West,

No the Duesie fits the description of a conservatively painted nickel era car. It has blackwalls.

Shawn

To me, this is what pre-war Classic cars without whitewalls look like:



However, I will say that some cars look exactly right with blackwall tires:



I've always felt that the whitewalls added the right amount of dress up to old cars. The exceptions are rare, such as the Packard above. And I've always thought that the rules included things that could have been on the car when new. I know that my '41 Buick could have whitewalls at extra cost, so I consider them authentic (though I understand the argument about the immediate post-war cars).

And you're right, they just don't belong on certain vehicles:



Now, about those '57 Chevies with all the options...

Are you the one with the brown shoes? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

While admitedly my 40 Buick does not fit the "classic" category, I am mulling this same question. I keep going back and forth but may end up waiting a season until I decide. I guess it may be accurate to say that most people didn't have them when these cars were new but, to paraphrase Lina Lamont "I ain't most people". And that's what bugs me.

Ed

At least these boys have tanned gams, as the thought of all that exposed flesh otherwise is more than my eyes can bear. As for the '57 Chevys with all the toys, maybe this image will put the CCCA on its guard to zealously defend its trademark "Full Classic" status; I'm sure every one of these owners are proud of their "classics", too.

In all my studies thru the years I've never run across the axiom,
"Any color as long as it's Red!"



TG

Hey Matt! Like most things, this is a case of taste (or lack of) for most people. I saw a 1960 VW with wide whites and it was cute ! And I like that Phord Pickup with the white walls! Its well restored and painted, and looks really nice. Not as a manure hauller but a town truck.

I agree that the special cars like the Duesenberg and Packards look better in black walls, but I never liked Cadillacs in black walls except for the War years because that is how they were delivered. Cadillacs are supposed to have a little flash.

I will say, less is better. Every car seen suited up in wide whites deminishes the impact but like most popular additions it happens. I guess seeing everyone in spats would be a shock and bore too. LOL <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

And that picture was just not right. It probably extended my therapy another 5 years, thank you very much. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Uh oh,... TG, you just used the "C" word!!! Duck and cover!!! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Randall,

Carefully remove the ice picks from your eyes, fumble around for the phone, and dial 911. FYI, I'll be entering the Witness Protection Program, changing my identity, and will have a drug-sniffing dog to peruse my mail for powdery substances. I'll only need the mutt till the Post Office starts forwarding my mail to the cave in "an undisclosed location" to which I've been banished.

TG

my favorite white wall misuse is the factory US intro shot of the E-type Jaguar - complete with those wide whites that we Yanks were supposed to love

re: your comment about "guarding full classic status"

Most of us CCCA members are pretty low-key guys. This is a free country. If you want to call your used Chevrolet of ANY year an "antique" or "classic", go ahead.

There was a time when accuracy and "precision of speech" was vital - but that was when we were a "first world" manufacturing country. General Electric, RCA, Westinghouse - all the famous American names, and many that were not all that famous, had manufacting plants all over our great country. I remember as a kid in the early 1950's, and as a high school graduate, I had sufficient command of the English language, and enough mathmatics, that I could and did get jobs in small manufacturing shops in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles. With my high school education of that era, I could easily be trained to use a micrometer, and with the ethics of that day, I would not only show up on time sober, I wouldnt steal anything !

One look at the labels in a big appliance store, where today's manufactured products are sold, will tell you where it is important to have accuracy and precision of speech. It sure isnt at Spring Break !

Today's young people know what they like, and they like what they know, and know what they dont want to know. How the automobile evolved, how its ever-improving technology increased our strength as an industrial nation, is totally irrelevant to the interests and "needs" of today's young people. What IS improtant to them, for their career choices, is to know how to ask " DO YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT".

The "war" within the CCCA about strict application of the use of the word "classic" was over many years ago. If you take a look at our NATIONAL RULES, you will see an recent "over-print" over our once-strict policies " may conflict with current policies". That is the way it should be. Many "Regions" of the CCCA now violate the old Rules For Regions and Policy As To Joint Meets with impunity, permitting what us old fogies call "non-classics" at their events.

If one studies a ordinary clock long enough, even the slowest of us will eventually come to the brilliant conclusion that the hands have moved, and from that, it dosnt take too much intelligence to figure that TIME GOES ON. I dont think you will find too many car buffs, even us old CCCA types, really worried about what other people want to call their own cars !

Yes, some of the "Old Guard" like me will "smirk" a little bit when that "classic antique" '39 Ford (that is "chopped and channeled" and probably has NO parts actuall from a REAL 1939 Ford...or 1957 Chevrolet... parked next to my Packard V-12, or a Rolls, Pierce Arrow, Cad. V-16, etc. But I assure you, the sun will still come up the following morning, our REAL classics will run JUST as well, and, even more important...beer will still be served at the bar ! Besides, some of us, heck - probably most of us old CCCA types would, if pressed, admit we actual admire the effort and imagination that some of these young ones have produced.

Back to the original topic, Although my Lincoln sports WWW tires, I doubt very seriously that anyone who originally bought a true classic (maybe a few flamboyant exceptions) would be caught dead in a car decked out in widey whiteys. The folks who spent 10X the price of common mass produced cars, and sometimes far more, generally were less likely to have them. Hand rubbed wood, high quality leather and wool upholstery, flawless craftsmanship, comfort and smooth abundant power were the more important critera. "Flash and bling" would be far too undignified.

dont be so sure! all kinds of people in this planet then and now. all kinds of tastes! while it certainly wasn't the norm, there were some pretty wild paint jobs, and not only WHITE walls - as someone else in here noted, there were (again, very rare, but they did exist)...VARIOUS COLORS for the tire sides, not just white !