Restoration Tires

Reproduction tires might be required for a concours restoration, but there is a price to pay for originality. The tire technology of the Fifties and Sixties leaves a lot to be desired when compared to today's high-speed radial designs and rubber compounds. But, when restoring a Sixties musclecar for show, adding the correct redline or small white letter tires is virtually mandatory.


There are many styles and sizes available from a variety of aftermarket tire suppliers, who in some cases purchased the molds from the original manufacturer. The spare tire shown above is an original Firestone 775x14-inch black-wall, which came in the trunk of a 1965 GTO. This tire has a 5-inch-wide tread footprint and a 28-inch overall diameter—and was used on a vehicle with 360-horsepower. Obviously these skinny tires didn't fare well on the rear of a Sixties muscle machine.


As the decade progressed, wider tires were introduced by most of the OEM suppliers in order to deal with increased horsepower and provide better handling and braking characteristics. Most Sixties tires were (and the repros still are) a bias-ply design which doesn't provide a very comfortable ride. They flat-spot easily; and, with such a small tread footprint, they can't put much rubber on the pavement during braking. But for the restorer, all the negative aspects can be endured for the correct "look." Here we'll examine some of the popular reproduction tires for musclecars of the era.

Royal Rep
This is an exact repro of the US Royal redline tire, which was installed at the factory on early Sixties GM A-body (GTO, Chevelle, Buick GS and Olds 4-4-2) musclecars. This is a 775x14-inch biased-ply tire, and like the original spare tire shown above, is 28 inches in diameter. In 1965, this was the standard size tire available on the GM A-body from the factory, but by checking the right box on the vehicle order sheet, you could get it in the black wall, white wall or red line styles. After side-stepping the clutch, a pair of these tires would easily go up in smoke, and in far too many cases would be totally worn out before the engine was completely broken in.

Tread Lightly
Here we see the tread width of the US Royal 775x14 redline. It's a whopping 4.5-inches wide, and with such a tall sidewall, was prone to easily skidding or rolling while cornering at speed or under hard braking. The rubber compounds of the era were relatively soft, so even with careful use the tires were showing considerable wear at less than 12,000 miles. As mentioned, the bias-ply tires have a tendency to flat-spot from sitting; and, since most restored cars are not daily drivers, this is a common occurrence. The cure is to put the car up on jack stands while it's sitting idle in the garage keeping the tires off the ground. The tread design is certainly not anywhere near as aggressive as today's performance tires.