[aerohead]

The 'designer' wheel industry took off in the wake of the introduction of Hallibrand magnesium racing wheels (mags) at SCCA sanctioned racing events in the 1960s?
After Crager and Micky Thompson and others made a fortune selling their 'mags' in the aftermarket,automakers smelled money,and decided that they'd offer their own in-house cosmetic wheels to steal sales away from the aftermarket and boost their own profits.
It's probably a multi-billion dollar industry today.
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Skirts steal fire from these fancy wheels,and you can imagine the hesitation on the part of boards of directors to cover up the golden goose.
Skirts have to be dealt with in 4-season driving environments and maybe,from a utility standpoint,seem more like a PITA to owners,than a technological boon.
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We don't have really low drag cars for sale yet (the VW XL1 is knocking on the door),so the impact of skirts isn't fully felt until we get further down that road.
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'guess we could go on and on.