R.S. Watanabe Eight Spoke – Type A

Quite possibly the most iconic wheel of all time, and the most copied wheel of all time. Is the R.S. Watanabe the original banana spoke wheel? Both Watanabe and British Minilite claim credit for this design accomplishment, and have wheels appearing on race cars thousands of kilometers apart in the early sixties. When JAWA, and it’s JWL certification standards were founded in 1968, the Watanabe Eight-Spoke was already there and waiting.

Available in nearly a dozen different variations, this entry is dedicated to the Aluminum Type A. This first offering of the Eight-Spoke was catered towards sports cars of the sixties and seventies, featuring small diameters and low offsets. As a cast design, the wheel achieved incredible weights and strength that has kept it relevant to this day.

The wheel has now been in production for nearly seventy years and looks just plain right on practically any vehicle ever.