just for reference:
I have 255/60/15 on the original Magnums and they don´t rub, even with my waaay lowered front suspension and stock fender lips (not rolled).
