From an email from Coker Tires.
The Anatomy of a ClassicAt Coker Tire Company, we've built our business providing hard-to-find tires to classic vehicle enthusiasts since 1958. We all know a lot has changed since the late fifties, some for the better and some not so much. It's what has changed in the tires designed for vehicles over the decades that has become our passion.
So what exactly is a classic car tire? Well, it's pretty safe to say it isn't just one thing. What a classic car tire generally means, is a tire designed to fit and perform the way the vehicle was originally designed and used. OK, so what does that even mean, and what exactly has changed over the years? Read on, as we lay out the basics of classic car tires.
Tire SizeLet's tackle the big one, tire size. Since the automobile first hit the (unpaved) roads at the turn of the last century, there have been a few different ways that tire size was labeled. While they are confusing at first glance, once you understand the system it's not too bad. You can roughly bucket the different size nomenclature in eras of time. there's some overlap here and there, but generally works to look at it this way.
READ TIRE SIZE 101TIRE SIZE CONVERSION CHARTSTire ConstructionTire construction generally falls into two main categories these days, Bias Ply and Radial construction. You could guess that techniques, details and materials in tire manufacturing have evolved endless throughout history. You can still however get along ok by sticking with these two main construction types.
CLASSIC TIRE CONSTRUCTION ARTICLEWHAT IS A "BIAS LOOK" RADIAL TIRE?Tire StylesThe evolution of tire styles is probably one of the more interesting bits to study. It was a pretty much a guessing game early on. Simple wheel designs, natural rubber and sometimes even solid core tires were used to get rolling. During those formative years, the fancy new horseless carriages were still largely considered a passing fad, so tire development was working from behind the eight ball. Painfully slow vehicle speeds and pretty much no roads gave tire manufactures a decent amount of time to start figuring out what those early motorcars needed for reliable use. To be clear, they were anything but reliable until the game changer Carbon Black burst onto the scene.
Reliability was most certainly the main topic of the day, but quietly the idea of the automotive fashion statement was born and those statements absolutely included tire designs. From primitive natural and grey rubbers, sprang new and interesting concepts like all white and cinnamon colored tires. Then tread designs like the Non Skid, Ribbed and Zig Zag patterns started appearing. The race was on for better performance and style in automobile tires and would prove over time to be a perpetual heart's desire for motorists everywhere.
WHERE DID WHITEWALLS COME FROM?WHAT IS A GENUINE WHITEWALL TIRE?WHY ARE WHITEWALLS MORE EXPENSIVE?RADIAL WHITEWALL TIRES FOR CLASSIC CARSORIGINS OF RAISED WHITE LETTER TIRESTHE HISTORY OF REDLINE TIRES
