What did most of the top customs of 1963 have in common? Well, according to the '63 Custom Car Yearbook (and my memory) they all used these unique, futuristic tires. Introduced in 1959, the US Royal Masters featured the very first narrow whitewall, beating Detroit by two or three years. With their radiant ribbing on the black part of the sidewalls and extended curb-protective rib surrounding the white part, these things were downright exotic (and expensive). That's why they were the choice of Winfield, Stuckey, Starbird, Cushenbery and Farhner, who used them on the Jade Idol and Solar Scene, the Eclipse and the Matador among many others. In fact, there were 24 other cars with Masters in that Annual, which stands as the definitive publication on customs of that era.
My dad always use to say they would last a long time and they were expensive and good tires. It was the tire to have.
Those things are sooo crazy looking. I'd buy 'em, too. I've seen a set of two for sale over the past year, not for too much money, but, probably not in great shape, either. I'd run some new ones, for sure. I think I'd need the rest of my car to be up to snuff, first though. I can't see a finishing touch like that, with that much audacity, on my unpainted, underfunded Ranch!
There's a better lookin tire here in the shop as we speak...Dayton Thoroughbreds. They have a checkered flag look in the sidewall. I've never seen them before. These are 3" whites but who cares. I want a set now. Those tires above are also a truely bitchin look, but these Daytons...I'll have to try to get a really good shot of em. Too kool.
had a set on my '49 Fleetline in '61...great tire then...can only hope the remake will be comparable. I am sure they won't be affordable, but then as I remember, they never were.!
Had a set on 57 Ford,the rubber was so hard that when pavement was wet even taking off slow they just spinned. The hardness of the tires,tire installers always complained about putting them on the rims.-------TwoChops
So, hold on a minute,is this thread saying that Coker's are bringing these tyres back, or is this thread requesting that Coker's consider bringing them back? Paul
At first I had deja vu. They NEED to be repopped. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103982&highlight=royal http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=420626&highlight=royal
Yes, it's a suggestion to Coker's. Also, I was curious about how much awareness there is about them now. A bit, it seems.
Boy's and Girls hold on to your short hairs and get ready! Russ Meeks of "RM Engineering" and the boy's of Adams Hot Rod Rubber / HURST RACING TIRES are bringing back the good old day's very soon................We have been working on this tire for over a year, and Russ has been brewing up the idea for quite a long time. I will be starting a new thread very very soon. So look out and remember you heard it first on the HAMB By the way we are on our 4th prototype and this aint no BULL Its happening!!!!! Cody "HOTRODRUBBER" Adams HURST RACING TIRES
I worked on getting COKER to make a tire once. From concept to final DOT inspection and delivery was two years. Can you give an "about" time frame when we can hope to purchase some??
correct me if i'm wrong but didn't U.S. Royal go out of business because of a law suit over their tires being bad? my dad worked in a tire shop when i was a kid and i seam to remember that being said.
This is some really good news. Glad to hear it Cody. Tell Dad hi for me and please keep us posted. Cant wait to see it!!!
I have a nice original set of US Royal Masters, they were on a 34 Ford show car in the 60's. They are really cool tires.... Glad they are bringing them back...
I have one that had a very cool whitewall with a rectangles and says us royal master near the rim in redline. I want a set of these.
I have a set of 4 that were on my dad's hot rod '60 Corvette. I took pictures and sent them to Coker May 7, 2004. They said: "Tony, these are great looking tires and we would love the opportunity to build them for you. However, to design a new mold and produce a tire we would need a minimum order of 500 tires. If you place the order, you could probably make a good amount of money selling the rest of them off. Unfortunately, we have not had enough demand for these tires to warrant building this many. Building fewer tires would drive the cost up to the point that they wouldn't be affordable. Should you decide to place the order, we will be glad to get started on them for you and hopefully have them produced by early next year. If we can be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us in the future." Can we get 500 orders together?
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