White walls tires & mag wheels-traditional?

I'm a 70 yr. old left field outsider I guess. I drive a hotrod farm truck( 1948 International) with whites and a gas tank in the bed, I better call the tow truck and donate it to goodwill.

 

Damn, this is a stupid thread!! If you like ww tires, run 'em. There was every conceivable variation/combination of wheels/tires running around on the streets in the '50s and '60s.

It was the product of available cash and just what the person liked. Guys didn't give a rats ass about tradition back then. If you liked a particular combination of tires & wheels thats what went on your car. Of course, some combinations were better than others and some combinations were more prevalent. So, what it all boils down to is: run the combination of wheels/tires you like and can afford and screw all opinions. It's your car!

Pretty simple isn't it?

Posted using the full custom, V8, 4-speed app, rolling down highway 41.

 

Do you really think this doesn't look good?

 

I like them, have them on my roadster, just like big daddy, even the hemi with 8x2. if we had all the same taste, we would all be fighting for the same car and same girl. and the world would be boring.

 

Whitewall slicks in the old days were a fact of life because of the tires they could get. Remember, racing slicks were recaps, no M&H or Goodyear mile-wide gummies at that time. Big tires which were desirable for racing carcases came on big luxury cars and they came with wide whitewall tires which was the fashion of the day. Thus a lot of the racing recaps coming out of the Inglewood shop were necessarily whitewalls. I just bought a great pair of 10x15 Inglewood Posatraction NEVER USED 60s slicks and they have two different widths of whitewall.

 

You used to pay extra for whitewalls, blackwalls were standard. You even bought fake whitewalls or white wall paint. There were redlines, Tiger paws, Polyglass GT, raised white letters. Now we have gone full circle and black walls are standard and guys want whitewalls again.

 

thats my car on post 42. the orange chrysler. i don't care if its vintage or traditional or era correct or if anyone likes it. i built it for me and me only. the car has a totally different look when the sidewall is rippled and its up on the rear tires. i have gotten more street race action by unsuspecting drivers that think this is one of those fancy pants cars. little do they know.

 

White walls tires & mag wheels-traditional?
Well I'm glad this is settled.

 

While I don't want to be included in a pissing match, I just changed my car with a different wheel and tire combo.
Picture 1 is how the car has looked since it was built by Clark bates in 2006 with some refining changes that I thought it needed


I always liked the way it looked but did think the wheels might have been a little overboard

So as of a couple of weeks ago, this is now how the car looks

while not as flashy, I do believe it looks more like it should if it is a "1962 " style build

 

This is my car in 1965

 

Hello,

For most of history in hot rods and customs, early “Mag” wheels were for race cars. Very few made it to the streets. Custom cars had chromed reversed or wire wheels. For most, this 55 Chevy had the look of simplicity and low cost, which teenagers were able to afford. Black rims and small round hubcaps, with some beauty trim rings added or not was the normal scene.
Nothing fancy, just good reliable painted rims and small hubcaps...

The hot rods usually had steel wheels or the fancy ones that entered car shows had chromed reverse wheels. Some early "mag" wheels made it to the car show hot rods and customs, but you could probably count on your one hand the amount of “mag” wheels seen anywhere, let alone on the streets daily.

They were not seen on the streets until the popularity of “Mag” wheels came on the scene for actual street cars in the early 1960 era. Halibrand has been around since the late 40s, but their wheels were for race cars on the oval and elsewhere. The early popularity of the street version of any “Mag” wheel did not start until the race car techniques were geared for the safe usage on the street.

The early “Mag” wheel could be used on the street, but would crack upon any street maladies in normal driving.

Jnaki

So, like other starting points of hot rod history, hot rodding did not start with the A.G. movie. And, “Mag” wheels, like the 5 spokes did not show up on street cars until the later 60s. In competition, yes, late 50s through the early 1960. Once the manufacturers figured out the safety factor for street usage, then the wave started with copies of the American Racing Equipment 5 spoke and continues to this day with chrome 5 spokes of any make or brand.

On white walls? Today, yes… back in the 50s? No… no one had “Mag” wheels for street usage until the early-mid 60s. White walls and chrome wheels were popular. Once the race car look of blackwalls and chrome wheels came into popularity, that was the mode for quite some time. So, it depends on what level of tradition is mentioned. A Flathead roadster without fenders usually did not have white walls and “mag” wheels of any kind.

Perhaps someone will have a photo of a European “mag” wheel that has been used on American hot rods, the pricing was so far out of reach of 90% of the normal builders, but they were available back then. These days, any form of tradition is mentioned as the way it was... but at what era and development of hot rods? 70s-80s? Beyond HAMB tradition...YRMV