The Goodyear Polyglas tire was a bias-belted tire announced in 1967 by Goodyear. "Polyglas" was a registered trademark. [2] The tire combined the characteristics of bias-ply and radial-ply tires. They had a wider tread than most other tires on the market at the time and used belts made of fiberglass.
Conventional tires up to that time featured a bias or cross ply construction with body cords extending diagonally from bead to bead. The Polyglas tires had bias construction that added stabilizing circumference belts directly beneath the tread. Goodyear promoted the design as having less tread "squirm" as the tire rolls on the road surface because of the additional fiberglass belts. This feature increased the mileage and improved road holding performance. The tires featured a wide footprint. [3]
The tires initially were an original equipment on late 1960s muscle cars such as the Pontiac GTO, Dodge Charger R/T, Ford Mustang Mach I, Chevrolet Camaro Z-28, and many others along with comparable tires from various competitors such as the Firestone Wide-Oval, Uniroyal's Tiger Paw, and BF Goodrich's Radial T/A. Goodyear and comparable bias-belted tires began appearing as standard or optional equipment on most 1969-model passenger cars [3] and nearly all 1970 to 1974 models.
The most common version of the Polyglas found on muscle cars of that era was the Polyglas GT, which was one of the first commercially available raised white lettered tires on the market. Other versions of the Polyglas lineup were offered as blackwall, redline, whitewall, and snow treaded tires. [4] For driving in winter, Polyglass Pathfinder line of tires were available in special versions for the steering front and rear driving axles along with optional "Safety Spikes" (studs). [5]
The tires were marketed for their longer life as well as in situations where better tires are needed to compensate for the driver and difficult conditions. [6] [7]
The Polyglas tire and its competitors were soon replaced by steel belted radials as original equipment tires around 1975. Goodyear Polyglas tires are now manufactured for owners of period cars. Many of these tires feature the distinctive "redlines" that were popular on high performance cars at the time.
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which the wheel travels. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, are pneumatically inflated structures, which also provide a flexible cushion that absorbs shock as the tire rolls over rough features on the surface. Tires provide a footprint, called a contact patch, that is designed to match the weight of the vehicle with the bearing strength of the surface that it rolls over by providing a bearing pressure that will not deform the surface excessively.
A classic car is an older car, typically 25 years or older, though definitions vary. The common theme is of an older car of historical interest to be collectible and tend to be restored rather than scrapped. Classic cars are a subset of a broader category of "collector cars". A subset of what is considered classic cars are known as antique cars or vintage cars.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-moving machinery. It also makes bicycle tires, having returned from a break in production between 1976 and 2015. As of 2017, Goodyear is one of the top four tire manufacturers along with Bridgestone (Japan), Michelin (France) and Continental (Germany).
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles, and the company was a pioneer in the mass production of tires. Harvey Firestone had a personal friendship with Henry Ford, and used this to become the original equipment supplier of Ford Motor Company automobiles, and was also active in the replacement market.
A radial tire is a particular design of vehicular tire. In this design, the cord plies are arranged at 90 degrees to the direction of travel, or radially. Radial tire construction climbed to 100% market share in North America following Consumer Reports finding the superiority of the radial design in 1968, and were standard by 1976.
Whitewall tires or white sidewall (WSW) tires are tires having a stripe or entire sidewall of white rubber. These tires were most commonly used from the early 1900s to around the mid 1980s.
The Chrysler Town & Country is an automobile which was manufactured by Chrysler from 1940 to 1942 and from 1945 to 1988 with production interrupted during World War II. Primarily produced as a luxury station wagon, the Town & Country was also available in "woodie" four-door sedan, two-door hardtop and convertible body styles from 1947 to 1950, 1968 to 1969 and from 1983 to 1986. The 1988 model year was the last for the station wagon until the 1990 model year when Chrysler reintroduced the Town & Country nameplate as the rebadged variant Chrysler Town & Country minivan.
A run-flat tire/tyre is a pneumatic vehicle tire that is designed to resist the effects of deflation when punctured, and to allow the vehicle to continue to be driven at reduced speeds - under 90 km/h (56 mph) – and for limited distances – usually 16 to 80 km, depending on the type of tire.
Charles J. Pilliod Jr. was an American business executive and diplomat. He was ambassador to Mexico from 1986 to 1989.
Automotive tires are described by an alphanumeric tire code or tyre code, which is generally molded into the sidewall of the tire. This code specifies the dimensions of the tire, and some of its key limitations, such as load-bearing ability, and maximum speed. Sometimes the inner sidewall contains information not included on the outer sidewall, and vice versa.
Pneumatic tires are manufactured according to relatively standardized processes and machinery, in around 455 tire factories in the world. With over 1 billion tires manufactured worldwide annually, the tire industry is a major consumer of natural rubber. Tire factories start with bulk raw materials such as synthetic rubber, carbon black, and chemicals and produce numerous specialized components that are assembled and cured.
Coker Tire Company is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company that manufactures and sells vintage-style Michelin, Firestone, BF Goodrich and Uniroyal bias-ply and radial whitewall tires for collector automobiles. The company was originally a tire and service center founded in 1958 by Harold Coker. He would later give his son Corky Coker the opportunity to manage the antique division, which was a small percentage of the company's earnings. Corky devoted 40 years to growing the antique division of the business, eventually making it the company's primary focus. Corky retired in 2014, and he appointed Wade Kawasaki as President to oversee the operations of six companies and numerous brands under the Coker Group. In November 2018, Corky sold Coker Tire and its parent company, Coker Group, to Irving Place Capital. Wade Kawasaki and his leadership team, remained with Coker Tire. Wade is the current President and CEO.
Tire Uniformity refers to the dynamic mechanical properties of pneumatic tires as strictly defined by a set of measurement standards and test conditions accepted by global tire and car makers.
The Michelin TRX, (and the related TDX), is a radial tire introduced by the Michelin Group in 1975. It is one of the first volume-produced low-profile tires. Although technologically advanced, and reasonably successful, the tire's requirement for a non-standard rim ultimately condemned it to a relatively short commercial life. It has thus been called the "Betamax of the tire industry."
The Michelin PAX is an automobile run-flat tire system that utilizes a special type of rim and tire to allow temporary use of a wheel if its tire is punctured. The core of Michelin's PAX system is the semi-rigid ring installed onto the rim using special equipment. It provides support to the tire and its sidewall to allow emergency operation at limited speed until such time as the tire can be replaced. Cars that use the system include supercars like the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4, luxury cars like the Rolls Royce Phantom, and more common vehicles like the Honda Odyssey and Nissan Quest.
Motorcycle tyres are the outer part of motorcycle wheels, attached to the rims, providing traction, resisting wear, absorbing surface irregularities, and allowing the motorcycle to turn via countersteering. The two tyres' contact patches are the motorcycle's connection to the ground, and so are fundamental to the motorcycle's suspension behaviour, and critically affect safety, braking, fuel economy, noise, and rider comfort.
The Seiberling Rubber Company was an American tire manufacturer for motor vehicles.
The Go package was a factory option that included various performance equipment that was available on several muscle cars manufactured by American Motors Corporation (AMC).
The Pirelli Cinturato is a Pirelli-developed car tyre that was the first example of a wrap-around radial tyre structure. It was used to good effect in motorsport, and most modern tyres are based upon the design. The five-times Formula One World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio called the Pirelli Cinturato "Extraordinary" and raced on it many times in the remainder of his career.
In motorsports, a tire war occurs when more than one manufacturer provides tires for a series. Historically, tire wars have occurred in many high-level series, such as Formula One, NASCAR, Super GT, and MotoGP.