Whitewalls???

[Guest]

You are all going to be busy with presents and turkey etc.  I just thought I would reopen the discussion "blackwalls vs whitewalls" with two pictures.  One with WWW in Toronto and one without.  Both are Sicards.  Oh Oh just added one that is working.

Merry Christmas to all.

Edited December 24, 2016 by Guest (see edit history)

[capngrog]

The one with the white walls looks like a parade vehicle or a dealer demonstration vehicle.  The other two appear to working vehicles that pay their way.

 

Just sayin'.

 

Merry Christmas,

Grog

[JamesBulldogMiller55Buick]

WHITE WALLS !

[1937hd45]

White wall tires are for people with far too much free time. Bob

[Marty Roth]

Just personal choice-

I prefer them on some cars,

not on others,

 

and prefer not to force my opinions on others.

 

Hey, it is your car, right?

 

Edited December 25, 2016 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[jpage]

Most cars did not come with whitewall tires or have that option. Early on, whitewall tires where white on both sides which would make them hard to take care of. I have a photo of my grandfather at Fort Clark , Texas standing in front of a row of GMC motor ambulances which all have whitewall tires just prior to American involvement in WWI. I thought it a bit strange to see whitewalls on military vehicles! Goodyear also marketed colored tire walls to accent the vehicles paint scheme. They didn't sell well and by the early '30's were gone. I agree that they look good on some cars but not all, but it seems to be a trend to dress up even the most basic of vehicles with whitewalls.

[Curti]

Some 50's & 60's cars look OK with whitewalls.  Personally, quoting a friend of mine that will probably weigh in on this topic , 'I hate whitewalls'  particularly on 20's & 30's cars. 

It is a blond / brunette thing. 

[cxgvd]

Marty; Got my first car with whitewalls, 18 feet of black '39 Buick,  Gary

[padgett]

I kinda liked General Dual 90s from the '60s but for most of my life preferred Blue Streaks.

Edited December 25, 2016 by padgett (see edit history)

[vintchry]

Got to admit, I am just tired of trying to keep WW clean, been scrubbing them since the early 60's and .............

[Xander Wildeisen]

White walls, but it has to be a wide white. The half inch wide white strip, and white letters looks bad, turn them in.

[Xander Wildeisen]

Just now, vintchry said:

Got to admit, I am just tired of trying to keep WW clean, been scrubbing them since the early 60's and .............

buy a new set of tires, hard to keep cleaning 56 year old white walls.

[Paul Dobbin]

If you like whitewalls, and I do, May Santa bring you a new set of wide whites.

My guess would be that all white wall tires, after the end of all white rubber tires, were accessories.

I have always like the accessories and remember painting white walls on my first cars,

Later I life I had a company car with no accessories and the kids in poor neighborhoods used to say "ÿou is a cop ain't you?" until I put whitewalls and chrome trim rings on the wheels.  Smart kids!

[R W Burgess]

8 minutes ago, Paul Dobbin said:

....... the kids in poor neighborhoods used to say "ÿou is a cop ain't you?" until I put whitewalls and chrome trim rings on the wheels.  Smart kids!

 

You still act like a cop Paul. Those shifty eyes, etc!

 

Merry Christmas!

[Paul Dobbin]

Wayne, actually I was not a cop.  I was an insurance investigator at the time, that's where the shifty eyes came from.

[Xander Wildeisen]

This area would be a wide open market for jobs in that industry, I mean white wall and black wall tires have never been made here.

[Curti]

Later I life I had a company car with no accessories and the kids in poor neighborhoods used to say "ÿou is a cop ain't you?" until I put whitewalls and chrome trim rings on the wheels.  Smart kids!

 

Ya, they probably thought you were one of the  Pachucos  with a zoot suit.

[60FlatTop]

I stopped at a friend's city car shop once on my lunch break; black oxford shoes, gray sport coat and slacks. The two guys working didn't know me, but with all the Sir's tossed around and politeness, I figured out real quick they thought I was a cop. "He's not here now, Sir, but we can call his Sir. He's not far away, Sir." I said "No, that's OK. Just tell him I stopped in about the morals charges." "Yes, Sir, we'll tell him as soon as he gets back."

Unquestioned credibility.

