• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

TR2/3/3A Unusual Tires On TR3

Share this page

T

TR Mike

Member
Country flag
Offline
Can someone educate me about the tires on the tr3 picture that is for sale right now on Ebay (Item number 221572384305). I am about ready to buy new tires and have been trying to decide if I want white walls or not. There are a lot of advertisements for sale on ebay that show tr3's with white walls. Now I find what appears to be a vintage photograph of a TR3 with tires that look very similar to the "red lines" that are on my TR6. Were these common back in the 50's early 60's or do you think this is a much later picture. The picture I am referring to is of a girl sitting in a tr3 holding a dog in front of a Museum of Science. Thanks.
 
Certainly does not look consistent. Rears maybe at the top of the tyre only. Guess is somebody rubbed up against a curb...or the elder Carini striped the tyre.
 
TR Mike said:
... I am about ready to buy new tires and have been trying to decide if I want white walls or not....
Click to expand...

IMHO, white walls on a TR3 take away all of it's manliness. :sick: :welcoming:
 
As an eyewitness to history, I can tell you that there were no "red line" tires in the 50s and early 60s. The choice of whitewall tires is a personal matter. "In the day", there were in fact many more cars on the road with white walls than black.
 
Last edited:
Get you some whitewalls, some of those black plastic eye lashes that go over the headlights and glue a tutu around the bottom of the wheel arches. Should be a sure attention getter.
 
As I remember it, this matter was a right of passage. When you could afford the $500 to buy your first car, the first modification you did was go to the nearest service station and have the white walls remounted inward.
 
The tire issue is of question in the auction and collector market. Seems all the old car with whitewalls get better show trophies and prices than non whitewalls. I have a collection of adds from 20s thru the 70s and most of the manufacture ads have blackwalls. I remember buying new in 70s and had to request white letters or else I would have been balckwalls. Now most cars are blackwall again.
 
I see a lot of ads for sale on Ebay from 57, 58, 59 that show tr3's with different versions of white walls. Possibly more ads than with black walls. I agree with LarryK though, I would probably only leave them on for shows or parades. I wouldn't actually drive around with them on. For one thing they would be too hard to keep clean.

My main reason for the initial question though was the thin striped tires in the picture. I never saw tires like that on any other car from the same time period, yet the picture appears to be vintage.
 
Back in the '50s they sold a product called porter walls. These were thin rubber overlays that fit in the rim of the wheel and came in a variety of colors. Could it be that this person was attempting to disguise his white walls with black porters?
 
The "Potra-walls" of the 50s were white not black. As my "rite of passage", when I finally talked my dad into letting me buy a $100 car my first stop was at the Guarantee Auto to get some white Porta-walls. Of course that was 1959.
In my never humble opinion, any photo of a car with narrow line side walls would not be period original.
 
I too am a eye witness to more white walls in those days. A few years back when I need to replace my white wall tyers for my TR3 I could not afford what manufactures wanted for better tyers with white walls so I had to settle for black walls. After the installation of the new tyres I was walking by my car and my wife noticed a sower look on my face and she asked me what was wrong. I said I hate the look of the black walls on my car. that was years ago and I remember it like yesterday. The car just doesn't look in the period with out them. .
My son a few years ago made be a calendar with pics of my LBCs and with the attached ad. He always commented how he particularly liked white walls on a TR3 and that ad was his personal favorite look with the wide walls. It is a personal preference what you like so save up and don't be disappointed with your purchase. Your going to look at them for a long time.
 

Attachments

  • 3ad.jpg
    3ad.jpg
    57.2 KB · Views: 119
Actually, portawalls came in just about any color you could possibly want. TR Mike, if you have your heart set on white walls but want a modern compound and tread design, you can still purchase a set of these from Atlas Vintage Tire.
 
In all due seriousness to your question: I grew up in the 50's and 60's. The red line tires were not original to any Triumph or other British cars until the TR6. Some late 60's American muscle cars came with them from the factory. I believe a GTO, and some of the Mopar cars. I'm really not sure if the TR6 came from the factory with them as an option or if they just ended up getting put on by owners. But, I can assure you that no TR3 or TR4 came from the factory with them.
 
Kleykamp said:
... I'm really not sure if the TR6 came from the factory with them as an option or if they just ended up getting put on by owners...
Click to expand...

I bought a new TR6 in 1969, and it came with red line tires.
 
My 74 TR6 came from the showroom with Michelin Red Lines. It had 4000 miles on it from the dealer, but it had never been sold or titled.

I see the price on the ad Got_ALL_4 posted above is $2675 for a late 50's TR3. I remember my dad bought me a Pinto to go to college in 1970 for only $1999. I think it was advertised as the last American card under $2000.
 
Porta Walls....referred to all back in the day as "Toilet Seat Covers"
 
Back
Top