The Evolution of Whitewall Tires

Dear Classic Car Enthusiast,

Welcome to the January 2008 issue of Classic Motor News! This month our feature article takes a look at the evolution of whitewall tires. Our classified ad picks showcase a Packard and a Chevy, and the best of Ted’s Garage Blog looks back at 2007. Finally, our recommended reading catalogs highlight a wide variety of Hurst memorabilia from the Dennis Kirban collection.

Let’s get to it!

1. Visit the ClassicCar.com Swapmeet
2. Classified Ad Picks of the Month
3. Feature Article: Whitewall Tires
4. Stockton Wheel Service
5. Best of Ted’s Garage Blog
6. Recommended Reading: Hurst Collection

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1. Visit the ClassicCar.com Swapmeet
We’ve done a ton of updates done at ClassicCar.com over the past few months. One of the most useful new features is the ClassicCar.com Swapmeet. We launched the new Swapmeet so members can post parts and services for sale. No cars are allowed in the swap area, but almost anything else automotive related is fair game. Everybody has old car parts, tools, and supplies laying around. Make a few bucks, help a fellow enthusiast out, and free up some garage space all at the same time.

Visit the ClassicCar.com Swapmeet
http://www.classiccar.com/swapmeet/

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Checker Schucks’ Kragen Auto Parts
IN-STORE SPECIALS
Great Deals on What YOU Need!
Buy Online - Pickup In-Store
Click for Details
http://www.cskautoparts.com/StorePickupAug07.aspx

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2. Classified Ad Picks of the Month
Whether you want to buy or sell classic vehicle, the ClassicCar.com Classifieds is the place to do it. If you are a buyer, browse thousands of cars from the early 1900s through the 1970s. If you are a seller, list your car for only $35.00 until sold. Sellers also get up to 10 photos, ad placement on over 35 partner web sites, 24/7 editing ability, and a highly targeted audience of fellow classic car enthusiasts. Classic car dealers can enjoy a special dealer’s package offering an unlimited number of ads in the section of your choice for just $69.95 a month. That’s less than a single ad placed in a weekly local newspaper.

ClassicCar.com Classifieds
http://classiccar.chooseyouritem.com/classics/

Now, the best buys for the month.

Best Pre-1950’s Buy: 1948 Packard Deluxe
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Price: $9,500
Everything about these late-1940’s Packard makes them look massive. From the loooooong hood to the bathtub styling, the Packard cruisers of the day were certainly formidable automobiles. This particular battleship-gray four-door is equipped with a 327 cubic inch straight 8-cylinder engine and 3-speed transmission. The car runs, drives, and looks great inside and out right down the wide whites. The car has been recently tuned up and the clutch was recently replaced. Not a bad deal for under 10 grand.

1948 Packard Deluxe
http://classiccar.chooseyouritem.com/classics/files/883500/883582.html

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Best Post-1950’s Buy: 1964 Chevrolet Series 10 Pickup
Location: Chandler, Arizona
Price: $3,500
From the description, it sounds like this truck has had at least $3,500 worth of work done to it, so the asking price seems more than reasonable. The truck is equipped with a 327 with a rebuilt transmission. According to the listing, the truck also has a new water pump, fuel pump, front & rear suspension, steering linkage, radiator, transmission cooler, chrome timing cover, alternator, Hughes transmission oil pan, chrome oil pan, 8mm spark plug wires, starter, flywheel, stall converter, and dual 2.5-inch exhaust with Super 40 Flowmasters.

If having the gas tank sitting six inches behind you in the cab and drum brakes don’t scare you — and we know they don’t — you might want to give this truck a look. All you need to do is finish it up.

1964 Chevrolet Series 10 Pickup
http://classiccar.chooseyouritem.com/classics/files/499000/499011.html

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3. Feature Article: Whitewall Tires
Whitewall tires are a particularly prominent icon in our chosen hobby. In the earliest days of the automobile, tires were constructed of natural white rubber which had a number of disadvantages, including maintenance, service life, appearance, and traction issues. Advanced compounds were developed as a solution to these problems and put into service. Part of these advanced compounds included the use of carbon black.

Carbon black enhanced compounds were initially used only on the tread, which resulted in a distinct tire with black treads and white sidewalls — the first whitewall tires. Even so, the white tires continued to be the norm even after all-black tires became available. At the time, the all-black tires were more expensive to produce so they were considered a luxury item fit only for the most prestigious cars. These black tires were essentially white tires with an outer layer of black rubber. If the black coating was worn away the white material would show through. The same basic process of having a white underlay with the black surface scraped away is how white letter tires are made today.

Eventually, tire manufacturers moved the bulk of their tire production over to all-black materials and the whitewall became a styling element rather than a function of tire construction. Oddly enough, the “inferior” whitewall tire would enjoy a resurgence as a luxury statement in later years as whitewall became more expensive to produce.

Whitewalls fell out of favor primarily because of styling and maintenance concerns. They are difficult to keep clean and one swipe of a curb can permanently scar the white rubber. Automotive styling was another force that assisted in the demise of the whitewall tire on production cars. Starting in the 1940s, fender skirts could cover up a good portion of the tires and low-slung modern cars made two-sided whitewalls all but obsolete. These advances continue even today, with low rolling resistance rubber formulas and low-profile tires that leave little to no room for a white stripe or other sidewall decoration.

