Lyon Incorporated

An ad for Lyon De Luxe Whitewalls from 1947.

A Lyon Incorporated ad from August 1949.

An ad for Lyon Whitewalls.

A Lyon ad from June 1952.

Earl McDonald worked for Lyon making wheel covers from the time he was 17 years of age till he retired. This is a photo of Earl when he played in a band called the Southern Five. Earl is second from left playing the guitar. You can see the letters L Y O, but the N is hidden behind the bass. Dick Lewis was the superintendent of the Lyons plant in Mississippi. Mr. Lewis went from Detroit to Grenada to start up the plant. The banjo player is Earl's brother Jim McDonald. The bass player was Joe Stuart's brother. Photo courtesy of Barbara Evans.

Chuck Manning's 1939 Ford Coupe featuring a set of Lyon hubcaps.

Manuel Avila's 1940 Ford, a Sport Custom of Tulare, California.

Justin Lawley's 1947 Ford Coupe of Napa, California. Lawley is a member of the Squires of Napa car club. Featuring work by the Menges Twin's Speed Shop, the build was completed early in 2019. It was dressed up with Lyon hubcaps and Firestone 670-15 3 1/4 Inch Whitewall tires. Check price and availability on the same tires on Amazon.com.

04.09.2020 - Four Lyon Incorporated 16" Sombrero Hubcaps. Located in Saginaw, Michigan, this set was advertised for sale on eBay in April of 2020. The hubcaps were in a good to very good condition. No deep scrapes or scratches. The auction ended April 13, 2020. The huncaps received 82 bids and sold for US $910.00. Click here to check out the original eBay auction listing.

08.21.2020 Four Lyon Incorporated 15" Sombrero Hubcaps. Located in Macomb, Michigan, this set was advertised for sale on eBay in August of 2020. Described as an estate find where it was part of a nice vintage collection of wheel covers it was listed with a US 618.75 Buy It Now price. Click here to check out the eBay ad.

Lyon Incorporated of Detroit, Michigan was the world's largest producer of wheel accessories. The company was formed by industrialist George Albert Lyon in 1930. George was a successful inventor and is known as the inventor of the early automobile bumpers. After he had perfected his automobile bumper, he started playing around with many more ideas such as a metal cover for spare wheels, plastic and metal white walls, stainless wheel-trim rings and stainless steel wheel covers.

In 1957 Lyon, Inc. was the largest user of stainless steel in the world, using over 30 million pounds in 1955. By then Lyon manufactured wheel covers for the entire automobile industry, equipping between 4 and 5 million vehicles annually. George Albert Lyon was retired, and his son George Lyon operated as president of the company. George Albert Lyon was chairman of the board.

In 1961 Lyon Incorporated was moved to Grenada, Mississippi where Grenada Stamping and Assembly was established as a stainless steel wheel cover manufacturing operation. George Albert Lyon died in 1961, and the company was family owned until 1967 when it was sold to Rockwell-Standard. After it was sold, the company continued to produce wheel covers and hubcaps for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler for the next two decades.

Earl McDonald worked for Lyon making wheel covers from the time he was 17 years of age till he retired. In 1962 Earl relocated with the company to Grenada. He was a foreman for Lyons until he retired, and lived with his family in Grenada for over 50 years.

Lyon Hubcaps

Lyon Standard Model Wheel Cover
Lyon Deluxe Model Wheel Cover
Lyon Combination Wheel Cover
Lyon All-Metal Whitewall

Cars Featuring Lyon Hubcaps

Robert and Stan Reeser's 1929 Ford Model A Roadster
Chuck Manning's 1939 Ford Coupe
Manuel Avila's 1940 Ford
Justin Lawley's 1947 Ford Coupe

Employees

Dick Lewis
Earl McDonald