A copper plated aluminum wire with improvement in adhesive properties is fabricated by a method which includes a displacement step of forming a thin layer of a metal by displacement on a surface of an aluminum or aluminum alloy conductor, an electroplating step of coating a surface of the thin layer continuously with copper layers by electroplating to have a copper coated aluminum conductor, and a thermal diffusion step of heat treating the copper coated aluminum conductor at a temperature of 120° C. to 600° C. under an inert gas atmosphere for thermal diffusion. A plated aluminum wire is provided having an anchor metal layer formed by displacement plating, a low thermally conductive metal layer formed by electroplating, and a high electrically conductive metal layer formed by electroplating in which all of the layers are sequentially deposited on an outer surface of an aluminum or aluminum alloy conductor. A plated aluminum wire is provided having an anchor metal layer formed by displacement plating and a high electrically conductive metal layer formed by electroplating in which both of the layers are sequentially deposited on an outer surface of an aluminum or aluminum alloy conductor. A composite lightweight copper plated wire is provided having an electrically conductive metal layer that is deposited by electroplating on an outer surface of an anchor metal layer provided on an aluminum conductor.