Why Not WHITEWALLS..?

[bobpo]

I have noticed that some of the pic posts make mention that whitewalls are not preferred. Why Not, I personally think they look Kool..

[Rowdy]

Too each their own I guesse. I thing they look Gaudy. but I don't much care for cowl lights either or alot of the stuff that makes them look overdressed. Rod

[WTSHNN]

Some guys like blondes, some like brunettes. Me? I've always liked redheads.

I had white walls on my truck for 6 years and got sick of having to clean them all the time. Likewise, I've found that they actually drew attention away from other parts of the truck. I've noticed that the lines of the truck are more obvious when stepping back and looking at it without whitewalls.

[Deluxe Delivery Don]

Henry didn't Sell them that way and I agree with Rowdy . They look Gaudy !!!!! But it is your preference .

[WTSHNN]

Originally Posted by Deluxe Delivery Don

Henry didn't Sell them that way.

He certainly advertised some of them with Whitewalls. Looking through the Model A Ad book by Jim Thomas shows a large number of them have white wall tires.

[Jim Baskin III Pa.]

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Me,I like it both ways.Same 30 tudor only different color wheels and tires

[Bob Johnson]

See link below for survey showing how many "ford Barners" have Whitewall tires.

Survey Link

Bob

[Tom Wesenberg]

I agree with Rod, and also think during the depression years not many would opt to pay extra for whitewall tires, so black tires would be more period correct.

[Barry B./ Ma.]

Had them on my 31 Town sedan with cream wheels. Bought a set of black walls with black wheels and in my opinion the car looked cleaner and better.

[Vanspeed]

Not many of them when they were new had whitewalls, maybe some but the majority had plain old blackwall tires. I think blackwall look more correct because when I look at old pics, they were black. Don't get me wrong I'm sure there were some whitewalls out there but not the majority.

[Mike V. Florida]

None of the standard cars from the factory had whitewalls. I'm not even sure deluxe models could be had with white walls from the factory.

[J Franklin]

Save them for the cars of the 1950's

[Tom in SW VA]

Again, as always, it is a question of your perspective on Model A Fords. I, for one, am a proponent of restoring to original. Whitewall tires may be "kool", but they are not period correct. It's the old argument of "form vs function". To me the Model A Ford is a classic.

[John in SATX]

To me it is "in the eye of the beholder". Personally I think some car colors are set off with whitewalls, but that is just my opinion? This is one question that will not go away.

Photos show my little test on my car to compare black/white. Just stood the blackwalls along side the car and compared the two. Personally I chose the white, but ??????

Happy Mothers Day and take mom for a ride in the "A".
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...iretest008.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...iretest002.jpg

[John in SATX]

Lets see if I can get the pix right?

[Bill Steiner]

I like them to. Bill

[ejay$]

I like the whitewalls John. Nice sedan by the way. But yeah I think blackwalls look more period to most people. But that doesn't mean there weren't rich people then too...

[bobpo]

Well, I have to tell ya, I am tickled I asked the question. There are so many serious answers and that's what I was looking for. I'm not sure which way I'll go yet, but I have to get 6 new tires (2 x Sidemounts) and will probably go with the W/W. I'll make up my mind (with the banker, wife) when I get there. I'm not building the coupe for Judging, so it'll just be an attention-getter.

I've shown many cars during the old Rod & Custom Car era and nothing stands out better than white on a darker background, it attracts the eye. It's called "highlighting".

Thanx for all the input. I read and consider them all........

[bobpo]

Hey Jim, now that's what I call an Attention-Getter". Beautiful car and man those W/W's make and difference........

[Vanspeed]

Funny point ejay$, but don't you think that the rich people back then would have bought something a little more pricey than a model A, such as a cadillac, auburn, etc. Model a's were for the hard working man who had just enough money to buy one.

[Mike V. Florida]

I wonder how many pages this will go? It's right up there with the oil discussions.

[29RPU]

I like the whitewalls, but, I figure the dressier the car the more likely to have whitewalls. I don't care for them too much on the commercial vehicles. That is just me, but I think they really set off the Phaetons and sedans. They are almost like a nice watch...looks good when all dressed up, but not in your work clothes. I also think color scheme does play a big role as to how good they look.

[Jim Baskin III Pa.]

Originally Posted by bopo1939

Hey Jim, now that's what I call an Attention-Getter". Beautiful car and man those W/W's make and difference........

Thanks Bopo1939.When I put the french gray wheels and whitewalls on her my wife says looks like Bella Pia (cars name,Bella=Italian for beautiful,Pia-P=pain.I=in ,A=arse)) is going out on the town.

[John LaVoy]

How about white walls on one side and black walls on the other, then you could have the best of both worlds. I like white walls on some cars, but chose to have black walls on our sedan. Of course it is usually the only car at a meet with out a quail or motor meter radiator cap. Like the other posts to each his own. The comment about white on one side black on the other was not original. There was a car in Northern California had black wheels on one side Apple Green on the other! Just thought it might get a laugh on this thread!

[Domino]

Seems to me that the wheels make more difference than the tires. In this case I like the blackwalls best.

[Special Coupe Frank]

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If you're having the car judged, I don't think you have much choice.

Otherwise, heck, they're only tires... an easy thing to change...

I have seen old pictures of all sorts of cars from the 1920's and '30's, some sporting whitewalls, and others with blackwalls.

I 've seen pictures of dozens of model T's with what appear to be 30x3 clincher tires with a narrow whitewall, like we had in the '60s...

White-sidewall tires certainly did exist in 1928-31, with high-end cars wearing double-sided WWW.

So, it's entirely possible that an original owner COULD have outfitted his/her A with WWW tires "back in the day", if that's how they wanted to spend their money...

Not all Ford owners were paupers...

Usually, I'm a "purist", at least on show-cars... but, with regard to my '28 Special Coupe, I'm having some difficulty coming to terms with the "official" factory color pallette.

As-is, my car is painted rattle-can black with red 21" wheels, and All-State WWW tires... ( guess that's a "1950's hot-rod" scheme?). None of that is "correct", but that's how the car came to me...

In my humble opinion, all the Ford body colors are too dark for my tastes ( would prefer a light yellow or blue), and black wheels & tires under black fenders & aprons is "just too much"...

Soooo.... I don't know what I'm going to do yet...

I'm definitely keeping the present WWW tires until they're worn-out... they snazz-up the car a bit, and I think help make it a little more visible to other (distracted) drivers.

I don't think I can live with black tires on black wheels.

For the rest of it... I think I'm leaning towards Dawn Grey Light for the body and Dawn Grey Dark for the belt/mouldings ( inverting Ford's "official" coupe scheme )... might keep the wheels red... we'll see...


SC Frank

[bobpo]

Mine is going to be a MacDonald's Show Car. I'm sure it would not rate real high with a judging team, but then that's not the reason I'm building it. I wanna cruise as an "Old Schooler" should. I worked 2-3 jobs most of my life and now it's time to have FUN.... I'm gettin' Whitewalls...!
I feel like I've had a college course in Whitewalls 101....

This is great, keep it up...