Editing Hubcap (section)

==History==
[[File:PensacolaAug081920sHubcaps.jpg|thumb|upright|Display of 1920s automobile hubcaps and a removal tool]]

Hubcaps were first used on the Newton Reaction Carriage in 1680.<ref name="browne">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=U3rJxPYT32MC&q=Hubcaps+were+first+used+on+the+Newton+Reaction+Carriage+in+1680&pg=PA416 |page=416 |title=The guide to United States popular culture |first1=Ray B. |last1=Browne |first2=Pat |last2=Browne |publisher=Bowling Green State University Popular Press |year=2001 |isbn=9780879728212 |via=Google Books |access-date=25 April 2023}}</ref> The first hubcaps were more commonly known as dust or grease caps. These caps are threaded onto the center hub on the wood, steel, or [[wire wheel]]. These were made from the beginning of car manufacturing to 1932. Pre-1915 hubcaps were all mostly made of brass that was nickel-plated. The 1920s hubcaps were mostly aluminum. Grease caps of the wire wheel brands such as Houk, Hayes, Frayer, Dayton, Buffalo, House, Phelps, Pasco, Rudge Whitworth, Budd, and Stewart are some of the hardest to find. When a customer went to buy the wire wheels, the make of the vehicle would be stamped in the center. During 1927 and 1928, the first snap-on center caps were being made on the wire wheels. After 1932, almost every car had a snap-on style center cap on the middle of their wire, steel, or wood wheels. Wire wheel center caps in the 1930s had a spring-loaded retention clip system that has been used on many hubcaps and center caps on every style of car and truck to the present day.{{Citation needed|reason=reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=January 2014}}

Steel wheels in the 1930s had retention clips mounted to the wheel that snapped into a lip in the back of the cap. Wood wheels were a special option. The caps on these had a large chrome base that mushroomed up to another smaller chrome base that would have the emblem on the face. The "stem" up to the second base was usually painted black to make it look as if the top base was floating. These caps were usually made of brass, steel, or aluminum. During the mid-1930s the first full wheel covers were introduced to fit over the entire wheel, except for a small portion of the rim closest to the rubber tire.<ref name="understanding">{{cite web|url= https://www.wheelcovers.com/understanding-the-purpose-of-hubcaps/ |title=Understanding the Purpose of Hubcaps |website=wheelcovers.com |access-date=25 April 2023}}</ref>

[[Cord automobile|Cord]] and [[Hudson Motor Car Company|Hudson]] were the early adopters.{{Citation needed|reason=reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=January 2014}} Cord made a plain chrome wheel cover that had a smooth top and holes in the side. The Hudson wheel cover was flat with a lip halfway to the middle and the center would say "Hudson", "Hudson Eight", or "[[Terraplane]]". This configuration differs from the "knock-off" [[spinner (wheel)|spinners]] found on some racing cars and cars equipped with true wire wheels. While the knock-off spinner resembles an early hubcap, its threads also retain the wheel itself, in lieu of lug nuts.

When pressed steel wheels became common by the 1940s, these were often painted the same color as the car body. Hubcaps expanded in size to cover the lug nuts that were used to mount these steel wheels. They then serve to protect the lug nuts or wheel bolts from rust and corrosion that could make them hard to remove when it was necessary to change the wheel to repair a tire.<ref name="TomAndRay">{{cite web |last1=Magliozzi |first1=Tom |last2=Magliozzi |first2=Ray |author1-link=Tom and Ray Magliozzi |title=Ever wonder do hubcaps serve any purpose |url= https://www.cartalk.com/content/ever-wonder-do-hubcaps-serve-any-purpose |work=Car Talk |date=1 January 2010 |access-date=25 April 2023}}</ref>

An option on some cars was a chrome-plated trim ring that clipped onto the outer [[Rim (wheel)|rim]] of the wheel, in addition to the center hubcap. The full wheel cover became popular that covered the entire wheel. These became increasingly decorative in style and were typically made from chrome-plated or stainless steel.<ref name="understanding"/> Basic automobiles came standard with simple, unadorned, and inexpensive hubcaps called "poverty caps" or "dog dish caps" due to their size and shape.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OtKWmLLiuTgC&q=dog+dishes+also+dog+dish+caps+or+dog+dish+hubcaps&pg=PA64 |pages=64 and 158 |title=The ultimate hot rod dictionary: a-bombs to zoomies |first=Jeff |last=Breitenstein |publisher=Motorbooks International |year=2004 |isbn=9780760318232 |via=Google Books |access-date=25 April 2023}}</ref> Various optional full wheel covers of various designs were optional or were standard equipment on higher trim models. Metal hubcaps also offer an audible warning should a wheel nut work its way off.<ref name="TomAndRay"/> During the 1960s and 1970s, automakers also offered stainless steel spoke full wheel covers that simulated the look of traditional, and more costly, wire-spoke wheels.<ref name="browne"/>

Specialty wheels of magnesium or aluminum alloy had come onto the market, and wheel covers were a cheap means of imitating their styling. Plastic wheel covers (known in the UK as wheel trims) appeared in the 1970s and became mainstream in the 1980s. The first domestic automobile to use a full plastic wheel cover was the Chevy Monza which featured a "wind blade" design and came in several colors.{{Citation needed|reason=reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=January 2014}}

The variety and number of hubcaps available as original equipment have increased.<ref name="Abbott">{{cite news |last1=Abbott |first1=Jim |title=For 35 years, Hub Cap House has keep wheels turning in Daytona Beach |url= https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/business/automotive/2020/09/14/hub-cap-house-has-been-business-35-years-holly-hill/5616418002/ |newspaper=Daytona Beach News-Journal |date=14 September 2020 |access-date=25 April 2023}}</ref> Plastic has now largely replaced steel as the primary material for manufacturing hubcaps and trims, and where steel wheels are still used, the wheels are now generally painted black so the wheel is less visible through cutouts in the wheel trim. On modern automobiles, full-wheel hubcaps are most commonly seen on budget models and base trim levels, while upscale and performance-oriented models use alloy wheels. Even modern aluminum alloy wheels generally use small removable center caps, similar in size to the earliest hubcaps. The variety of wheel trims on any particular car has expanded significantly, for example, a 2003 BMW Z3 had 23 different wheel options.<ref name="Abbott"/>

<gallery mode="packed">

File:1921 Hudson Phaeton red-black AACA Iowa 2012 wl.jpg|Center small hubcap with automaker's logo
File:1966 Rambler American 2-door hardtop custom 401 um-t.jpg|"Dog dish" cap on a painted steel wheel
File:1964 Rambler Classic 770 wagon-green Ann-w.jpg|Stainless steel wheel cover
File:1967 AMC Marlin white with red interior 07.jpg|Simulated "wire wheel" cover with spinner ornament
</gallery>