Feature Fail: Three-Spoke Wheels
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Feature Fail on | 20 comments
For years, automakers have tried to pawn off three-spoke wheels on American car buyers, nearly all of whom have roundly rejected the wheels provided they have any taste. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to remind ourselves of some of the bad – and really bad – three spoke wheels of old.
Original Dodge Viper
The early Viper used this three-spoke wheel design, which may have been intended to take peoples’ attention off the fact that the rest of the car was so awful. Indeed, the three-spoke wheel was the least concerning thing on the Viper, considering its heavy truck transmission, exhaust pipes that burned your legs and plastic side windows that had to be manually taken on or off. Let’s not forget about the other three spoke wheel, which steered the car and had no sign of an airbag.
Saturn was the king of three-spoke wheels, debuting the design in the early 1990s. While most people think the Ion used a three-spoke wheel, it didn’t – instead, the company offered an equally ugly four-spoke wheel. This image shows by far the most offensive of Saturn’s three-spoke wheel designs, screaming “look how cheap I am!” to drivers across the country. (And possibly Canada, which is the only other market with standards low enough to accept Saturn.)
The Infiniti QX4 subscribes to the “fool me once, shame on you” theory of three-spoke wheels, in that it used them on not one generation but rather two. Apparently, this was an attempt to start a trend. It failed, as did the QX4, which would now be called the QX40, or maybe the QX50.
The GMC Envoy was the only SUV to adopt three-spoke wheels after the trend-setting Infiniti QX4 showed us just how cool they could be. There were actually two separate three-spoke wheel designs on the Envoy, and while the other one was uglier, the one in the photo was more popular. Neither should’ve reached production. But then again…
Saab attempted a lot of three-spoke wheels over the years in an effort to prove how different they were. While one of the worst designs is shown here – but, really, it’s tough to pick a favorite. Saab finally ditched the three-spoke wheels in the late-2000s and immediately went into bankruptcy. Oops. In this case, maybe different was a good thing.
Shown here in its natural setting, the Range Rover Classic used the only three-spoke wheel design that’s ever looked good – though I may be biased, as I owned one. Mine was a 1995, which meant it didn’t come with three-spokes from the factory. Fortunately, finding a set of used wheels was as easy as calling any junkyard in New England.
20 Responses to “ “Feature Fail: Three-Spoke Wheels”
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First generation Nissan Pathfinder… that’s where the idea for the QX4 design came from.
How could I have forgotten – it was possibly the ugliest three-spoke of them all!
Lego Wheels? You hate the Lego wheels?
I’m grabbing my Pitchfork and Torch dangit.
Hah! It was so awful!!
Call me crazy but I like the three spoke wheels on the Viper. It was a fitting, odd wheel for an overall odd car as you elaborated on.
Dear Sir,
I must protest! Your inclusion of Saab’s well known and well loved three spoke wheel design in your list of failed wheel design is one predation too many! Saab and only Saab had the gumption and je ne se que to pull off such a daring design statement. Through many generation of design, Saab perfected this unique look, resulting in the culmination of that very wheel pictures, affectionally known as the Klingon! The wheel is called the Klingon, your argument is invalid!
Good day!
But darn, those old Saab three-spokers were SO easy to keep clean!
Oh gosh I’ve always hated those wheels on the Envoy
What about the V6 Mustang!? That the Envoy for some reason decided to copy
I considered it, but later decided – perhaps embarrassingly – that I don’t actually mind the three-spokes on that car.
I have to disagree about the Saab wheels. You picked the least attractive of all the Saab 3-spokes, but there were some that were very well done, and as mentioned above, extremely easy to keep clean. See this for an example.
I will agree that I don’t think they work on most cars, though.
I admit I picked the worst of the Saab wheels. The 900 had some very nice ones in the late ’80s. But it was the late ’80s…
How could you have forgotten the classic Brabus three spokes?
http://www.w140forum.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=8370&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1300897236
Wow… those are bad.
I like the 3-spoke Saab wheels too. The Saturn and Envoy wheels are horrible, though.
It must just because they go with the overall kitschy-ness of SAAB’s, but I also like the 3 spokes on them. Especially the big blocky ones on the 9000 Aero. But otherwise I tend to agree, the RR is the only other one they look good on.
You missed the early 90s Mercury Capri: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mercury-Capri.jpg
Jeez – I forgot about that indeed. Those might be the worst of all.
You forgot to include the terrible “split-three’s” on the GMC Yukons.
http://images.automotive.com/stock/200/GMC/YUKON/2002/5OD.JPG
I guess technically they’re 6 spoke but the way they’re spaced makes them look more like 3.
Hey… you know what’s better than three-spoke wheels? TWO-SPOKE WHEELS! BEHOLD: http://www.cargods.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Wow-OMG-LOL-Toyota-2-spoke-rims.jpg