Well, having recently learned to do shiny finishes, I've diversified into doing some Auto modeling, and I can say that it's been a learning experience for sure--one of the things I've had to accept is that many of the older kits of cool cars are just from a different era, before this "golden age" of modeling. Many of the older kits are just hideously engineered, and have all kinds of necessary fixes and corrections to be made. The wheels are just one small part, You can use an exacto knife to open them up though, and I have to say that I really haven';t had a LOT of complaints about many wheels. What I HAVE had a problem with is wheels not fitting inside their wells--too far forward, too far back. Ugh. One out of every three older kits has a serious correction to be made.
I DO wholeheartedly agree with your disgust over the "Pegasus"-styled wheels with the minuscule tires and big rims, like in the "Donk's" kits. They look simply horrendous on everything but a very few modern cars, and I question the sanity of people who put these monstrosities on muscle cars. I'm honestly just completely horrified by them.