 

Those 1930's blackwall car buyers were a lot of second and third generation immigrant farmers and factory workers, way too conservative to pay for white walls. My Wife is a first US born generation  from Danish farm immigrants. Way too close to the old ones for that sort of extravagance. Whitewalls have always been a demographic, ethnic thing.

 

The O'Brien side of the family had whitewalls on their hay wagons.

Bernie

[Guest Skyking]

One thing that always irked me is putting narrow whitewalls on a car previously built before 1962.  Looks so out of place,  stick with blackwalls...........

[dei]

Dad's 1928 Whippet Cabriolet Coupe.

 

Likely didn't have white walls from the factory but....

After taking 28 years to do an amateur restoration in his garage, Felt it made her pop.

Edited December 26, 2016 by dei
model ID info (see edit history)

[Paul Dobbin]

The reason for narrow white wall on cars that should have wider whites, it cost.  Today you can buy 1" whites from Wal-Mart for $61.00 each, or pay $240 each at a tire specialty dealer.  For all you guys restoring 80's cars, now is the time to go on-line and order Hancock whitewalls from Wal-Mart.  I just ordered 4 for our 81 El Camino.  I make an exception for our 35 Ford Pickup, the only old vehicle we own without whitewalls.  

[R Walling]

 I have a 56 Chevy and I prefered to buy a narrower WW than the original.

 Not only for the cost but I think that they look better.

 

 For some reason I think the original ones look gaudy on that car.

[Curti]

 Here is a video that has been posted in the past. Willshire boulevard 1935.  I can only spot one car with whitewalls. The Roller in the beginning.

The factories took pictures of their cars with ww's but 99% had black walls.  Lately, many higher end car shows particularly prewar the trend is definitely away from WW's. 

 

 

A Drive Down Wilshire Blvd., ca. 1935 - YouTube

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2016 by Curti
update vid (see edit history)

[poci1957]

On ‎12‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 0:58 PM, 60FlatTop said:

Those 1930's blackwall car buyers were a lot of second and third generation immigrant farmers and factory workers, way too conservative to pay for white walls. My Wife is a first US born generation  from Danish farm immigrants. Way too close to the old ones for that sort of extravagance.  Bernie

 

I do not know where Bernie lives but in the Midwest where I am I would also say few in the 1930s and 1940s would have actually had them for those and other reasons.  Too much flash for most pickup trucks and Model As IMO but on a top line 1950s car like my 1957 Pontiac they are usually a must.  Depends on the car I would say, Todd C 

[Curti]

  I agree 50's and 60's cars are OK with whitewalls  Probably 80 % came that way.  Then raised white letters were a fad for a while.  20's and 30's  not so much .  I fixed the video above.

 

 

[TerryB]

Seeing old pickup trucks with wide whites seems so wrong!  Most all were work vehicles so white walls are way out of place on them. Backwalls are much more realistic in my humble opinion.

 

Terry

[ch1929]

I like black walls and painted wood wheels, the way most of them came from the factory in the 20's and 30's. 50's and 60's are OK with whitewalls.

Back in the seventies I had a Service Station, and as the first snow starting falling I would spend all day installing customers snow tires, some already mounted on rims and some to be changed with tubes. I do remember seeing a few whitewall snow tires.

Ever installed a set of Porta-Walls?

[Curti]

 Oh ya, my first car in 1960, a 49 Plymouth, couldn't afford tires, so I installed a set of port-a-walls.   In 1966 I restored a 31 Model A Ford , I bought white walls for that.  Even today we have a 63 Avanti  It has narrow white walls. 

I have a few friends in their 80's & 90's , they just can't shake the idea of chrome under the hood and white wall tires.  

 

 

 

[D Yaros]

On 12/29/2016 at 4:57 PM, Curti said:

 

I have a few friends in their 80's & 90's , they just can't shake the idea of chrome under the hood and white wall tires.  

 

 

 

"Back-in-the-Day" the saying was:  "If it don't go, chrome it!

[alsancle]

On 12/29/2016 at 5:57 PM, Curti said:

I have a few friends in their 80's & 90's , they just can't shake the idea of chrome under the hood and white wall tires.  

 

I'm on the phone with one of those friends right now and I'm spilling the beans...

 

We have this thread once a year.  The biggest tire crime is not the whitewalls (which are only a misdemeanour) but the size and treads are complete wrong and inappropriate for the period - especially prewar.

