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Begining in January 1964, the Federal government of Mexico imposed heavy regulations on the origin of vehicle components of any car sold in Mexico. Sixty percent of an auto's content had to be produced in Mexico by Mexican based companies. From that time on, all wheel covers were manufactured in Mexico and were done with designs were not used in the US. Full wheel covers were common in the mid sixties as it had been a common practice of automakers since the fifties.
In 1969, an attactive steel wheel with cooling vent holes was introduced along with various attractive center "dog dish" wheel covers were available on everything from utilitian four doors to Valiant Super Bees.
The steel wheel was manufactured by Kelsey Hayes and were painted an argent silver color similar to the US Rallye wheels. The six ovalish slots where functional and helped to cool the brakes. While similar to the US 15" cop wheels, these wheels predated the US style by five years and were only available as 14x5.5" rims. These were used from 1969 to 1977.
In 1978, Chrysler adopted the "Rallye" wheel (appeared as a sporty option beginning in the US in 1970) as its standard corporate wheel and used it on base level cars like the Dart, the Volare, and the Diplomats through the end of the RWD Mopars in Mexico in 1982.
There were many different styled wheel covers produced for the Mexican market that were specific to Mexico and were never found on US Mopars. A few of them are pictured below.
1967 Dart wheel cover. This is a 1967 full wheel cover.
1969 Dodge hubcap. The center cast pot metal section is fastened to the stamped steel cap with slotted screws This same hubcap was produced with a Barracuda fish as the center piece for 1968-1969 Barracudas, and with a Plymouth spear for 1968-1969 Plymouths and Valiants.
2 '69 Dodge hubcaps and a mid-70's hubcap. The mid 70's hubcap was standard on Valiant Dusters and Darts begining in 1974. Their use was continued on Aspens and Volares.
1972-73 Mopar hubcap mounted on the unique steel wheel of a 1972 four door sedan.
1970 Dodge hubcap This hubcap was also produced with the Plymouth Valiant symbol. This style hubcap was used with and without trim rings on 1970-71 Coronets, Darts, and Valiants.
1970 Dodge hubcap and 1980's Dodge truck hubcap.
The famous 1969 "recall wheels" that Chrysler contracted out the manufacturing duties to Kelsey Hayes have surfaced in Mexico. When Chrysler returned the recalled wheels to Kelsey Hayes, they were shipped to Mexico and sold as aftermarket wheels. Below are two examples.
The wheel on the Maverick is NOT a recall wheel. Rather it is an aftermarket wheel that Kelsey Hayes manufactured after 1970. At first blush it looks identical to the "recall" variety but upon careful inspection, the wheel is clearly different. The relief holes cast into the center section are not round like on the "recall wheels".
The second example is most certainly an original recall wheel. This is a 15" 5x4.5" lug version version which might have originally been slated for a high option US market Charger. Close inspection shows that the gold paint carries a lot of overspary on the chrome steel rim and was most likely applied to give the unfinished aluminum a "handsome" finish. This taxi driver was not interested in discussing the possiblity of a sale or trade of his two Kelsey Hayes rims. This is the third set of original Kelsey Hayes wheels I have seen on the road in Mexico, one full set was the small 5x4" lug pattern version.
