Maintaining a clean sidewall was an issue. New tires were wrapped in paper for shipping, to keep the white stripe clean, and for preventing the black of other tires from rubbing on the whitewall side. In some cases, having whitewall tires were a 'must have' to get the right look on a car and for those who could not afford the real deal, add-ons could be installed over the rim of the wheel that could leak if the pressure was too high. Whitewall tires were a popular option on new cars during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as in the replacement market. During the mid-1960s variations on the striped whitewall began to appear a red/white stripe combination was offered on Thunderbirds and other high-end Fords, and triple white stripe variations were offered on Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Imperials. They continued as an option on the Lincoln Continental for some time thereafter but most common were narrower 3⁄ 4–1-inch (1.9–2.5 cm) stripe whitewalls. Wide whitewalls generally fell out of favor in the U.S. During the 1950s, Fender skirts also covered up white wall tires. During the decade, increasingly lower vehicle heights were in vogue. The whitewall stripe width began to diminish as an attempt to reduce the perceived height of the wheel/tire. The 1957 production version of the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was fitted with whitewalls that were reduced to a 1' wide stripe floating on the tire sidewall with a black area between this stripe and the wheel rim. Wide whitewall tires reached their height in popularity by the early-1950s. during the supply shortages of raw materials during World War II and the Korean War. The availability of whitewall tires was limited in the U.S. But automobile designs incorporating streamlining directed visual interest away from tire walls.ġ950s Rambler American with vintage aftermarket ' curb feeler'

On April 6, 1934, Ford introduced whitewall tires as an $11.25 (equivalent to $246 in 2022) option on all its new cars. The popularity of whitewalls as an option increased during the 1930s. During the late-1920s gleaming whitewalls contrasted against darker surroundings were considered a stylish, but high-maintenance feature. The status of whitewall tires versus blackwall tires was originally the reverse of what it later became, with fully black tires requiring a greater amount of carbon black and less effort to maintain a clean appearance these were considered the premium tire since the black tires first became available they were commonly fitted to many luxury cars through the 1930s. Should a black sidewall tire have been severely scuffed against a curb, the underlying white rubber would be revealed it is in a similar manner that raised white letter (RWL) tires are made. Later, entirely black tires became available, the still extant white sidewalls being covered with a somewhat thin, black colored layer of rubber. However, the white rubber did not offer sufficient endurance, so carbon black was added to the rubber to greatly increase tread life. The best of these was zinc oxide, a pure white substance that increased traction and also made the entire tire white. Įarly automobile tires were made of pure natural rubber with various chemicals mixed into the tread compounds to make them wear better. The use of whitewall rubber for tire has been traced to a small tire company in Chicago called Vogue Tyre and Rubber Co that made them for their horse and chauffeur drawn carriages in 1914. These tires were most commonly used from the early 1900s to around the mid 1980s. Whitewall tires or white sidewall (WSW) tires are tires having a stripe or entire sidewall of white rubber. Coker Classic radial whitewall tires on a 1957 Ford Thunderbird

Custom redline tires