 

Note the following two pictures:

 

 

[Curti]

I figured you would weigh in sooner or later AJ.  That cabriolet is absolutely stunning !  Is that YOUR sedan ??

[60FlatTop]

This car turned up on Craigslist last year  It was about about 80 miles from me in Fulton, New York. I think it is the first car I ever licensed. The history was a little cloudy but seems to fit.

 

Those could be the four new recap Johnny Antonelli Firestone 7.60 X 15 narrow whites I put on it. I worked at the tire shop at the time and remember paying $12 apiece for them. At the time the Harry H. Truman white walls were not in style. They had the green preservative on them and I didn't wash them for a while. They wouldn't look new without the green.

Bernie

 

[jrbartlett]

Here's my 1919 Locomobile Sportif, restored in the original paint, top and upholstery colors and patterns -- and yes, with whitewalls. I have several factory photos of brand-new Locomobiles with whitewalls. For a somewhat conservative car like mine, the whitewalls make it stand out. It had blackwalls on it when I bought it, and the car just looked dull.   

[Stude Light]

I have been torn ... do I stay with the simplicity (probably how it was built) or add the bling?

 

[zipdang]

Stude Light: Keep 'em black! The whites distract from the car and remove some of its elegance.

[FLYER15015]

Quote

 

Here's my wide whitewalls that may have come with the car, as they are Martin Custom Tires, size B-16.

 

Mike in Colorado

Edited January 5, 2017 by FLYER15015 (see edit history)

[Buffalowed Bill]

I love the Loco! We go through this WW thing far too often! I like WW's on 30's, 40's, 50's and even 60's cars, and when they seem to add to the look, like the Loco. Personally I am not too excited by seeing WW's on European cars and most post 70's cars, but I can accept either with them. I think that it's a bit unfair to pan a 30's or 40's car because an owner wants to make it look it's best. WW's were available during the era, but during the Depression and the deprivation of the war years drivers were just lucky that their tires were round and held air. I doubt that it had much to do with what an owner would have preferred. By the 50's the flood gates had opened and they were everywhere. Then like magic a revolution began. Young people rebelled against their parent's WW preference. The term "cool" took on a new meaning, and to it was added the concept "tough."

 

Today I doubt that we are talking about what was and what could have been, but we are rather experiencing the generational differences between us old folks and people <60. I have little doubt that once we old folks are gone that WW's will fade from the scene, a fad that has had it's day. So young folks just be patient. 

 

 

[Walt G]

I have refrained from jumping in here the blackwalls/whitewalls issue, but here goes. First, I love the Locomobile and 1940 Buick Limited with the whitewalls! The Studebaker touring looks really elegant and period authentic with the blackwalls. For the most part the lower and medium priced cars prior to WWII had blackwalls and in my opinion look best with them - if you bought a lower priced car then you didn't have the $ for whitewalls. Larger luxury cars of the 1932 and earlier era can go either way , but that being said for me it all depends upon body style and especially color of the cars. Dual whitewall tires were the norm at that era not just the one side whitewall we now see (or can afford). From 1933 on up on the larger cars I like whitewalls due to the styling. The fenders were starting to envelope down around the wheels and tires, wheel diameter got smaller and hubcaps larger you no longer saw any of the chassis. Blackwalls on a larger car of that era make the car look really heavy, especially with enclosed coachwork/bodies, almost hearse like. That is not a put down for hearses! The thing I do not care for in today's restored cars are plated wire wheels with black wall tires on 1933 and up cars, and if the wheels are plated prior to that I think blackwalls look best. This is just a personal observation and preference. Those Martin tires on the Buick are rare and probably at least 40+ years old. Martin tires were sold by a company in New York City and advertise for sale in the AACA magazine back in the 1960s, I do not know when they went out of business nor where the molds went they used, but they were a fantastic period looking tire.

[Paul Dobbin]

Stude Light,

I love that photo shop thing with white walls,  makes the decision lots lees expensive than buying the wrong tires\

I ilke it both ways, but it's yours and black it is!  Looks great..

[cutlasguy]

When I needed tires for my 89 Caprice Classic, I found that white walls were no longer being manufactured! My Caprice just wouldn't look right without them. On the internet, I discovered a company that still made them. That company was Mavis and surprise of all surprises, their dealer was Cole Muffler. Practically in my back yard!  Four 225/75R15's Mounted, balanced, and out the door for $400 bucks!