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DougVieyra · 10-04-2013, 02:59 AM

71 years old. Been driving Ford Model A's (I've had about 15 of them) for over 50 years. All except one ('31 Dlx Roadster) had black walls. The '31 Roadster had them because they looked especially good on the six 16" K-H wheels, and they did come with the car when I bought it in 1965.
A big 'fashion sense' is how the wheel/tire/black fender/ body color all comes together. Most all Model A's came with black wheels (later exceptions on some of the '31 models). A black tire, black wheel and black fenders - make for a rather dull (even though 'factory correct') appearance. However, with a colored (non black) wheel (dealers charged about $5 for color in 1928-'31) to break up the black on black on black drolness, the black-wall tires don't look bad. The absolute best combination if one were to wear white-wall tires would be on black wheels, to help 'sport' up the eye appeal.
I do have a set of the correct double-sided white-wall tires (n.o.s.from a special run in 1965) for the 21" wheels on my '28 Phaeton. However, they are not mounted because when I restored the car (Duchess Blue, with French Grey pin stripe) in 1979, I opted to paint all six of my wheels the optional ($5 extra from the dealer) French Grey. I felt that the white-wall tires would detract from the beauty of the grey wheels. So I have had original black-wall Firestone (cross and tepee tread design) tires on the car since that time. I also had another set of Black wheels with black tires to help the Blue Ribbon judges feel more 'comfortable'.
My '31 Dlx Coupe (Ford Maroon, Red Stripe) , on the other hand has Black 19" Kelsey-Hayes wheels with single sided White-wall Firestone tires. I think it looks great - much better looking than black tires on black wheels. I have another set of wheels for this car - 18" Kelsey-Hayes - which I will be painting Red, to match the pinstripe color on the car. With the red wheels, if I were to follow my general rule-of-thumb, you would think that I would put on black-wall tires. However, because the 18" wheels have a smaller diameter, and the hub-to-rim spoke distance is significantly shorter than a stock 19" A wheel, and the large V-8 style center hub, with it's large 8" chrome hubcap - makes me feel I can 'get away' with having both a colored (red) wheel AND a sporty white-wall tire. What makes it even more enticing to me is that I can get (they are currently being made) the correct double-sided white-wall tires for the 18" rims.
So it all boils down to - what YOU like is what is correct ! However I do think that for some, it is important - or at least of some interest - to know what was factory 'correct', what was dealer 'correct', and what was 1930 owner 'correct'. Then one can better assess how one 'fits' into the scheme of 'All Things Ford". Which gets us back to - What YOU like is correct.

10-04-2013, 02:59 AM	#57
DougVieyra Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Eureka, California Posts: 1,716	Re: Whitewalls 71 years old. Been driving Ford Model A's (I've had about 15 of them) for over 50 years. All except one ('31 Dlx Roadster) had black walls. The '31 Roadster had them because they looked especially good on the six 16" K-H wheels, and they did come with the car when I bought it in 1965. A big 'fashion sense' is how the wheel/tire/black fender/ body color all comes together. Most all Model A's came with black wheels (later exceptions on some of the '31 models). A black tire, black wheel and black fenders - make for a rather dull (even though 'factory correct') appearance. However, with a colored (non black) wheel (dealers charged about $5 for color in 1928-'31) to break up the black on black on black drolness, the black-wall tires don't look bad. The absolute best combination if one were to wear white-wall tires would be on black wheels, to help 'sport' up the eye appeal. I do have a set of the correct double-sided white-wall tires (n.o.s.from a special run in 1965) for the 21" wheels on my '28 Phaeton. However, they are not mounted because when I restored the car (Duchess Blue, with French Grey pin stripe) in 1979, I opted to paint all six of my wheels the optional ($5 extra from the dealer) French Grey. I felt that the white-wall tires would detract from the beauty of the grey wheels. So I have had original black-wall Firestone (cross and tepee tread design) tires on the car since that time. I also had another set of Black wheels with black tires to help the Blue Ribbon judges feel more 'comfortable'. My '31 Dlx Coupe (Ford Maroon, Red Stripe) , on the other hand has Black 19" Kelsey-Hayes wheels with single sided White-wall Firestone tires. I think it looks great - much better looking than black tires on black wheels. I have another set of wheels for this car - 18" Kelsey-Hayes - which I will be painting Red, to match the pinstripe color on the car. With the red wheels, if I were to follow my general rule-of-thumb, you would think that I would put on black-wall tires. However, because the 18" wheels have a smaller diameter, and the hub-to-rim spoke distance is significantly shorter than a stock 19" A wheel, and the large V-8 style center hub, with it's large 8" chrome hubcap - makes me feel I can 'get away' with having both a colored (red) wheel AND a sporty white-wall tire. What makes it even more enticing to me is that I can get (they are currently being made) the correct double-sided white-wall tires for the 18" rims. So it all boils down to - what YOU like is what is correct ! However I do think that for some, it is important - or at least of some interest - to know what was factory 'correct', what was dealer 'correct', and what was 1930 owner 'correct'. Then one can better assess how one 'fits' into the scheme of 'All Things Ford". Which gets us back to - What YOU like is correct.