Hot Rods When did pie crust slicks start going out of favor?

I'm trying to figure out what slicks that people ran in the late 60's? Were pie crusts still being used by serious racers in '68, '69?

 

Goodyear had slicks available in '65 (and won with them), so the 'pie crust' was rapidly disappearing by then.

 

"Cheater" Slicks

 

I always think of Bruce Slicks when guys are talking the piecrust look ..........think they were recaps back in the 50's . I assumed they gave way to better technology in tires as we got into the 60's .

 

My Roadster had pie crusts on it when found and had a 1963 license plate on it.

 

Don Montgomery (Rockerhead here) says that M&H came out with the first purpose built slick (not recap) in 1958. The first wrinkle wall slicks were seen around 64/65. That was the end of Piecrust slicks in serious competition.

The better bite also signaled the beginning of the end for the nose bleed stance.

 

When softer rubber was used! Gary

 

when i went side ways into a tree !!!!!!!

 

Pie crust slicks were made necessary because they were wide treads recapped onto passenger car tires. The true Inglewood Pos-A-Traction slicks had 10" treads on 7" wide carcasses. The pie crust ribs were trusses to support that overhanging tread. Once tire manufacturers started making new carcasses designed for the wide tread, there was no more need for those trusses. All later pie crust tires have those notches for decoration, they serve no purpose.

Close up of trusses on original recap slicks.



This is an original Inglewood recap. It shows the pie crust trusses are necessary to support the overhanging tread. on the other side this tire still has the old wide whitewall and passenger car markings. you can see the recap seam about an inch below the ribs.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback. Cool photos.

I have a '69 Drag Car for the street and I wondered how wrong it would look with pie crusts.
My '55 had original Allstate pie crust cheater slicks so I've always dug the looks of pie crust cheater slicks.

What current tire would look the most like a late 60's era cheater/drag slick? I wanna drive them on the street.

 

Nope.

By about '65 or 6 anyone who was serious about racing was running dedicated slicks, new tires not recaps. Kids were still buying pie crust cheater slicks though the later '60s for their hotrods, but even those were going by the wayside. They were not legal on the street in most states and you could by N-60s by then.

I got my first pair of slicks in '70. They were used 7" wide M&H Racemasters on steelies. I was a weekender not a hard core racer.

 

Radir
http://radirwheels.com/slicks.htm

Towel City
http://towelcityracingtires.com/Pie_Crust_Cheater_Slicks.html

Coker, sort of
https://www.cokertire.com/firestone-blackwall-cheater-slick.html

Hurst
http://www.realrodderswheels.biz/TIRES.htm

 

Towl City (follow the link that @willys36 posted and root around) makes a black wall smoothy that would be period for the car if it was a race car, or a weekend racer. if you are looking for more period street tire then what you want are wide oval bias plys or even N60 Mickey Thompsons ( or the equivalent). I was still running 9.00x15s in the late '60son my old heaps. They were cheap off of any old buick in the wrecking yard.LOL

 

My favorite current offering that captures to look of mid- to late-1960s slicks are the "nostalgia" slicks from M&H Racemaster...



http://www.jegs.com/i/M&H/676/MVD-0...nel=Shopping&gclid=CL_65suIttICFVeewAodRCYCGg

 

Damn those are nice didn't even know that they made some.

Here's the towl city renderings



and a link for those who are curious:
http://towelcityracingtires.com/Cheater_Slicks.html

 

Seriously racing what?
Goodyears smooth wall came out in 64-65 for dragsters, followed soon by M&H. All cars used 'em.
By 68, no serious racer ran "pie crusts", that wasn't even a term back then, it's a modern invention.
Wrinkle walls very rapidly replaced the old style on EVERY drag car (unless you were flat broke), but by 68 they were universal, the softer rubber and wrinkle walls were so superior there was no looking back.
AA/FD ET's dropped about 1.5 SECONDS over that time, due to tires and slipper clutches, similar ET reductions in every class followed. AA/GS cars went from 10's to mid 8's.

 

He's trying to outfit a '69 car "drag car for the streets" so I am guessing some sort of a door slammer weekender car, but that is a guess at best. I don't recall anyone actually trying to run slicks on the street until the newstaglia craze his the fair grounds. No offense intended. OT but it makes for good discussion.

