Since 1979 all my cars have had white sidewall tires on them. In the '70's they were considered a hallmark of "traditional luxury". They were most often fitted to luxury cars and only available as options on most cars. Having whitewall tires were a "must have" to get the right look on a car, and for those who could not afford the real deal, add-ons could be installed over the rim of the wheel. The Lincoln Town Car continued to be offered with a factory whitewall option – a narrow white stripe – until its discontinuation in 2010. It is not currently offered as a factory option by any car manufacturer,
Last year, I bought 4 new WSW tires for my 1978 Zephyr 4-door after the old ones fell apart. They were 11 years old at the time. Well this year the Zephyr coupe's tires are 10 years old. With only a few thousand miles on them they show signs of cracking and separation. I looked online and could not find any at the traditional outlets, I went to a dealer that comes to many car shows and pretends to be a classic car place. He looked and looked and finally came up with a price of almost $600 for the 4 tires. I laughed and left. I went to the the place I bought the tires from last year. Have been taking my 3 cars there for over 20 years for tires. He said he would look for them and call me. 2 weeks later and no call.
For Black Friday weekend, Wal*Mart had Goodyear tires for $20 off and free mounting and balancing. They are black walls, but I got all four for less than $200 complete. Some people will say the car looks better with BSW. I will have a hard time getting use to it. I don't even like them on my Park Avenue.
Not trusting the guys at Wal*Mart, I removed the tires from my car and took them to the store. One reason was because of the spinner hubs I installed on the rims. It took me an hour and a half to remove the tires and dismantle the rims before going to the store. And longer to put them back together. The other reason is I don't let anyone get in my car except me and the smog guy. And he does not drive it. I hope to never again need tires for the coupe in my lifetime.
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