gtdrvr

what is the correct whitewall size for a 1962 starfire?? 1 inch?

jaunty75

I doubt there was ever that formal a standard. 1" 3/4" 1.25" They're all going to look good. I would imagine that most whitewalls of that time were narrow. I'm sure a 1" whitewall would really look good on your car.

gtdrvr

Im told 1inch is correct and looking at ads from that era 1 inch looks about right but coker shows both sizes for my car 2 1/4 looks too big for that year. I think the big whitewall stopped in 1960. Im kinda of a nut about having the right size if Im buying new tires.thanks for your input

MDchanic

Looks like about 1" here.



- Eric

jaunty75

Coker is a "classic car" tire manufacturer, so they're going to want to sell wide whitewall tires to everyone and recommend them for every car. Certainly wide whites would give your car a "classic" look, but they would not be correct as far as the typical look at that time. That doesn't mean, though, that wide whites wouldn't look good. I think they would in sort of a "dressed-up" way. But it depends on the look you are trying to achieve.

Cars of this era definitely need whitewall tires, in my opinion, to look right, and the ad that Eric posted shows exactly why. Compared to today's cars, cars of that era had much more brightwork on them, especially the chrome bumpers. In other words, these cars were not subtle.

Blackwall tires, by contrast, would look very bland on an otherwise bright, shiny car. That's why these cars really need whitewalls to look right. And it's the narrow whites. Too wide, and the tires become too dominant in the look of the car. The tires need to fit in. They can't be too gaudy or too quiet.

Here's a photo of my '67 Delta 88 taken when I was considering purchasing the car. It was sitting in the former owner's driveway, and he had blackwall tires on it.




Here's a photo from several months later after I had put a set of Firestone FR-380 tires on it. The whitewalls are just over 5/8" wide.



But what a difference. In the "before" photo, the tires just sort of fade away. The bottom half of the car just looks too dark, if you know what I mean. In the "after" photo, the tires are noticed. They sort of "hold their own" against the rest of the car.

gtdrvr

I ve had white walls on all my previous classic cars my 58 olds 65 stang 60 chevy and more recently my 88 98 and my 96 seville. I have a copy of that same 62 ad and yes they look like 1" the ones that are on the 62 now are 3/4 inch but the tires are old and need to be replaced the spare has a date code of 1975 and looks like it is brand new! Not sure how old the running tires are date code is on the inside but it looks like 1987.yes your olds looks much better with the whitewalls it really makes the car stand out..

D. Yaros

On seeing this message, I went out and measured mine. They are 5/8" wide. So, as someone else has said, there is no correct size.

gtdrvr

thats the size I had on my 88 98

gtdrvr

gtdrvr

rocketraider

Wide whites were phased out mid 1961. Starfire and Impala SS were the first to wear the new narrower 1" whitewalls, around January 1961, and everything else with 2-1/2" or wider immediately looked ten years older.

As GT's 60 Chevy shows, those cars look "right" with wide whites and a little "incomplete" with narrow. By 1962, everyone was using the narrow whites.

You're going to have a hard enough time finding the right size tire for that car, much less correct whitewall. You may have to get a set custom made by somewhere like Diamondback Classics. They can put whatever width WW you need on a new, modern tire casing. In your case, a 225/70R14 or 235/70R14 (if 235 is still made).

Olds Dad

Anyone remember "Tri-walls" - my father's '61 Starfire had them when he bought it in 1980 (from the original owner's widow) - tires had 3 concentric 1/4" wide white walls - never saw them before, or since...

gtdrvr

rocketrader, coker has the 1 inch in the correct size tire going to order today.

rocketraider

Coker will do fine if you don't mind the cost. Their BFG Silvertown is a correct replacement tire for your car. I'm guessing you're familiar with the handling difference in bias ply vs modern radial tires.

Gordon, the triple ring whitewall was introduced on the 1970 Toronado and I think Eldorado had them too. My dad put a set of them on Mama's 60 Olds shortly before they sold it- a high-priced set of tires for a ten year old car, lemme tell you. He only got a little more for the car than the tires cost. The 70 Cutlass they bought to replace the Sixty came with double-ring whitewalls.

gtdrvr

the coker radial with 1 inch cost $149 per not too bad, had bias on my 58 and they really wernt as bad as some people say the car cruised and handled nicely at 70. does anyone reproduce the sivertown?