69 Tires, RWL

[Tom M.]

I need some info on tires, In Late 69 you could get RWL in Goodyear or Firestone , the judging guide states " Goodyear Wide Tread F70-15 "

Here is a picture from the original owner of my late 69 L88 car that she just sent me , Photo is from January 1970 the same day he drove it home from the dealer look at tire is says
" Polyglas GT F70-15 " not "WIDE TREAD"
could this be a 1970 tire ? or is this correct

thanks Tom

[Terry M.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

Not TFP from St Louis, however the dealer could have put them on.

[Mark D.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

I believe there is evidence to suggest redlines were out and RWLs were in around April 1969. This being such a late 69 MY example, I wonder if the tires shown may have been assembly line coreect.
Another interesting point (I think) is we Corvette folks believe the wide oval with the O in the middle would be correct for RWL in 69 and the Camaro folks are convinced the before mentioned tire was not available in that configuration until MY 1970.
Seems there is still plenty to learn concerning tires.

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

Not TFP from St Louis, however the dealer could have put them on.

Terry-----


I agree. I don't think those tires were ever originally installed on ANY Corvette, 1969 or any other year.

They were great tires, though. I used them as REPLACEMENT tires on my 1969 for many years after the original Speedway Wide Tread tires wore out. By far, the best handling tires I ever had on the car. Hard riding, though.

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

I need some info on tires, In Late 69 you could get RWL in Goodyear or Firestone , the judging guide states " Goodyear Wide Tread F70-15 "

Here is a picture from the original owner of my late 69 L88 car that she just sent me , Photo is from January 1970 the same day he drove it home from the dealer look at tire is says
" Polyglas GT F70-15 " not "WIDE TREAD"
could this be a 1970 tire ? or is this correct

thanks Tom

Tom------


One more thing: assuming that the original owner took delivery of a NEW car, this picture could not possibly have been taken the day he took delivery. Note that the car has license plates on it. In California at that time, a new car would not have license plates on the day of delivery. It would be 2-4 weeks before the plates would have arrived. The plates on this car would have been issued in the late October to late December time period.

Given that this picture could not have been taken the day of delivery, we have no way of knowing when it was taken. It could very well have been subsequent to the original set of tires being worn off and replaced. The original Speedway Wide Tread were not long-lived tires and with an L-88, I'm sure they were that much shorter lived.

[Tom M.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

Tom------


One more thing: assuming that the original owner took delivery of a NEW car, this picture could not possibly have been taken the day he took delivery. Note that the car has license plates on it. In California at that time, a new car would not have license plates on the day of delivery. It would be 2-4 weeks before the plates would have arrived. The plates on this car would have been issued in the late October to late December time period.

Given that this picture could not have been taken the day of delivery, we have no way of knowing when it was taken. It could very well have been subsequent to the original set of tires being worn off and replaced. The original Speedway Wide Tread were not long-lived tires and with an L-88, I'm sure they were that much shorter lived.

This is the original owner ,She said January 1970 that could have been correct for the plate....... But she might not be correct on the year of the picture ?? she is sending more original paper work and pictures to me...........
That's real nice to find a original owner of a car from 1969, with info and pictures too !!!

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

This is the original owner ,She said January 1970 that could have been correct for the plate....... But she might not be correct on the year of the picture ?? she is sending more original paper work and pictures to me...........
That's real nice to find a original owner of a car from 1969, with info and pictures too !!!

Tom-----


Yes, it's possible that the plates were issued as late as January, 1970. The range I gave of late October to late December was a rough estimate of the issue date range. It was not a precise sort of thing, at all.

If the picture was taken on the day of delivery, then the car was a USED car. That's the only way it would have had plates on that day. Even if it had been a demonstrator or other "in-house" dealership utilized car, it would not have had plates on it on the day of delivery. Those type of cars used "dealer" plates until they were sold. Then, they had no plates until the new car plates were issued to the original owner, usually 2-4 weeks later.

[Terry M.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

I need some info on tires, In Late 69 you could get RWL in Goodyear or Firestone , the judging guide states " Goodyear Wide Tread F70-15 "

Here is a picture from the original owner of my late 69 L88 car that she just sent me , Photo is from January 1970 the same day he drove it home from the dealer look at tire is says
" Polyglas GT F70-15 " not "WIDE TREAD"
could this be a 1970 tire ? or is this correct

thanks Tom

[Dick W.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

I have pulled many spares out of those cars, and have never seen anything but the Speedway's, or some "oddball" replacement tire. Never seen a Polyglass spare

[Tom M.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

Thanks Terry for your help,
It could be that the tires were changed when new at the dealer or the original owner has her date wrong on the photo ,could be from 1970 or 71, ??
She is sending more pictures , I will post more when i get them
Here is the back of photo
thanks Tom

[Dave S.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

Terry,
If Tom posts the Good Year embossed codes from the sidewall of his Polyglas tires then the tires can be decoded for dates and other information. That should clarify things. As I recall there is lots of discussion about this in the archives.

[Mark D.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

Dave,

Good point but I'll bet those Polyglas tires are long gone.

That's a good PIC with the owner. 18 year old kid with a big dopey grin on his head, high water white pants with yellow socks. Combine that with an L88 and add Boone's Farm Strawberry and you could create a lethal combo.

Mark

[Dick W.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

Donnally, sort of like the red '69 L/88 that was in Greensboro, bought new for the teen age son, one trip thru the garage door, and daddy sold it.

[Mark D.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

Donnally, sort of like the red '69 L/88 that was in Greensboro, bought new for the teen age son, one trip thru the garage door, and daddy sold it.

I wonder if Frank has driven it through any garage doors, you know, for old time's sake.

[Tom M.]

Re: 69 Tires, RWL

You guys would smile too if daddy bought you a new L88 at 18,
That's like buying a 18 kid a 2010 ZR1 now,
Just think about that