Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

[Robert B.]

ANY 255/50/16 is getting pretty scarce..BFG has you pretty much at their mercy with the GeForce Sport. There is one other off-brand and that's it. When they stop producing this size we're in big trouble. I hope one of the classic tire shops will make some variant of the Eagle VR at some point.

[Michael J.]

Re: Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

Kelsey needs to come to the rescue, it has taken much collector pressure and input for them to take action before, you need to start now.

[Vinnie P.]

Re: Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

you might want to contact Kelsey Tire. Back at the Altoona regional a few years ago, I took over 100 close-up high resolution photos of an unused, brand new P255/50VR16 Goodyear Eagle VR50 for Mr. Kelsey so he could match them exactly. I don't know if he ever produced them. If it were a week earlier, I could have asked him myself as he was in Joplin at the regional meet.

[Joe L.]

Re: Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

you might want to contact Kelsey Tire. Back at the Altoona regional a few years ago, I took over 100 close-up high resolution photos of an unused, brand new P255/50VR16 Goodyear Eagle VR50 for Mr. Kelsey so he could match them exactly. I don't know if he ever produced them. If it were a week earlier, I could have asked him myself as he was in Joplin at the regional meet.

Vinnie------


It surprises me that Kelsey would need the photos. As I understand it, Kelsey has the exclusive rights to reproduce Goodyear tires and has access to the original molds. I'm pretty sure that Goodyear would still have the original molds for these tires.

However, for them to reproduce them, I would expect they're going to have to be convinced that there's a sufficient market for them. Whether that currently exists, I don't know. Due to the economics of low volume production, I would guess that as long as the BFG tires are available at about $150/each, there will not be a lot of demand for Goodyear reproductions at, probably, $350-400/each.

[Mike E.]

Re: Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

To be truly correct there were two styles of VR-50 if I remember correctly. On 1984 Corvettes the letters were embosses on 1985 and up they were raised.

Mike

[Vinnie P.]

Re: Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

Joe...I believe Mr. Kelsey said it was a one year only tire and he couldn't/didn't have access to the Goodyear molds. He definitely needed the photos, all from the sidewalls, not the tread pattern. Every photo I took was of the sidewall, front and back. None of the tread. Most were very close up of individual letters/characters and the exact placement on the sidewall.

Vinnie

Vinnie------


It surprises me that Kelsey would need the photos. As I understand it, Kelsey has the exclusive rights to reproduce Goodyear tires and has access to the original molds. I'm pretty sure that Goodyear would still have the original molds for these tires.

However, for them to reproduce them, I would expect they're going to have to be convinced that there's a sufficient market for them. Whether that currently exists, I don't know. Due to the economics of low volume production, I would guess that as long as the BFG tires are available at about $150/each, there will not be a lot of demand for Goodyear reproductions at, probably, $350-400/each.

[Michael J.]

Re: Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

Kelsey, after about 3 years of coaxing and supplying photos and having a SAAC judge volunteer to help, produced the black wall Goodyear Speedway 350 tires that came on the short 3 month production run (about 1500 cars) of Shelby GT500KRs for us. But he was assured there was a good market for these vs. the RWL Speedway tires used on all other 1968 Shelbys. It helps if you have someone to work with him.

[Walter G.]

Re: Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

I'm original owner of my '84 and was able to purchase one of the last remaining sets of "'84 only" tires from Goodyear in 1988. I've used them sparingly for shows/certification, etc. since and currently have the BFG's on my car on a second set of wheels. I would be interested in a repro set of the recessed letter tires, but since the '84's are such bottom feeders in the hobby I doubt they would be made. The '85-up versions would have a better chance for production and I'd even opt for those to at least get the correct manufacturer. The $350-$400 price would probably be close to realistic and I guess I would pay it. If the BFG's drop out we will basically have no options. There were a LOT of C4's built using this tire size, but many have been converted to the 17" wheels so hard to determine the demand beyond the NCRS group...

[Michael J.]

[Robert B.]

Re: Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

Guess I will reach out to him. I did once before and he was not convinced at that point.

[Michael J.]

Re: Reproduction 255/50/16 Eagle VR50s...will it happen?

No harm in trying again, and often. And ask him, if unconvinced, what it would take to convince him. Good luck!