 

The first ones I remember where Casler. Started seeing cars running them at the track in the 1960's

 

In Portland at least, I don't remember ever seeing anyone run slicks on the street ( though there are ALWAYS exceptions). Lack of tread, hydroplaning and relatively weak sidewalls ( slicks were not meant for cornering! ) made them an unpopular choice. If you raced, you hauled slicks to the strip and put them on there. What type of car are we talking about?
Stockers still had to run 7 inchers ( if I remember right ), I NEVER saw a late model muscle car with slicks on the street! If a late model ran Super Stock, they had to run whatever fit in the wheelwell without mods, stock muscle cars ran Pure Stock, no slicks or any mods at all allowed. By then gassers were totally dedicated race cars, NOT running on the street, same with altereds. Even stock cars and modified production were pretty much dedicated racers, seldom , if ever street driven. Highly impracticable and TOTALLY illegal! The day of dual purpose drag/ street cars was pretty much LONG gone.
That's the way I remember it!

 

I had new M&H pie crust slicks on my gassers in both 64 and 65. 8" on my C/Gas 55 Chevy in 64 and 11" on my B/Gas Henry J in 65.
Bill

 

By about '69 or'70 all you saw that would be considered dual purpose cars were driven on grudge night. If they had slicks they were hauled to the track and you are correct about Portland. It rained there.

Muscle car era cars ran wide ovals or whomevers G-N60s. Occasionally out into the Washington valley you saw dirt track tires. The rough treaded ones and I am not sure how legal they were.

 

Read your other post. Did you work at Colletti's in Hillsboro? Quite the happening place in those days!

 

1966 was my last 7" pie crust slick for my stock/modified production class daily driver. By 1967 I got 10.50x15 M&H slicks for a dedicated A/SR racer. It was night and day difference in traction.

 

They went out of favor? Why the hell doesn't anyone tell me these things?
My Towel City pie crust slicks. You can have any tread design added. I went with two center grooves and some side siping. These are 28" tall. I may sell these and go with 29" diameter tires in the same design.

Tough looking tire, did not take much weight to balance. Actually round, good quality in a tire.

Mmmmm, pie crust.

 

That looks like the 9.00 x 15. They have a 8.50 x 14 that looks sexy to me and will go great on my OG Ford wheels. These slicks have a great look to them.

 

Not tying to hi-jack here, but what would have been the average wheel width for the "pie crusts" like, say an 8:00X15?

 

Hello,
The Bruce Slicks were what seemed like the true "pie crust" look for a racing tire. The term was not used in our circles, but everywhere else has their own history. Those slicks had instant grab and the Bruce Slicks looked cool squashing when the gas pedal was stomped, even with the full air inflation. We took in our own fairly new/used carcasses to Inglewood Tire Co. to make into cheater slicks for the 58 Impala, but as good as they seemed to be, there was no comparison to the real Bruce Slicks.

Since these Bruce Slicks were about 7 inches wide, they fit perfectly under our rear fender the the 40 Willys gas coupe we built. The added bonus was that they were mounted on Chevy bolt pattern rims, so we were able to exchange them on our 58 Impala when the noted street drags were on for the weekend cruising scene.

But, they were not for everyday driving on the street. Grab on acceleration, yes, grab on a misty day? No braking or power to accelerate normally with those smooth slicks.

Jnaki
As good as the Bruce Slicks were, those "7 inchers" were not going to be the optimum for more horsepower motors and stick hydro transmissions. So, in August 1960, we had a set of bigger/wider M&H slicks on order along with wide Halibrand Mags. But, we had to cancel that part of the order because of the fire/accident in our 40 Willys at Lions Dragstrip.

Have you ever tried to stop at a light, at 12 midnight, with a slight coastal mist on the ground? The Bruce Slicks caused a full 360 spin and recovering was the most exciting thing that popped up in this situation. Duh...

 

Question; The term "Pie Crust" slick. Were they (always) called "Pie Crust" slicks back in the late 50's-early 60's or is that a newer name for them?
Though fitting, I seem to think that the tag "Pie Crust" slick may be a 90's or newer term (like "back in the day") that started when new/reproduction versions started to enter the market over the last couple of decades.
I only recall them ever being referred to as "slicks" or "Cheater slicks".
A challenge of sorts; Possibly someone that was present in the scene can verify people on the streets or industry calling them "Pie Crusts" in the early days? I sure couldn't find any vintage ads (Inglewood, etc.) referring to them as Pie Crusts-only slicks or Cheater slicks. Present day ads and literature=definitely. Maybe I'll stand corrected.

 

I think you are correct that it's a newer term for them. I always just heard "slicks", too, be they recaps, cheaters, Bucrons or later wrinkle walls