Speaking of the white stripe, the width of the white band on the sidewall has fluctuated through the years, ranging from a stripe nearly the full width of the sidewall to the thin “Red Stripe” tires offered in the 1960s. The width of the stripe started as a result of tire construction but eventually grew and shrunk with the style of the times. Today, unfortunately, no modern mass-production vehicle in the US is available from the factory with whitewall tires unless part of a limited edition vehicle. It was just a couple days ago I saw a brand new Chevrolet HHR sitting on a dealership lot complete with a full set of whitewall tires and smoothie wheels.

There are methods — some better than others — for getting a set of whitewalls on your car. Enthusiasts have created whitewalls by painting the side of the tire with whitewash or white paint, grinding way the thin black layer on white-letter tires, or even buying aftermarket inserts called Port-o-Walls made for use with bias-ply tires (radial tires flex too much, which can cause the Port-o-Walls to fall off or shift position).

And, of course, you can always buy a set of reproduction tires. A variety of specialty tire manufacturers continue to do a very good business in supplying whitewall and other vintage tires no longer available through typical channels

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4. Stockton Wheel Service
When you ask most people about Stockton Wheel Service, they say “Oh, yeah! They’re the guys that straighten wheels.” It is true that they may be the best shop in the country to send your wheels if you have problems. They do an outstanding job if you need to have your wheels polished or plated, bent wheels straightened, stock wheels widened, offset and back-spacing corrected, or a host of other wheel problems fixed.

But what about new wheels? What if you want a set of new Rally wheels or Magnums? What if you want wheels that look like they came with your car but you can fit with hi-tech, low-profile tires? Give Stockton Wheel a call. They understand what you want and know what your vehicle needs. You will be hard-pressed to find anybody, anywhere, who knows more about wheels and is as willing to talk about them.

In fact, you can get a wheel quote or start an order by CLICKING BELOW. A friendly customer service representative will contact you personally by phone to make sure you get what you want.

http://www.stocktonwheel.com/wheel_guide.php

This month, Stockton Wheel is introducing the NEW RT5 retro rally aluminum wheel. These wheels are cutting edge in their construction, but have a retro design quality that works well on 1960’s ,70’s and 80’s cars and trucks.

Check’em Out Today.

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5. Best of Ted’s Garage Blog Special Section
Instead of choosing the two most interesting posts from Ted’s Garage Blog, we are taking a look back at 2007 and the most popular posts. Here are the first five of the top-10.

Click here to read the rest!
http://www.classiccar.com/wordpress/2007/teds-garage-blog-top-ten-of-2007/

10. Barrett-Jackson Scales Back - Barrett-Jackson announced that it is scaling back its January event “for the sake of quality” according to Barrett-Jackson President Steve Davis. The 2007 auction sold 1,270 vehicles for a total value of $112 million.

http://www.classiccar.com/wordpress/2007/barrett-jackson-scales-back/

9. Bill Thomas’ Cheetah Reborn - Only a handful of the Cheetah were built before the tooling for the car was lost in a fire in 1965. The loss of the original tooling put a halt to any hope that the Cheetah would one day compete head-to-head as a Chevrolet-powered competitor to Shelby’s Cobras.

http://www.classiccar.com/wordpress/2007/bill-thomas-cheetah-reborn/

8. Largest Car Collection Becomes Museum - For decades, Harold LeMay and his wife Nancy collected cars. A lot of cars. Their collection counts roughly 3,500 automobiles, and is large enough to qualify as the world’s largest privately owned automobile collection as recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records.

http://www.classiccar.com/wordpress/2007/largest-car-collection-becomes-museum/

7. Tucker #46 (was) on eBay - Damn, we’re too late! The listing for Tucker #46 on eBay expired already. Fortunately, eBay keeps their old listings around for a while, so we can still get a glimpse at what was a relatively rare opportunity. There were 53 bids total for a final price of $202,700. Keep in mind this is a modified Tucker.

http://www.classiccar.com/wordpress/2007/tucker-46-was-on-ebay/

6. Beginning the Retro Craze - When the New Beetle was introduced in 1998 it truly kicked off a retro craze that brought us an entire host of cars inspired by vehicles from our past. Today we have retro PT Cruisers, HHRs, SSRs, Mustangs, Thunderbirds, Challengers, Camaros, 300s, Ford GTs, 350Zs, S-Types, MINIs, Chargers and others.

http://www.classiccar.com/wordpress/2007/beginning-the-retro-craze/

5. Riding in a 1957 Dual Ghia - I find the Dual Ghia to be one of the most interesting cars built in the late-1950’s. Born from the Chrysler Firearrow concept cars, the production model Dual Ghia was a short-lived endeavor which came to an end after roughly 100 were built.

http://www.classiccar.com/wordpress/2007/riding-in-a-1957-dual-ghia/

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6. Recommended Reading: Kirban’s Hurst Wheel and Memorabilia Collection
Hundreds of automotive titles fill the shelves of ClassicCar.com contributors, and from time-to-time, we like to share the absolute best. These books are not necessarily new or even very easy to find, but they are top-notch additions to any library.

Hurst is a universally recognized brand amongst enthusiasts. Most famous are Hurst shifters, however Hurst produced — and still produces — a wide variety of products and promotional items. Kibran’s Hurst Wheel and Memorabilia Collection details the vast collection of Hurst marketing materials, products, documents, literature, promotional items, accessories, catalogs, magazines, ads, newsletters, and parts that Kirban collected. The book is only 96 pages, but its full of photos and commentary.

Kirban’s Hurst Wheel and Memorabilia Collection
by Dennis Kirban
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0965844781/classiccar-20/

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