thin whitewalls/raised white letters

ok im sorry but ive never really liked the wide 3or 4inch "gangster" whitewalls even on cars that should of had em

im more of a raised white letter guy, but im not sure when RWL's came out

the reason for this post is im planning on making my 50 shoebox look like a very mild "hopped-up" custom that a high school kid would of had in say 58-60

my car is black it will have gold painted steel wheel spidercaps(thanks monsterflake) thin 50 ford chrome beauty rims

i dont particulalary care for black wall tires either and i want something to break up all the black

so my question is how wide were whitewalls in the 58-60 era what would look right on my car

just when did RWL's come out im thinking mid 60's

oh i will be running radials

decriptios would be great but pics would be greater

 

skinny whites would be 1960 period correct, not RWL

 

I can't be sure about the RWL tires, but it seems like around '68. Personally I never liked them, and when I bought new tires I would always have them turned in..the tire store guys thought I was nuts. I feel the RWL tires detract from the car, and I can't see advertising for some tire company.

 

RWL = 70's

 

Not trying to be a dick, but I believe skinnies didn't actually come out until 1961.... if my memory serves me correctly (which it doesn't always do...)

 

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]1962 was the first year of wide-spread use of narrow band white walls. The first car to use them as standard equipment was the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham - which used special low-profile tires with 1" whitewalls. Perhaps the cachet of this $13K auto caused everyone to want to use these tires.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]There is some confusion that occurs when various original photos show 1962 models with wide whitewalls from 1961 and earlier. I suspect these are photos of prototypes and pre-production models. But production models in 1962 had narrow bands as factory equipment. People in 1962 who bought a car with black-walls and upgraded from the local tire dealer most likely installed wide whites. So, in theory, a 1962 car could have originally had wide whites in 1962. Otherwise, it is narrow band from that point onward.[/FONT]

I stand corrected.

 

I think you could get Firestone Wide Oval white letter tires in '68, that'd probably be the earliest.

I like the two stripe whitewalls for an early 60's look (crappy photoshop below), that's what is going on my '62 Chrysler. 58-60 would still probably be all about wide whites though, or blackwalls if you were poor.

 

Thin whites appeard around 1962. The big 3 instigated them on their new 62 models.
Actually I stand corrected... It was late
fall of 1961, new model introduction time.

 

painted letters on black wall stones could also be an option . Pete.

 

That sounds about right. I was learning to drive my dads 61 Chevy pickup and I wanted him to up the quality a little and install the skinny whites on it. The truck was only a year old and the factory tread was still good and he wasn't about to budge. It took me a few months but I was able to wear them down to almost nothing. Can't remember how I did that! Nothing looked better then than whites and baby moons.

 

How narrow is narrow?

 

This is a scan from a March 1960 Hotrod. I too thought that the 1" WW came later in the 60s. All the new car ads have WWWs but these must have been available in late 1959. I remember seeing my first one on a 57 Chevy because it looked odd I don't remember the year but I know exactly where it was. I would have lost money on a bar bet on this question. I remeber this came up before and I was surprised at what I discovered.

The wide ovals with RWL tires became popular because they were original equipment on the muscle cars in the mid 60s.

 

The '62 Tempest was the last car with WWW from the factory... only because they had too many of the oddball 15" (oddball by '62 when most were 14") tires left over from '61

 

I think that you're correct.
The performance cars were still coming out with Red Line tires in '68 and '69 and I believe that these were also the first years that raised white letter tires were offered from the factory.

 

wow guys i didnt expect this big of a disscusion but im learning stuff allways good


here is a pic i just took of the side of my car could one of you photoshop wizards do it up with gold rims/ spiders and beauty rings and different sizes of white walls? feel free to play with the ride hight also im actually looking for a slight nose down look

 

one thing to consider is when your driving, a RWL tire looks like a white wall when it's spinning so why not just run the whitewall? good luck, jerseymike

 

Since I've been "questioned" a couple of times why I have "skinny whites" on my Tbird...

This is from the "automotive mileposts" site for Optional Equipment on the '61 Thunderbird.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, adobe-helvetica, Arial Narrow]*Whitewall stripe measured 1 inch wide on all cars built prior to June 1961. After that the newer style 2 inch whitewall stripe was provided on all cars so equipped. OEM tires were provided by Firestone, Goodyear, and BF Goodrich.[/FONT]

 

My '62 Sport Roadster had and has the two-inch..... build date was Oct. 1962.

 

RWL will not look right at all on that car. some nice thick white walls will do her nice.

 

These aren't WIDE whites, but they aren't narrow either. There was a transition period from "Wide" to "Narrow". The white kept getting narrower and narrower until they finally got ridiculous...

 

Shelby Mustangs came with small letter RWL Goodyears in '66. By Contrast the '57 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was offered with skinny (one inch) whitewalls.

Neither car were exactly 'mass production' but...

 

Here's my 63 Ford with 66 Galaxie hubcaps and thin WWs. I didn't put a lot of thought into this look--it's what the car had when bought in High School back in 87. I never got around to changing them, but I always liked the thought of American mags with RWLs. I know the RWLs get a lot of hate here, but hey--I was a little kid back in the 70s and all the guys with cool cars had them. I do draw the line at ridiculous big ass tires in the back though, and all jacked up to fit them under.

 

A shoebox has got to have whitewalls, preferably wide but narrow would be better than RWLs anyday. Might have to have a MULLET haircut to run the RWLs. It's your car though, so run what put's a smile on your face.

 

Anyone know the vintage of white letter (not sure if they are raised) Firestones like this:


Can new tires like this still be bought, where, and what sizes?

 

your ride looks killer. I would go with a bullet & maybe a ring .
my $.02
"and the bowtie rolls on"

 

On your smooth black Ford I think red lines on Keystones would look sharp.

 

I agree, RWL would not look good on that. That 40 that Tommy posted I thought was a good look w/those spinner hub caps. In defense of RWL tires, the Goodyear Polyglas RWL was the best looking one IMHO.

 

The Day 2 revolution will be televised....

 

I'll be honest I am not a big fan of thin whitewalls. I always have them mounted in so no one can see the ugly looking thin white wall line. When I was in high school thin white walls were considered to be old manish and thus not cool. RWL's were considered okay amongst my peers but I never cared for the look personally. When I think of thin white walls I think of vinyl roofs, el-cheapo plastic hub caps, and those goofy dash mounted compasses. It just seems so tacky.

 

looks like Bruce Lee's daughter....Ug Lee.