@Shawn Miller

wide whites or blackwalls?

Shawn Miller · 2002-06-25T15:09:00.000Z

Remember a contribution of an older gentleman in the bulletin some time ago expounding the fact that most full classics would not have been shipped from the factory with wide whites. He maintained that these were considered garish at the time, and having lived through the era, i would think he would know. On the other hand I have seen factory photos of Cords with wide whites. Of course Cords and Auburns are "look at me" type of cars, so maybe it varied from marque to marque. Any guidelines here in anyones opinion as to what is appropriate for what model? Shawn Miller Indiana Region

Jun 25, 2002 (edited)660 views

Replies (3)

· Jun 27, 2002

Hi Again, Shawn - regarding your question about "black-vs-white" walls.Yes, you heard correctly. Bear in mind that the classic era was another world - the average fellow who could afford a classic car was typically older and more conservative. Have you ever seen those wild colorful ads Packard put out in Fortune Magazine in the 1930's...? Sure, a car COULD have been ordered that way, but a glance at old newspapers and newsreels tell us, that was most certainly not the "norm". How many times have we read of restorations (including our current CCCA magazine) in which the restorer notes the original color was a solid, dark conservative one.In all my years of involvment with the old car movement, I have never seen any statistics that tell us for certain what percentage of cars of the classic era were ordered with or without white walls. Since we do know that EITHER way is consistant with the era, and it is YOUR car...heck..man...do what makes YOU feel good. As I noted in another "post" to you about tires, there are "white white" radials available now which will LOOK right (except for the "bulge" at the bottom of the tire when loaded, which is a characteristic of the more flexible side-wall of a radial) and give your car back the handling and "fee" it had when in service.Good luckPete Hartmann

(edited)

· Jul 2, 2002

Yeah..hvs...I agree - tread patterns have changed around over the years - that has GOT to be a factor in the sloppy handling of the current "repro" bias tires.Pete Hartmann

(edited)

· Jul 2, 2002

Pete ~ You forgot about the tread design. It has NOTHING in common with the tread designs of the classic era. ~ hvs

(edited)

To join in the conversation, you must be a club member.

You’re welcome to read and like every post. Members can reply and start topics of their own.