Concept Car Studio’s Rad Giugiaro-Inspired Wheels Were Designed By Queer Artists For A Wide Enthusiast Audience

One of the biggest reasons people love car designs from the 1980s and ’90s are the wheels, which were often funky and completely untraditional, a vibe that has largely been gone from wheel design for years until a recent resurgence. Still, in the aftermarket scene it can be tough to find well-made aftermarket wheels with throwback designs that fit iconic cars like the Subaru XT or Lamborghini Countach. My friend Brent Lawson is working to solve that with the Vector wheel he’s created for his Concept Car Studio brand, and I sat down with him to learn all about this rad project.

Ten years ago with restricted access to a car Lawson was searching for alternative ways to get into the car industry, and says he “quickly found that there were a lot of car enthusiasts that shared similar experiences outside of the mainstream binary of modern car culture.” After starting Concept Car Studio he partnered with all sorts of artists and companies like Red Bull to print the excellent culture magazine Leatherette, which focused on the intersection of queer culture and the custom car scene, and put on events like the Nokturnal Emissions rave that “helped introduce queer people to historical custom car culturalists,” says Lawson. “We had these OG car guys with tattoos and big clothes hanging out with dolls in two pieces and glittered skin balm. It was awesome to be able to connect these two scenes together through cars and music. Drawing unusual connections is what Concept Car Studio is all about.”

Now, after spending almost two years in creative roles at Donut Media, Lawson has launched the custom-order Vector wheel, partnering with an all queer team to do it. He recently showed the first physical set on an Isuzu Impulse at the recent Analog and Grit show in San Diego, and they look incredible.

In searching for other artists to work with Lawson met his friend Rico Zhang, a car builder and drifter who is also the main manufacturing partner for the Vector, by looking up the #cargay hashtag on Instagram — every gay reading this story can relate, I’m sure. Also contributing to the wheel project are Ingrid Montes and Hussain Agha, artists that Lawson has previously worked with on visual and engineering collaborations, and who he also met in online Discord servers. “They’re amazing historians and we’re all queer so it’s very comfortable working with them and shooting the s***,” Lawson says, “these online spaces have been a great way for me to meet talented people (oftentimes international artists) just trying to diligently archive Socal’s rich car culture.”

The real reason the Vector came to be is Justin Freeman, one of the Donut Media hosts who is splitting the production costs to produce the wheels and who Lawson says has been “instrumental in making content and connecting us to more influencers.” Lawson had the idea to design a set of wheels for Freeman’s Subaru XT, but they had the idea to debut the Vectors on his Isuzu Impulse instead. “The design of the Vector is an expression of restraint, which is what Giorgetto Giugiaro, the designer of the Impulse, is known for,” Lawson says, “so the application ended up working quite synchronously.” The Vector name is taken from the Vector W8 supercar, perhaps the most spectacular of all the wedge cars from that era.

While the Vector’s two-spoke (or would you call it a four-spoke?) design was created with wedgy rad-era machines in mind, Lawson and I agree we think they’d work on all sorts of different types of cars, and he’ll be able to make them basically however you want. Concept Car Studio will offer the Vector in everything from 14 inches to 26 inches, with any bolt pattern or offset, and in one-, two- or three-pieces setups. You’ll be able to do whatever finish you want too, from brushed metal or chrome to matte or gloss paint. Prices for a set of 17-inch Vectors will be $3,700 including shipping with 16s costing $100 more, while custom sizes and builds are currently price on request. 

Part of that large spread of possible configurations. is because enthusiasts don’t have many good options when it comes to modern aftermarket wheels. “I’ve found that the formula for creating designs of wheels is largely based on what these brands know will sell. It also doesn’t help that these wheel brands are a part of large conglomerates that manage a bunch of other wheel businesses in their portfolio, Lawson says. “They will invest in molds, pay premiums on high MOQs but only do so if its going to be for a traditional style. We realized that nobody since the early 2000s has tried to offer the public weird wacky wheels that are completely unique, offered in small sizes and highly customizable at an affordable price.” He adds that the wheels are forged, so much stronger than the typical cast wheels you see these days, and they’re also JWL rated. “We wanted to make wheels that were truly unique and safe for people who need to track their small cars, and a lightweight design is on the way,” says Lawson.

At the Analog and Grit event people didn’t even realize the Vectors were a new wheel as they looked so period-correct for the Impulse, which is when Lawson knew he accomplished something cool. “Our wheels not only represent history through offering designs and sizes compatible with your MR2, Saab 900 or Volvo 740 Turbo — they are contributing to a conversation unfolding right now within modern car design language that we think is in desperate need for an evolved aftermarket wheel brand,” he says. “So this is where we step in. The Vector can be spec’d to your Ioniq 5, your Cybertruck or your G-wagen and comes in any color, finish and size you can imagine. It feels good that we can produce wheels in a 24 and a 14 and not have any other competitors trying to do what we are doing.”

The brand recently posted renderings of the Vector on a Countach, showing a potential application that would look awesome in real life. Lawson also showed me a glimpse of Concept Car Studio’s next wheel design, which is inspired by the iconic three-slot wheels on Hot Wheels toys from the ’90s. There are more projects in the works, and the brand is open to custom commissions as well. Lawson isn’t worried about how traditional car enthusiasts might respond to the wheels or his projects as a whole, either. “Modified car culture is always going to have the purists and we need them to help us properly retell stories. But on the flip side, there are innovators who come in and try to add to that old conversation because sometimes some stories get lost,” says Lawson. “I’d like to hear more stories, opinions and identities being represented in the automotive aftermarket. It’s gone on this way for far too long.”