Pro Touring Wheels

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A little history of pro touring and how our brand fits into that world

Pro-touring is a term coined by long-time magazine editor; Jeff Smith who saw the rising tide of cars not being built in the popular pro-street style of the 80s but in a more user friendly way while still looking aggressive in a road-race and European sportscar influenced style as opposed to the pro-street cars that emulated NHRA Pro Stock cars. Sadly, they only emulated them in look and most were not known for their performance and it was time for a change. R.J. Gottlieb’s “Big Red Camaro” changed all that in the late 80s by putting a 69 Camaro skin over what was basically a NASCAR chassis with great big BBS Wheels and Good Years that were there strictly for keeping the car stuck to the Nevada Highway at 220+. No lie, 220+. That car dominated the open road race known as the Silver State Classic for years and made Porsche and Ferrari owners well aware. “Pro-Touring” was born. Guys who read about it in Hot Rod Magazine were in awe and began to think about alternate ways to build high end show cars that could actually be driven in anger on a road course or just down to the drive-in with the family. I’ve been designing pro-touring cars for a long time now and I always felt like there was something missing from making them look their best. I always looked at all the wheel booths at SEMA every year and the traditional billet wheel companies who started the hot rod wheel industry always had cool 5 spoke wheels in a dizzying array of combinations and the high-end 3-piece road race wheel companies had AMG Mercs and Lamborghinis in their booths and weren’t too interested in my musclecar clients even though they were spending as much money and more as their exotic owning clients. I longed for a certain look and so did a lot of my clients so I pursued getting my designs made and with help and support from friends and clients, We started Rushforth Wheels in Summer 2007 and never looked back. I set out specifically to design a variety of wheels that would look right at home on a stock musclecar with drop springs and an entry level disc brake kit to high-end pro-built cars meant to compete for Good-Guys’ Street Machine of the Year title or get abused at track-day events and autocrosses and even wheel designs that would work on the high end sportscars like M Series BMWs, Porsches, and Ferraris. Our wheels have a certain style that lends itself to a lot of vehicles and tastes and is specifically meant to be contemporary and dynamic with an emphasis on design, style and functionality. This is all done without being overwhelming and busy but showing details and retaining a simplicity without being another plain-jane 5 spoke. So, take a look and see if one of them is just the right thing to set your car apart from the crowd.

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