OZ Racing is Italian. Founded in 1971, based in Italy, and — according to the company’s own Japanese representative — producing every current wheel at its Italian factory.
Every current wheel except one.
The OZ Rally Racing 16 is a Japan-only model, and it is made by ENKEI. Not in Italy. That is not a rumour from a forum; it is a statement from the head of OZ Japan, on the record, in an interview with Japanese specialist media.
The Short Version
- OZ Racing has supplied wheels across Formula 1, CART, touring cars and the WRC.
- The Rally Racing design was developed for WRC gravel use. Its tarmac counterpart was the Crono.
- It launched in Japan in 1991 and was fitted to the Toyota Celica ST165 / ST185 WRC cars.
- A remodelled version arrived in 2017, in 17 to 19 inch only.
- After roughly three years of lobbying by OZ Japan, Italy approved a 16-inch Japan-only version.
- It is the sole current OZ wheel produced outside Italy, and it is produced by ENKEI.
Why This Is Worth Knowing
Two facts from the same source matter more than the novelty of the ENKEI connection.
1. OZ used to outsource production to several countries. The company consolidated to Italy-only manufacturing around 2017. Before that, OZ-branded wheels were built under contract in a number of places.
2. That means “OZ” does not automatically mean “made in Italy” on the used market. A wheel from the 1990s or 2000s may well have been produced somewhere other than Italy. If country of manufacture matters to you, the brand name will not tell you — the markings on the wheel will.
This is the opposite of the usual assumption. Most buyers treat an Italian brand as a guarantee of Italian production. For OZ, that has only been reliably true for the last several years, and even now there is a documented exception.
The Rally Racing Design
The Rally Racing was engineered for a specific problem: gravel. Its dished face with small openings exists to stop stones being thrown into the wheel and jamming against the brakes and suspension. Function first, and the look followed.
The design turned out to be aerodynamically effective as well, and centre-lock versions were run on DTM Mercedes-Benz and Alfa Romeo machinery. In Japan its identity was cemented by the Celica WRC cars, and for a generation of Japanese enthusiasts “OZ” simply means Rally Racing.
When the 2017 reissue arrived in 17, 18 and 19 inch, the sizes that suited Japan’s smaller cars were missing — hence the campaign for a 16.
The Rally Racing 16
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sizes | 5J×16 to 7J×16 |
| Market | Japan only |
| Manufacturer | ENKEI (Japan) |
| Launch price (2022) | ¥41,800 – ¥52,800 per wheel |
Prices are as reported at launch in 2022 and will have moved since.
If you have read our ENKEI profile, the arrangement makes sense. ENKEI is a 7,359-person manufacturer with plants in nine countries that has been producing for other companies for decades. A low-volume, market-specific 16-inch run is exactly the kind of job it is built to take.
What This Means When You Are Buying
1. Read the wheel, not the badge. On any used OZ, the markings on the inner rim and the back of the spokes tell you more than the brand does. Look for country-of-manufacture text and for certification marks.
2. JWL and VIA marks point to Japan. JWL is Japan’s light-alloy wheel standard and VIA is its third-party verification. European-made wheels generally carry ECE or TÜV markings instead. A JWL stamp on an OZ wheel is a meaningful signal.
3. Rally Racing 16 and Rally Racing 17–19 are not the same production. Same design language, different factory and different market. Do not assume a set is matched across sizes without checking.
What We Could Not Verify
- OZ’s own corporate site does not state any of this. Our source is a 2022 interview with the head of OZ Japan published by Japanese specialist media, not an OZ corporate disclosure. We attempted to access OZ’s own pages and were blocked by a consent wall.
- Which countries OZ previously outsourced to. The interview says production was contracted out to several countries before the shift to Italy-only. It does not name them, and we are not going to guess.
- Whether older OZ-branded wheels sold in Japan — including factory fitments on Japanese cars — were made by ENKEI. This is widely claimed in English-language forums. We found no primary source and no named-source report supporting it, and the 2022 interview does not address it. Treat it as unverified.
- Whether the arrangement still stands. The interview dates from May 2022.
- Which ENKEI plant produces the wheel. Not stated.
FAQ
Are OZ Racing wheels made in Italy?
Current production is Italian, following a consolidation to Italy-only manufacturing around 2017. The one documented exception is the Rally Racing 16, a Japan-only model made by ENKEI.
Is my old OZ wheel Italian?
Not necessarily. OZ Japan’s representative has said production was contracted out to several countries before the Italy-only policy. Check the markings on the wheel itself.
What is the difference between the Rally Racing and the Crono?
Both are OZ WRC-derived designs. The Rally Racing was developed for gravel, with a dished face and small openings to keep stones out; the Crono was the tarmac counterpart.
Why is the Rally Racing 16 Japan-only?
Because OZ Japan asked for it. The 2017 reissue came only in 17 to 19 inch, which excluded Japan’s smaller cars. According to its representative, OZ Japan spent about three years persuading the Italian head office to approve a 16-inch version.
Does ENKEI making it mean it is a lower-quality wheel?
There is no basis for that. ENKEI is one of the largest wheel manufacturers in the world and supplies at OEM level. See our ENKEI profile.
Sources
The manufacturing and history statements in this article come from a report published by WebOption on Motor Fan in May 2022, quoting the representative of OZ Japan by name. That is specialist media carrying an on-the-record statement from the brand’s Japanese office — a step below a corporate disclosure, and we have flagged it as such throughout. OZ’s own corporate pages do not publish this information, and we were unable to access them directly.
Related Guides
- ENKEI — the manufacturer behind the exception
- RS Watanabe — the opposite model: one small plant, one country
- WORK Wheels — built to order in Osaka
- Lancer Evolution IV–IX — 5×114.3 / 67.1 mm
- Toyota Celica — the WRC connection that made OZ famous in Japan
Looking for a specific set? We specialise in genuine Japanese wheels — RAYS, Volk, Enkei, SSR, WORK, BBS Japan and the rare discontinued sets that never left the country. Tell us the wheel, the fitment, the year — our team searches our networks until we find it.