jankendrick@hotmail.com

Need tires for your 25" ⌀ clincher wheels? So do I, for my 1910 Hudson, and we are not alone. 62 models of brass cars commonly seen on HCCA tours, by 20 manufacturers, 1908-1915, have 25" wheels, using 33 x 4 or 32 x 3-1/2 clincher tires. Unfortunately, NONE of the 3 antique tire companies offers a 33 x 4 clincher, so my Hudson sits in the garage. Please contact me if you want to buy new, 33 x 4 clincher tires, and let me know how many. If there is sufficient demand, I will find a tire company willing to make these tires, to help us keep our cars on the road. Thank you ... Keep the brass rolling! Contact Jan Kendrick @ 207-665-2233 or jankendrick@hotmail.com

LOL! You already have some fabulous automobiles! I will keep that in mind, because I'm simply floored that this is an issue at all!

Good suggestion, Gill. I had examined their list of tires, but wasn't sure which of the metric would work best. I'll check that out. In the meantime, I owe Gil, Jr. a tire.

I recently participated in a Brass & Gas tour in Ellisworth, Maine with my 1910 Hudson and 1910 Hupmobile. The tour was wonderful, but I experienced a flat tire on Day 1 of the tour, and the frustrations that ensued were cumulative as we tried to find a way to get the car back on the road. It turns out that the required size for this car is 33x4 clincher, and that size is no longer produced by any known tire manufacturer. During the course of the week, we had many suggestions, but none materialized during the tour, nor has an acceptable solution become evident to date. Today I spoke at length with another vintage car enthusiast, and we discussed options. We decided that Option #1 is to throw it out to the "Car Guyz" and see what we can get for information and suggestions, and even better, if anyone has any 33x4 clincher tires that they may want to part with. Some of the suggestions so far include: 1. Use a 33x4 "flat side" tire that is produced by both manufacturers, but put a rope in the rounded rim to stabilize the tire on the tube. The seems too much like a "hack job" imo, but I could be convinced if I heard of others who have been successful with this option. Bear in mind that these tires run at 60-75 lbs pressure, and the concept of relying on a rope that was not intended to be used in that spot for the stability, and thus, the safety of the tire use is more than a little intimidating, not to mention the Herculean task of mounting the flat side tire on the rim, since the flat side tire has a steel cable around the rim, and does not give an inch in the mounting process, unlike the more flexible (only slightly) clincher tire rim. 2. Use a 32x3 1/2 clincher. This would work, but would appear undersized, imo. 3. Find a rim adapter. I understand that various rim adapters exist, and that they range in price from anything up to $4k each. Unless one turned up from an unexpected source, it would mean a trip to Hershey in hopes of finding one. 4. Abandon the current wheels and have new ones made with the rim of choice, including a fully demountable rim, which is fairly appealing, since it would make a tire change infinitely easier, but the cost is estimated to be in the $10-12k range, which is prohibitive, although some have already gone that route. 5. Put out an "All Call" to the car world and get a list of people to sign up to purchase a given number of tires if one of the manufacturers would put the molds back into production, even for a single run. 6. See if one of the larger clubs would take on the task of #5 and contact the car manufacturers on behalf of the members needing the 33x4 clincher tires. This may have the required additional leverage, if they would fill that role. 7. Now your turn. Does anyone have any other suggestions, or want to elaborate with more information about any of the above options? My car is currently on loan to the Seal Cove Museum, but by next spring I would like to have four new tires on the existing rims and two spares on the running board. Am I just dreaming, or is this possible?

I need four, would like six, but would take one if you have it. I would prefer ribbed tread, but will consider other options.