For 2024, we wanted to shine some light on the unsung heroes of automotive design: steel wheels. As a hallmark of base-model vehicles for decades, steel wheels (or steelies as we call them) have seriously fallen out of favor in recent years, with manufacturers that would rather go with an alloy wheel instead.
This makes sense, as there’s a cheapness to vehicles with hubcaps, and it’s a turn-off to consumers, but there’s an honesty to an uncovered steel wheel that works on the right vehicle. The right vehicle is usually an off-roader of some kind.
We’ve compiled a list of 10 new vehicles you can buy with steel wheels in 2024, with some obvious entrants and some true gems, too. Today, we’re spoiled with some fantastic wheel designs from the factory, but we genuinely think some of these simple factory steel wheel options are among the best designs out there. Unfortunately, the factory steel wheel category is shrinking yearly, but we’ll continue to appreciate them as long as their rugged appearance graces our wheel wells.