The year was 2001: The Fast and The Furious movie was a phenomenon (yes, there was only one so far), computer geeks tuning a Honda Civic were outrunning exotic cars, and its seems like every cool kid had a loud exhaust, neon underglow, and spinner rims. I’ll never forget seeing parking lots full of custom cars with this “tuner” look in my formative years.

Very simply, “floating” or “spinning” wheel covers/hubcaps are on a bearing so they can move independent of the car. When the vehicle is rolling, these wheel covers may spin slower and appear to float. When you stop, they tend to keep spinning for a while. The result is hypnotic.

One of the first custom scenes to adopt spinners was custom “donk” car culture in the American south. These hotrod 1970s Chevies have lift kits to fit rims up to 30 inches. One way to accentuate these rims is to choose spinners or “floater” wheels.

In the 1980s. muscle cars still had a monopoly on the cool old customs to build. But with the fastest street racers of the 1990s running Civics and RX-7s, drivers became increasingly proud of their Japanese-built cars. Young folks with a hand-me-down Mitsubishi or Nissan began to trick their cars out, even just with accessories bought from a chain parts store. These accesories might include cool vinyl graphics, underglow, and chrome-colored plastic “spinner” hubcaps.

Spinner wheel covers fell out of style for decades. But here’s to hoping they make a comeback. Reddit user “Alternative_Oil_5017” recently asked the /r/Autos forum about buying spinners. See the original post below.

Where can I get spinner-hubcap‘s?
byu/Alternative_Oil_5017 inAutos

The poster received a huge range of comments. I’m sad to say the most upvoted one was a snide joke. “1999.” Other insults which didn’t get as many upvotes included “check your local dumpsters” and “I hear they come with a pair of JNCO jeans now. And a wallet chain.”

The truth is that while different automotive enthusiasts love different looks, the community modifying their cars is generally supportive. Comment number two (with 271 upvotes) was more positive.

“Why are car enthusiasts always so boring? These comments are depressing. Get the f—–g spinners man, it’s a laugh, chuck some neon underglow on as well but please save some p—y for the rest of us”

Reddit user trombones_for_legs

Other users weighed in and offered the original poster real advice. AvarethTaika jumped in and said “DUB still makes spinners and they look sick.” Then they linked Dub Wheels’ landing page for its spinners, which includes 19 separate products. These are huge chrome rims, perfect for modern Donk builds. But the cheapest is the S777 Bellagio which is forged aluminum finished in chrome and starts at $2,150–per rim!

Alternative_Oil_5017 responded, “They do look pretty good but they are pretty expensive that’s actually why I want hubcaps.” It would be silly to pour $8k plus into rims that you may or may not end up loving–if you even have $8k in your car modification budget. That is probably why auto parts stores and big box stores began selling chromed plastic spinner hubcaps in the first place.

User hack_jalsey came through with a link to a $50 surplus of four 14″ spinner wheel covers on eBay, called just that “spinner wheel covers.” Let’s hope they fit, and there are other leftover spinner wheel covers out there.

If you are shopping for “spinner wheel covers” don’t get them confused with old sports car rims (think 1960s and earlier) that have a single “mono lug” in the center, often called a “spinner.” Sadly, the only new “spinner” wheel covers on Walmart’s website are fixed, and designed to look like these “knockoffs.”

My favorite comment may have been by by DucatiCam18: “My grandma wants some too ? totally threw me off when she asked me where to get some.”

I’ll admit that I have yet to own a car with plastic spinner wheel covers/hubcaps. But I’m all for them. As vehicle modifications go, they are some of the safest and least invasive ones to drive on public roads. And if your spinners make you smile, I’m 100% for them.

Next, learn exactly what a “donk” car is, or see a Chevy Malibu on spinners in the video below: