THE GHOST'S TAKE

Listen to the wind howling through the boneyard, and you might just hear the faint, wheezing idle of a 258 inline-six. What we've dragged out of the dirt today is a 14-inch stainless steel wheel cover straight out of Kenosha, Wisconsin. This is AMC hardware, pure and simple. AMC didn't have the deep pockets of Detroit's Big Three, but they had enough grit to slap these ribbed, brushed-metal frisbees onto some of the most gloriously weird iron of the 1970s. We're talking the Pacer, the Gremlin, the Concord, and the Matador from roughly 1974 to 1978.<br><br>It is a full wheel cover stamped from stainless, featuring that unmistakable geometric AMC block logo dead center. The outer edge is ribbed with black painted accents that usually flake off after a few harsh winters, but this one still has some fight left in it. It is a solid driver-quality survivor. You will find the usual road scars, a few scuffs from kissing curbs outside the roller rink, and maybe a ding or two if you run your thumb along the lip.<br><br>If you are keeping a fishbowl Pacer or a chopped-tail Gremlin rolling on factory 14-inch steelies, this is the missing puzzle piece. It ain't a museum piece, but it is honest metal that survived the malaise era. Slap it on your AMC and let the ghosts of Kenosha ride again.