MyStarCollectorCar’s 10-dollar word of the day: “anachronism”.
An anachronism is anything that does not belong in a modern era, be it outdated furniture, clothing, music, fashion, or MyStarCollectorCar, and even whitewall tires on cars.
Jim Sutherland
The case for whitewall tires has been diminished over the years so they have drifted into the dustbins of history in the car hobby. Sadly, there are many examples of open contempt for whitewalls by many car guys, even though the tires used to occupy a lofty location at or near the top of the automotive prestige totem pole.
The cold facts are many newer tires have a lower profile that does not provide enough rubber area to do justice to the whitewall feature, even if the customer was interested in the idea. Also, many of them are most assuredly not interested in whitewall tires because, in their opinion, the tires belong in a bygone automotive area and never had a cool factor in their opinion.
We at MyStarCollector mourn the passing of the whitewall tire as a part of the automotive world because of their long legacy as a cool addition to retro rides. Therefore, we want to provide five good reasons why we still love whitewall tires.
The first reason is we are old enough to remember when whitewall tires were a status symbol on cars and indicated the car owner was willing to showcase his vehicle because he bought whitewalls for his ride.
The tires upped the owner’s game in the prestige department and separated him from the cheapskates who chose blackwall tires.
The second reason is wide whitewall tires identify a specific era in automotive history.
For example, prewar and post-war whitewalls sold until the early 1960s were very wide and typically found on expensive vehicles that looked well-dressed with extra-wide whitewalls in the mix.
However, whitewall tires eventually got thinner rings during the 1960s and became our third reason for whitewall love, specifically a sportier new tire style for sportier cars.
Variations included redwall tires on muscle cars, but thin whitewalls were equally effective in our opinion when it came to a cool style on cars from that era.
Our fourth reason for our sentimental attachment to the bygone era of whitewall tire was the thicker stripe (but not the old school ultra-wide) whitewall tires found on larger sedans sold during the back nine of the 1960s, throughout the 1970s, well into the 1980s-and even into the 1990s in some cases.
The large-and-in-charge cars equipped with slightly bigger whitewall rings emphasized the luxury angle of wide whites, but just not as wide as the earlier whitewalls found on high end pre and post war vehicles.
Our fifth and final reason for whitewall love are tires that featured two (or even more) thin stripes on them. The double ring whitewall tires were not common on cars, even during their heyday in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but they were arguably some of the coolest tires ever made in our opinion here at MyStarCollectorCar.
Double (or more) white-striped tires were a unique conversation piece when they were initially offered on cars from that era because of their rarity at the time. Decades later, multi-striped whitewalls are even rarer, so they draw plenty of attention on vintage cars in 2024. We at MyStarCollectorCar loved them then and now because double (or more) whitewalls are tire rock stars in whitewall world in our opinion.
There was always a solid case for whitewall tires in the annals of automotive history, so it’s a good thing we like to live in the past here at MyStarCollectorCar
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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