In an early 60's style hot rod, do I go with wide whites or the thin 1" white walls. All the info I can find shows a little of both and that was before my time. I've already done wides on another car and thought a change would be good. But sometimes I think thin whites belong on an old man's car. Tires will go on gloss black steelies. Any thoughts?
The changeover began about '61. By '63 or so it was pretty complete to thin. Aesthetically it would depend on what else you use with either one. Black rims look best with wide whites on hot rods IMHO. Customs take thins better. Mutt
GM Motorama Show cars were showing skinny whites in '55. I have "little Books Custom car books from early Jan.'59 with skinny whites. You couldn't even buy a new car with wide whites after '61. Everyone wnanted "new" skinny whites. On new cars and old cars. A 60's style, or even late 50's style custom just looks like mixed up era's with wide whites on it. (Or it looks like a Harlem Caddy Bro-Ham with the TV antenna on the trunk and the working girls in the back. Nothin wrong with a Pimp-mobile as long as YOU know it looks like a pimp-mobile!)
Hey cartman... [ QUOTE ] But sometimes I think thin whites belong on an old man's car. [/ QUOTE ] Hmmmmm...if thin whites belong on an old man's car...what did wide whites belong on??? Better question, since you're not an old man (I'm****uming here, based on what you wrote), which are YOU going to run? R-
I think there's really an additional distiction here. REALLY wide whites, like 4+ inches, were common in the early 50's. If that's what Dr J is referring to, I agree that they really look moldy fig on a '50s era hot rod or custom. By the mid '50s, they were a bit narrower -- like 2 1/2" to 3 1/2" whitewall width -- and those are dear to my heart. It's important to note that these whitewalls start right at the rim; there's no black band between the rim and the inner edge of the whitewall. In my book, these were still commonplace even in the early 60's (admittedly not on new cars), and are the most handsome of tires. The really dinky ones kinda correspond with the era when I lost interest in new cars -- late '60s. I totally agree that the choice of whitewall width depends on the car, and the style in which the car is to be done.
I like both. I know thinner whites where popular in the early/mid sixties until white letters came out... We wasted half a day on the drive to Paso looking around central Ore for any tire we could get our hands on that came with a whitewall. Came up with these.
I should have told you that its for a 32 Hiboy Vicky/Cabrio. I have several books and old mags for reference, but just wanted some other people's thoughts. Thanks for the replies.
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