I finally got new tires on my Franklin. I liked the car with white walls, but I think it's much more distinctive with the black walls. H.H. Franklin would be proud.

I agree 100%! Besides if your Franklin came with white walls they would have been on both sides.

Dear Steve,Blackwalls ALWAYS get my vote.diz

Sorry, I think the whitewalls give it an elegant look. The blackwalls just fade into the car and make it look like something Bonnie and Clyde would have driven. Minus the bullet holes of course.

Fantastic. I think the blackwalls improve the car a thousand persent.

Boy, that headline put my ears up on end!!! I thought maybe I had been fired since my full name is Westley.

BLACK!!! Two thumbs up!!!

.....slaves are only SOLD

You're stuck with us!!!

Sorry West, didn't mean to scare ya! For those who may not be familiar, Westley's is a product for cleaning white walls. I'm glad most of you like the black walls. Truthfully, MOST cars from the early 30s came with black wall tires, and Franklins especially almost never had white walls.

YES! YES! YES! YES! Nothing improves the look of a car of that quality like a set of BLACKWALL tires! Bill Harrah would be proud of you. Bring the old whitewalls to Hershey some kid with a Rat Rod will buy them.

Westley!!! Two thumbs up!!!



BLACK!!! Two thumbs down!!!

The blackwalls get my vote.Great looking car!

West learns the hard truth...that he was named after a tire-cleaning product.

(JK, all in fun :D)

It looks elegant with the whitewalls and sinister with blackwalls. Nice both ways.

Whitewalls might look ok on some cars, but I always about puke when I see them on a model A Ford or other early low cost car. maybe 1950's cars but not 1920's-1940's

Shop Rat
looks like you and I are in the minority here. Oh well I'm used to that. It's a nice car in any event.

Could be, but I doubt it.

My theory is that West's father or mother was scared (and scarred) by the "Big W" featured in the comedy movie "It's a Mad (4x) World."

His brothers from the same two parents are Wyatt, Winston, and Webster (and no, they weren't named for Western marshalls, cigarettes, or dictionaries).

And I, too, prefer the blackwalls on the Franklin...

That's okay with me too.

I did a quick survey and until gwells from Ga. posted the preference seemed be be running blackwalls for the Yankees and whitewalls for the Rebels.

gwells must be a Yankee transplant.

Great lines on this car, it does not need WWW to look distinctive. Excellent choice - and they look like nice tires in terms of sidewall/tread look, Steve

Ouch, Susan, you have wounded me grievously! I'm a Tennessee hillbilly and proud of it (born in Tullahoma, TN, spent my teen years in Nashville, and have resided in the Atlanta area since high school).

I will admit to have been charmed by a Buffalo-born Yankee over 30 years ago but even she would never be able to convince me to leave God's country.

BTW, to me whitewalls don't go far enough. I prefer all-whites, though they're only appropriate on cars much older than the lovely Franklin that started this discussion.

Bet you didn't know that West's father wanted to name his last (5th) son Wryan to keep the streak going, but the current missus put her foot down... LOL!!!

Oh course I was kidding about that. But then again, you could have been.

Seriously though, look back through the votes. People from "the north" voted for blackwall tires and people from "the south", except for you, voted for whitewall tires.

Okay, I gotta' ask, (I'm probably gonna' hate myself for this) what did they name son number five?

Susan, check your PMs.

Looks great- I like the blackwalls a lot!

Another voice from the north...

Chuck

Oh man are you guys showing the dull side of the hobby.
Blackwall tires are for police cars, taxi cabs & trucks.
The Franklin with the wide whites looks like a big classic car to me and with blackwalls it looks more like you should
be saving money on black and white film too.
I like whitewalls on any car, motorcycle, bicycle, wagon,
even the Century of Progress Bus! We had a GMC motorhome that came with whitewalls!
Yea, correct is probably blackwalls for most of the cars sold in the 30's but that was also the great depression (blackwalls didn't cause it but they are depressing)and people were saving money by not buying the extra's. But it's 75 years later and many of us like to dress the old cars up in their Sunday finery. Whitewalls are the spatz for 30's cars!
I remember as a kid painting whitewalls on my car. I guess I never got over that. WHITEWALLS FOREVER!!

Right on Brother Paul!

Wayne

I am a recent blackwall convert as well--that Franklin's looking great, Steve--good job.

P.S.: And good job keeping the *air-cooled* faith!

How about we draw an imaginary Mason-Dixon line down the center of the car from front to back. Put whitewalls on the north side and blackwalls on the south side. You can't see both sides at the same time so everyone is happy.

Steve, I live on the Island and I vote for whitewalls. I always liked them on a big car. Fords and Chevys look good with either but blackwalls on them look fine. True that most cars didn't have whitewalls originally and you can see this in the factory photos. When you watch a gangster movie made in the past forty years it seems like all cars back then had whitwalls and clean ones to boot. But look at a gangster movie from the thirtys and hardly any do. Recently there was a 1928 LaSalle with sidemounts and wire wheels for sale. This car had blackwalls and looked GREAT. So, I guess put on what you like and "roll" with the punches.
bubba