American Racing—A Company With Roots. In 1954, Romeo Palamides, an early drag racing innovator, designed and crafted leading edge, high strength-to-weight magnesium drag racing wheels for his dragster. It was the early years of hot rodding and street enthusiast interest in the lightweight, higher tech wheels was overwhelming. Romeo’s vision, working from a small machine shop in San Francisco with his partner, engineer Jim Ellison, evolved into America’s leading aftermarket wheel company. In 1956, they formed American Racing Equipment.

American Racing Today--Wheels That Perform. Over forty years later, American Racing and it’s 1700 employees offer a complete line of over one hundred precision crafted alloy wheel styles with the same pride, innovation and enthusiasm upon which Romeo Palamides’ original vision was founded. American Racing’s parent company, Noranda, is one of the largest natural resources companies in the world operating mining interests around the globe. From American Racing’s three state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities AR produced over 3.1 million wheels in 2001, including original equipment wheels for major auto manufacturers. American Racing wheels are distributed from company-owned, satellite-connected warehouses, an independent distributor system in the U.S. and through international distributors in over thirty-five countries on four continents. And yes, American Racing continues to offer the latest generation of the original, authentic Torq Thrust for the discriminating enthusiast.

The Vision Continues. With their 2003 Aftermarket Collection and the Pro Series Drag Racing Line, American Racing’s legacy of wheelcrafting continues. Each wheel represents their heritage and an extension of Romeo Palamides’ original vision of innovation and cutting edge.