Spinner Wheels - By: Mykalanne Gutierrez

Do you ever wonder how they get those fancy spinning rims to serve as Hummer H2 Wheels ? Me too, which is why I decided to write this article. They’re so much more than that spinning exterior surface that people see. How do they spin? Who invented it? Is there a scientific formula that goes with them? Let’s not get too carried away with the questions, but I’ll try my best to be as descriptive as I can. Ready? I bet you are.

To start off with an interesting fact, this “spinning-fad” was inspiration for a small R&B / Soul in a small area surrounding Detroit called The Domingoes. After they saw that this could potentially be the “next big thing”, they renamed themselves The Spinners in the late 50s. I know, right? The terminology was introduced in the 1950s, but was meant to have a totally different meaning. The original spinner was considered to be a center cap that pretty much looks like a propeller that is generally made up of two or three projecting “blades”. They were made to imitate the actual spinners that were featured on the classic racing cars and timeless sport cars like the the Chevrolet Corvette Wheels or Porsche 911 Rims. Just like today, they were considered to be an “upgrade” to the standard steel rim or full wheel cover.

Spinners were technically invented in the late 80s by a man named James Gragg. There was a wheel spinner patent that was created in October 1992, but issued on March 1, 1994 as the very first wheel spinner that was “free-spinning”.. if that makes any sense. As of now, Gragg is still alive and has still made more spinners for different types of cars. He actually made one that has spun for over eighteen minutes (which is quite a long time for average spinners, I’m guessing) and another one that has twenty-seven different spinning modes; which seems kind of odd to me, but oh well. This spinner was named the “Tru-Spinner” that had it’s own wheel spinning technology. Pardon me if I laugh, but technology for a spinning wheel? I pretty much assumed that it only needed wind or like a small breeze to actually spin. But I’m always wrong when it comes to this type of thing so it really doesn’t surprise me.

They are considered to be Aftermarket so you’re going to see a lot of imitations and copies of the actual one; but thinking about it, there probably isn’t a genuine “OEM” spinner. Neither Hummer nor Cadillac offer these wheels as Factory Original. So if you’re looking for one to spice up your car and impress the ladies, you’ll probably find one without even looking that hard. As a matter of fact, remember the movie “Batman Forever?” His Bat Mobile has spinners on them! They’re so cool that even super heroes have to have them on their car.

In 1994, they were only considered to be part of the “Custom & Concept Cars”. That was when they first got into the public eye and when other people wanted to develop the technology of this simple; but stylish, mechanism. Can you believe that they actually conduct tests on these things to see how long they can spin for? I mean, seriously? I thought they were just there to make the car look all flashy and stuff; but apparently not.

So yeah; you can say that they’re “cheesy” or look really nice on some cars; I personally think that they look pretty cool on like all black Cadillac Escalades or big SUV’s like that, but that’s just me. Now you know more about these Spinners that you were so fascinated by! Cool, huh? Feel free to visit us at OriginalWheels.com for all of your wheel needs (:

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