Vellum Venom Vignette: It's Hip to Be…Hexagon???
My first semester’s Automotive Design class (an elective, taught on a Saturday no less) at CCS was taught by a cool, laid back dude. But he’d get unhinged when his students drew static looking wheels: his beef was four spoke wheels. They are impossible to make “cool”, unless you own a Scion xBox or a Nissan Cube. But can you have a cool wheel that’s not your average spoke-y affair? Welcome to the Hexagon wheel.
Even this unit from the Fox Body Lincolns (1986 Continental and Mark VII) has a charm that verges on ludicrous. The dominance of the hexagonal hub cap is much like the Nissan truck above, but with cleaner lines (i.e. more expensive like an Apple) and a shiny finish. Note how both the Lincoln and the Nissan utilize negative area on half of the Hexagon’s planes to add depth to the package. And the symmetry in the Lincoln’s positive/negative space around the hub cap makes the design more appealing the more you stare at it. Possibly.
While the Nissan has 6 lug nuts and functional cooling passages, the Lincoln’s 5-lug affair is well…very Salt Flat Racer worthy. Point is, both designs work. Especially if you’re in the mood for some Harold Faltermeyer. Or some convulsion-inducing Dubstep.
Or not. Peep this vintage Packard wheel with a strong hexagonal form. Packards regularly sported the red hexagon, and I suspect that 6-lug wheels had something to do with it. Perhaps this was the genesis of it all. Did you think TTAC could make a correlation between a Nissan truck and a Packard today?
Well, there it is. You’re welcome.
More by Sajeev Mehta
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I always liked the early Pontiac honeycomb wheels: hexagonal theme well-integrated into a 5-bolt lug pattern. http://www.akhwheels.com/pages/showWheel.php?pk=146
There have been several three-spoke designs (or three split-spokes) that I've liked. The original Viper's three spokes were cool, older Lexus ES models have had a couple of nice 3 split spoke designs, and the original Ford Probe also had a nice 3 spoke design. And, as mentioned, Saab has done some nice ones as well. Still, I do tend to favor 5 or seven spoke designs.