I was a very picky eater as a kid. A vast part of my diet growing up through elementary school consisted of plain chicken, hot dogs cut up into bite-sized cylinders, and, of course, pasta. None of that fancy stuff, either, usually just with butter and/or grated cheese on top.
Like anyone, I also had a favorite pasta shape. By five years old, I was already deeply into cars—the handheld, Hot Wheels-branded type at the time. Because of that, I always preferred rotelle, the type of pasta that resembles a wheel (rotelle in Italian translates to wheel).
That’s why I was so excited to see Barilla, a large-scale pastamaker based in Italy, debut a new type of rotelle-style pasta shape that’s meant to specifically resemble the wheel of a car. But which car wheel does it resemble the most? I have a few solid guesses.
The wheel was revealed this week to celebrate Barilla’s partnership with Formula 1, according to a release published by the brand on Monday. The company describes its new pasta, officially called “Racing Wheels,” as a “new special-edition pasta shape that brings race day energy to the table,” combining “expert craftsmanship with performance-driven design. Its ridged, circular shape delivers a perfect al dente bite—perfect for the thrill of race day.”
Ah, yes, exactly what I’m looking for in my food: race day energy. While that’s all well and good, Barilla leaves out the most important fact: Which wheel design is this pasta shape based on?
The twin-spoke design immediately reminded me of Enkei’s lovely RPF1 wheels, the aftermarket rim of choice for swaths of enthusiasts looking to spice up their rides. I’d say it’s about 60% correct—the spokes are similar, but they don’t come together in a fork pattern as they do on the pasta. Still, I’m on the right track.
For some reason, the first-generation Audi S7 and its multi-spoke wheels popped into my mind as a close match, and honestly, I think we’re getting somewhere. Here’s the original:
And the pastified version:
Pretty close, right? I’m not sure the wheel centers match up—that wheel-within-a-wheel circle in the pasta shape is pretty unique—but otherwise, these Audi wheels feel kind of close.
After browsing Google images for a bit, I was reminded of the wheels from the C7-generation Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. The shape of these spokes feels fairly related to the fork-shaped spokes on the pasta wheel, even though the number of spokes isn’t the same:
And the version with grain-based wheels:
Ultimately, though, I think Barilla’s designers probably took most of their inspiration from this year’s Formula 1 wheel, which makes sense considering this is a collaboration with F1. The spoke shape is one of the closest I’ve seen so far:
It’s also possible the design wasn’t based on a car wheel at all. Considering its ribbed exterior, it reminds me of an early water wheel as much as it does a car wheel.
All of this got me wondering: What inspired the original rotelle wheel pasta? It’s tough to pin down exactly when the shape was invented, though most sources point to the early 1900s, before traditional alloy wheels even existed. The pasta is also sometimes referred to as pinwheel-shaped, so it’s very possible (and probably pretty likely) that the original rotelle design didn’t get its inspiration from a car wheel.
Let’s flip this question on its head, then. Which modern wheels might’ve been inspired by the rotelle shape? There are a couple of possibilities. First, as Thomas suggested in our Slack channel, the sixth-generation Nissan Maxima has a set of very simplistic wheels that look kind of similar. Here’s the unmodified press pic:
And one with the wheels replaced with rotelle:
To me, the thin, five-spoke design is reminiscent of the Ferrari 458 Italia’s wheels, and honestly, these yummy pieces of starch don’t really look out of place here. The original:
And the pasta’d version:
I’m sure there are dozens of cars I’m not thinking of for this exercise, both for the new pasta wheel and the original, traditional design. So please, chime in the comments which wheels remind you of these pieces of food. I’m curious to hear which cars I forgot about.
Top graphic image: Chevrolet, Barilla
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