Wierd to see wide whitewalls on a '63 Chevy "back in the day", 'specially without any hubcaps on it. Cool pics, although I don't recognize any of the cars.
I never could tell, myself, but still, you've got to admit it's odd, since everything I've read says '61 was the last year for wide whites as factory equipment.
Those 55 photos were taken at Dragway 42 in West Salem Ohio. I don't know the cars but I do know the track. www.dragway42rockrace.com
You could probably ask Aaron Polburn, the Pres at IHRA. He operated dragway 42 for quite a while and has an incredible memory.
What you young guys seem to forget is that even though the factory was selling new cars with skinny whites, there were millions of wide whites in tire stores, and people with the older cars were used to wide whites, and wanted to replace them with new wide whites when their tires wore out. So there was a market long after the factory quit using them. They were also cheaper than the new tire style, and that resulted in a lot of people using them for that reason. It really wasn't unusual to see wide whites on cars after '61 or '62, especially if the car was driven by a young person. Look through some Hot Rod mags from the time, and you will see a lot of wide whites. In the mid sixties, the whites were turned inside a lot, because blackwalls became vogue as a 'racer' look. Mutt
You tell em Mutt, stupid kids, no nothing morons. I bought a set of wide whites for my '61 Caddy in '85 right from the tire store, they had 'em in stock.
Thanks, Mutt. I like when guys like you tell it like it was, instead of reading 50 new guys reply in the same thread how psykobillykool some cut up old pickup cab is...
I'd say you're right on the money. Roger, the guy in the picture of the black car, still lives in Ohio. He's into bikes now, but built some good looking cars over the years.
Actually, Nads, when I think about it, the young guys probably wouldn't have any way to know what it was like back then, unless they talked to someone who was there. And I can actually say that I've never had a young guy ask me about tire transition in the '60s. So I apologize if I came off as though I was ridiculing anyone. I was merely trying to "school" them with with what I observed...... Mutt
Well Mutt, the tire transition might have been easy to miss back then due to concurrent hair style transition, popular music transition, and president transition . It was a lot to take in at once.
Heh, you forgot the sex transition... ....yeah, it was sometimes hard to keep up, if you'll pardon the pun...God, the 60s were fun! Mutt
Turning them inside out wasn't enough... had to use shoe polish to reduce the possibility of someone seeing the white when making a turn..
Mutt, I too ran whites in the mid sixties (I'll probably run them when I hit seventy too!) in Pasadena DYNO DON NICOLSON was at C.S. Meade Chevrolet and recomended VOUGUE Wide White's (a high end tire that was more often found on new cadillac's) to those that perferred not to run slicks on the street.
I think I recognize those hair doos. Weren't they extras in the dance sequences of "Beach Blanket Bingo"?
They are posed kind of oddly. Is she the Race Queen? The whole action looks furtive. Who is passing what to whom? Is it a baton hand-off? Trophy presentation. Is she wearing a tiara? She's adorable from what I can see. You can tell he is waiting for a little privacy in order to make his lewd thoughts known to her. It's likely she already knows. She has a private award ceramony all planned.
I don't know. All I remember is they were passing out free LSD on the streets. Next thing I know it is suddenly 1974.
I ran Atlas Bucrons. They were much cheaper and sticky as hell for the time. Wear mileage sucked, though. They were carried by Standard Oil stations. Mutt
Mutt, thank you for the history lesson. Little things like that get forgotten if no one passes them along, because they don't often make it into the history books. I did realize, of course, that skinny whites didn't kill wide whites immediately upon their introduction, but most photographic evidence from the era always seemed to indicate that skinnier whites were hipper from about 1958 on. I went to school to be an historian, actually, and I place a lot of value on the first-hand accounts I collect. Even though I'm now going to law school, I would like to eventually write something about that late-1950s into the 1960s and '70s era. I grew up on street racing stories, c. 1964 to 1975, because my dad was a Woodward cruiser in that era, but I'm a little hazy yet on some of the early sixties stuff and I'd like to find out more before you fellows start leaving us. -Dave
the bottom 55 was petti bros.tom/nick from euclid ohio ,they were partners with cook and ebert in the 60s i showed the picture to tom this morning,and he just about fell over..hadn't seen the car for over 40 years!!!!!yes it was at dragway 42 in west salem..........
I remember seeing 'before' pics of an old friends 55 that looked like that white one. This is ten years ago. The car was repainted solid white with a glass tilt nose, and a small roll cage that wouldn't pass tech in the early 90's. Anyone else on the white one? The one I am thinking of was owned by a guy named Lee. He was from Ohio.
Actually the bottom 2 cars are the same cars just differnt graphics, this car belonged to my father n law Tom Petti, Sr he lives in Painsville Twp, his number is 440-350-7549 he wanted me to post his number if anybody is intrested in giving him a call about this car. Thanks jamie
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