A Mistake Becomes a Classic

I have been lucky in my automotive life that I have spent most of it in the automotive industry for work. I have met and worked with some of the icons, innovators and movers and shakers of the industry through the many companies I have worked for over the years. I had the privilege of working with Jim Kavanaugh the inventor of the chrome reverse wheel. I have heard many a story about the industry through the years, but this one I just heard recently and had to pass it along. I was talking to a gentleman that worked for Cragar back in the day when the Cragar SS was a new wheel. He told me a fantastic story. When they were designing and cutting the tooling for the Cragar SS the mold maker made a mistake. Roy Richter wanted a slightly different style wheel then what was cut for the mold, but there was no way to modify it to work for what he wanted. They made the tooling to match what Roy wanted and they also produced the mistake. The mistake sold well, but the style that Roy wanted did not. So as you can see what was a mistake has become a classic in the automotive. The Cragar SS wheel has lasted decades from when it was launched in 1964 to today. You can spot it on everything from muscle cars, to vans, to kustoms. It is a classic.