Aoi Enterprises Mario

The blue monster – Aoi Enterprises Mario.  Of single spoke wheels there are not many, but the Mario takes single spoke funk to a whole new level with its striped face.

Not much is known of Aoi Enterprises.  Other wheels by the company don’t seem to exist.  The markings are the wheel pad of the Mario are clear though. Aoi.

Sizes listed in catalogs range from 13 5.5J to 14 8J.  At 5.2kg for 14 6J size, these are relatively light for the era.  It’s possible that wheel shells came from another manufacturer, but the centres appear to have been cast by Aoi.

There are hints that Keystone/Target Racing produced a wheel very similar to these, but if that wheel exists and is unique to this one, we have yet to confirm it.