I mention custom car designer and illustrator Ed “Newt” Newton earlier. He designed the Roach Coach.
He did the best t-shirt and decal art that came out of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s studio (of Rat Fink fame).
Newton did this illustration that was on both a decal and a shirt. This is a decal that I have.
I see that these wheels look to be all aluminum, unlike the aluminum center and steel hoop rivited together on the G version.
Great catch Scott - another major difference.
I think the contrast between the cast aluminum center and the chrome hoop really look classy on the G Rader wheels.
Just a thought for someone who might want to make these Shelby wheels appear more like the classic Raders - there are quite an assortment of chrome beauty rings in various sizes for sale, I’d be curious to see how that would look on one of these.
You are correct. Looking at the main photo the 2 wheels on the left are different than the 2 on the right. Look at the top lip that would be against the tire. The 2 on the left will then go one step down to the lace pattern. The 2 on the right will go down two steps which makes the lace area smaller.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
Those on eBay have a 5 by 5 1/2" bolt pattern so they are for Ford truck and early Ford / Mercury cars that used that pattern. They will not fit a Cougar.
Yes, the wheels on the left look very close to the Shelby diamond backs posted earlier. Here is a neat article to read about the xr7-g.
https://performance.ford.com/enthusiasts/newsroom/2018/05/68-cougar-xr7-g.html
The spoked Raders were featured on the covers of several of the Wheel Corp. of America/Trans-American Products catalogs.
The Rader spoked wheels certainly aren’t the right look for just any car, but they do look good on some.
Here is a vintage pic of a G that wasn’t subjected to the recall. The tires are miss-matched but I sill love the vibe of this photo.
They really do remind me of the 90’s Crown Vic BBS wheel.
Here is a set of 1995 ( 15" wheels from feebay @ 800 dollars ) for a full size Mercury. They do look like the Rader style.
I have this style, also from 95 Crown Vic/Grand Marquis Sport package. They have exposed lug nuts and a small center cap.
Here’s another G with original Rader wheels, The original owner decided not to participate in the recall. This Lime Frost G is two VIN numbers different from my Madras Blue G.
It goes without saying your G looks fantastic Scott and the Raders really set it off.
I think the regular Mercury chromed styled steel wheels are the very best looking factory mag wheel ever, but I appreciate the fact the Shelby Automotive strived to give the XR7-G Cougar a unique custom wheel. Especially considering that virtually every 1968 Shelby Mustang came with hubcaps.
It’s just a shame that the Raders where flawed by the time they were spec’d for the G.
Here is another vintage pic of a car with the spoked Raders, and I think they look great in this application.
This is a “Jamaican” by a company called Fiberfab. They made fiberglass bodywork designed to customize your early Mustangs or Corvettes and they also designed and made entire bodies that fit on VW, MGA, TR and Austin Healy chassis.
The Jamaican is a nice looking original design IMHO and was made to fit on a Austin Healey.
I think the Raders even look better with a deeper dish like these.
You never know when a spoked Rader might show up.
This is a screen grab from an episode of the Green Hornet T.V. show. It ran for only one season beginning in 1966 and ending in 1967.
The Green Hornet and the super popular '60s Batman T.V. show were both produced by William Dozier. Both shows featured customized “rolling arsenals” that the heroes drove, the Batmobile and in the case of the Hornet, the Black Beauty.
The Batmobile was the work of our buddy George Barris, but the Black Beauty was designed and built by former Barris employee turned rival Dean Jeffries. So Dozier worked with both builders. Jeffries also created the hugely popular Monkeemobile (two actually), one of which Barris bought giving the impression that his shop had built it.
In this episode Hornet alter ego Britt Reid visits a car customization shop. Not only were the cars sitting at the shop provided by Barris but this one sporting shiny new Raders appears to be his personal ride, a '66 Riviera.
Here is a super hi-res scan of just the vehicles on the Hertz Sports Car Club counter card that I have.
I mentioned earlier how I appreciated the fact that Hertz and Shelby Automotive wanted a unique mag wheel for the G. Especially in the light of the fact that virtually all 1968 Shelby Mustangs came with wheel covers.
It seems like every '68 Shelby you see today has the “Ten Spoke” Shelby wheel like on this brochure.
Fact is, both the Shelby and the Cougar here are '67 models that have been mocked up to look like '68s. The reality is that merchandizing materials have to be designed, produced and printed well before the latest models are for sale, so that means that preproduction prototypes need to be made to look like the forthcoming production vehicles.
The “Ten Spoke” mag wheels were an option on '67 Shelbys and fit over the front disc brakes, but as we all know the '68 discs were bigger and '67 factory mags often won’t fit.
This mocked up “'68” Shelby was used on a lot of marketing materials giving the impression that that wheel would be available, but except for a handful of exported Shelbys, it wasn’t. So next time you see a 1968 Shelby Mustang at a show with Ten Spokes, you know that it originally came with wheel covers and those wheels were added by a subsequent owner.
This XR7-G preproduction prototype was photographed and used by Mercury on the few marketing materials that they produced featuring the G - sometimes with airbrushed alterations to make it look even more like the production Gs.
It’s fun picking out the features giving this away as a '67.
Lots of things not quite right. Won’t name them all but that hood scoop is GTE and no G caps for the wheels
Rear view mirror mounting position.
A few years ago I came upon an add for a set of 5 XR7-G wheels. I ended up buying them and they are in very decent condition. I am looking forward to putting them onto my G once it is completed. One thing that I realized after buying them is that my rims are 15" Raders. The XR7-G came with 14" so these are not correct but I am actually glad because well, bigger is better… right?
