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Started By
Message
re: When did white wall tire go out of style?
Posted on 10/5/25 at 11:50 am to BestBanker
Posted on 10/5/25 at 11:50 am to BestBanker
quote:
And spoked wheel covers
If you were really cool you had the full moon or baby moon hubs.
0
Posted on 10/5/25 at 12:18 pm to travelgamer
What stopped appearing first?
White wall tires or vinyl roofs?
White wall tires or vinyl roofs?
Posted on 10/5/25 at 3:44 pm to travelgamer
Yes sir. I would wash the car and use a SOS pad to clean the whitewalls. It did a great job.
Posted on 10/5/25 at 3:52 pm to StringMusic
We had. 72 Impala Coupe with a vinyl roof. It was impossible to keep clean. Us having tall trees all around did not help. It started off as an off white color but turned a dark tan over years. When my brother inherited the car, he had the top redone. Looked good for about a year then started turning fast. Within 2.5-3 years it was an ugly dark tan again.
Posted on 10/5/25 at 5:58 pm to travelgamer
I saw something about this just recently. Apparently the first white walls were a result of the manufacturing process for the softer rubber. The old school tires were way to hard and were like driving on wagon wheels but the process to soften them turned them white and that new softer rubber couldn’t be used on the tread or it would wear out too quickly … so, white was used on the sides for comfort and the rest of the tire remains black. You wanted the white walls (at first) because they were a more comfortable ride. Eventually it became a fashion thing so the white was exaggerated.
Posted on 10/5/25 at 5:59 pm to travelgamer
When raised white letter tires became popular
Posted on 10/5/25 at 6:48 pm to wareaglepete
quote:
Most of the tires pictured are referred to as whitewall but aren’t true whitewalls. They are black walls with a white stripe added on.
True whitewall
Why they went out of style? Combination of cleaning and higher cost.
Natural rubber is actually white. They add carbon black made from acetelyne to turn it black. It would actually be cheaper to make white tires as they were originally.
Posted on 10/5/25 at 6:55 pm to rooster108bm
quote:
Natural rubber is actually white. They add carbon black made from acetelyne to turn it black. It would actually be cheaper to make white tires as they were originally.
That’s how they originally were. But they had to start adding in the carbon because the tread wear sucked. Cheaper but would be a crap tire.
Then it started to make sense to just carbon the whole thing from the beginning and then for whitewall it entailed adding steps.
This post was edited on 10/5/25 at 6:56 pm
Posted on 10/5/25 at 6:59 pm to wareaglepete
quote:
Then it started to make sense to just carbon the whole thing from the beginning and then for whitewall it entailed adding steps
The carbon extended the life but cost more to produce. There's not much difference to produce a whitewall. It's actually all black out of the curing mold and then it's buffed.
I worked at Goodyear in gadsden.
Posted on 10/5/25 at 7:13 pm to kywildcatfanone
quote:
When we quit making cars that had style to them
/thread
That and the failure of Big Pimpin to survive the 1980's.
Posted on 10/5/25 at 7:15 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
Big Pimpin
diamond in the back,
sun roof top, digging’ the scene with a gangster lean,
ooh ooooo…gangster white walls…
This post was edited on 10/5/25 at 7:19 pm
Posted on 10/5/25 at 7:34 pm to rooster108bm
I’ll defer to the tire man. 
Posted on 10/5/25 at 7:39 pm to travelgamer
Look at the trends....
Around 1995 "uptown" luxury cars like the Eldorado and Continental started losing big market share to European stuff like the E class and 3-5 series.
Ten years ago you had the "Im so rugged" stuff overtake the euro sedans.
Either way the white walls look kinda silly on a euro sedan or "im so rugged I need an SUV" folks. The white wall is a very uptown look, like white buck shoes or a white linen suit.
Around 1995 "uptown" luxury cars like the Eldorado and Continental started losing big market share to European stuff like the E class and 3-5 series.
Ten years ago you had the "Im so rugged" stuff overtake the euro sedans.
Either way the white walls look kinda silly on a euro sedan or "im so rugged I need an SUV" folks. The white wall is a very uptown look, like white buck shoes or a white linen suit.
Posted on 10/5/25 at 7:45 pm to Bayou
quote:
GHETTO
And you wouldn’t know the difference looking at them.
Posted on 10/5/25 at 8:04 pm to Asharad
damn thats a sexy car
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