Wide whitewall tires have gained a foothold with custom builders and car guys who want their vintage car to stand out in a crowd. Narrow band whitewall tires have not found their mojo in the 21 st century, although they will always have a place on vintage cars that offered them as a luxury item. The big exception to this rule are pre-war hot rods that are decades removed from the dawn of raised letter tires and 40s-50s cars that have been built into street monsters. The answer gets a little murkier after that conclusion because other car guys will question the owners’ sanity if they make the wrong choice for their car.įor example, a raised letter tire does not belong on a four-door sedan and most vehicles that did not offer them as a tire choice when the cars were new. We believe the retro tires belong on any retro car that had them as an option when they left the factory. The brief history of tires brings MyStarCollectorCar to the question about where tires from the past belong in the 21 st century. The go-fast black walls were typically found on bigger and wider wheels that put more grip on the road when high speed was a part of the game plan. The less obvious benefit was performance because a black wall tire could also have meant an ability to handle high speeds on some cars like a Highway Patrol car. The obvious benefit is cost because a black wall tire typically cost less than other more colorful choices. There were a few benefits derived from black wall tire choices. The non-decorated black wall usually meant an owner was frugal, cost-conscious, or a law enforcement agency where its passengers were likely not particularly interested in whitewalls. The least desirable tire from the past was the black wall tire. The raised letter tires gave cars a sportier look and were an easy choice for car guys when they wanted to add a performance style to their cars. These tires became very fashionable in the 70s and 80s, but they gained a foothold in the performance tire world in the 60s. One of the most popular changes in the tire world was the dawn of the raised letter tire. There were color variations like gold and blue line tires that extended beyond the redline versions, but the other colors were a small part of the automotive past. The redline (red wall) tire began to muscle its way to the top of the Big Three street wars by the late 60s after the mid-60s Corvette made the redline tires a must-have fashion accessory for brute force street machines. The narrow whitewalls were a fresh new look for the tires and were a big hit with car guys at the time. The whitewall tire got considerably narrower as car guys hurtled into the Sensational Sixties and morphed into a sportier look for cars that typically had less doors and more horsepower, although the luxury car owners also had narrower whitewall tires on them. White whitewall tires rode at the front of the line until the early 60s, typically on big cars that made an even bigger statement about its typically upscale owners. Wide whitewalls added an extra dimension to a luxury car ( or a car owner who wanted to “identify” as a luxury car owner) from a bygone era. The choices from the past offer plenty of options for car guys on a mission because they add a dimension to their rides-unless the tire choices does not belong on the car in that one-of-these-things……- Sesame Street kind of way.įor example, the wide whitewall tire has been around for a long time and was usually found on a pre or post war car that pushed the upscale needle in to the extreme zone. Tire choices tell the story behind the car and the skins were installed for a reason back in the day. One of the best ways to identify the history of a vintage car is the set of tires on the stock version.
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