Hubcap Mike Has The Hubcaps You Need

Hubcap Mike Has The Hubcaps You Need FARM HOME Cars 26-6-41 About 20 years ago, Mike Collins bought 200 hubcaps at bargain basement prices from a car dealer. He took them to a swap meet and came home with more than enough jingle in his pocket to make it worthwhile. That was the day his business was born. Known to most people today as Hubcap Mike, Collins gradually grew his hubcap business to the point where he now ships all over the U.S. and Canada and just about everywhere else in the world, too. His slogan is "the right hubcap right away." With some 40,000 hubcaps sorted, labeled and stored, he knows what he has and can usually ship within 24 hours of receiving an order. He specializes in collectible original caps, mostly '50s and '60s Ford and Chevrolet cars and pickups. "I sell more hubcaps for Chevrolet pickups than just about any other single category," he says. Collins has hubcaps for cars and trucks from the 1940's on up. Most of his stock is original equipment, but he also carries reproduction hubcaps for several popular restorable models. Collins says when it comes to original hubcaps, he only stocks those he finds in very good or excellent condition. "Most of what I have has been used, but I do have a lot of brand new original stock that we've found on old dealership shelves and so on," he says. "I make the rounds of the big automotive swap meets and buy the best of what I find being offered there," he says. "Many of the people selling there are garage sale buyers who pick up one here, two there, until they have several to sell." While he has plenty of 1/2 ton pickup hubcaps for both Ford and Chevy, 3/4 and 1-ton hubcaps are harder to find. "I have some on hand for 3/4-ton GMC's but I don't have any for 1-ton Fords. I find them once in awhile but they're usually sold within a few days." While most of Collins' customers are restoring a vintage car or just trying to find something reasonably priced for a newer vehicle, he also sells to collectors and even decorators. "I got a call from a restaurant owner in Florida who wanted some to put on the walls of a room. He didn't care what shape they were in - he just wanted a hubcap motif. Another customer wanted one of everything I had from Ford. He mounted them in a display, with brass plaques below identifying the vehicles they were made for and the years they were made." Prices start around $20 per cap for early vintage reproductions. "Most of what I sell is priced from $30 to $40 each. The most I ever got for one hubcap was $500, for a 1956 Lincoln Mark II. Those are extremely rare." Whether you need hubcaps or have some vintage ones to sell, you can contact him. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Hubcap Mike, 2465 North Batavia Street, Orange, Cal. 92865 (ph 714 685-8801 or toll-free 800 774-6637; fax 714 685-8804).

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