1958 Original Blackwall Tires?

[Marc W.]

Let me preface my story by saying I know the history and previous 2 owners of my 21,231 original mile 1958 Corvette. The car stayed in the same family before I purchased the car in 1985. The second owner took the original blackwall 6.70/15 US Royal Safety S non DOT tires off the car in 1980 with approx. 13,300 miles on it because he wanted whitewall tires. So he purchased some Sears wide whitewalls for the car at that time and put the originals in a closet in the basement. When I bought the car it had the whitewalls on it, but I received the originals out of the closet which match the original spare. I installed the originals, and have had them on the car for the last 26 years and a total of 1232 miles. My question comes from being flight judged at the Joplin regional. I was told that my tires could not be original unless I had the 5 1/2" wheel option with small hubcap. I have the original sales invoice which does not indicate this option, but also does not list the whitewall tires as an option under my option list. I will continue in next post.

[Marc W.]

1958 Original Blackwall Tires?

To continue the story, their was another 1958 being judged that was original and had whitewalls. This gentleman also had the original sales invoice, lo and behold, from the same Oak Park, IL. dealership which had whitewall tires under the option list. The judge's contention is that no 58's left the factory with 5" wheels and blackwall tires. I beg to differ since all 5 of my tires match, are of the correct brand, and are non DOT. Please let me know what you think.

[John H.]

Re: 1958 Original Blackwall Tires?

To continue the story, their was another 1958 being judged that was original and had whitewalls. This gentleman also had the original sales invoice, lo and behold, from the same Oak Park, IL. dealership which had whitewall tires under the option list. The judge's contention is that no 58's left the factory with 5" wheels and blackwall tires. I beg to differ since all 5 of my tires match, are of the correct brand, and are non DOT. Please let me know what you think.

Marc -

Since 9,168 '58 Corvettes were built and only 7,428 of them had the optional whitewall tires, that leaves a bunch of them with blackwalls; the judge needs to check his references more closely.

[John H.]

Re: 1958 Original Blackwall Tires

Let me preface my story by saying I know the history and previous 2 owners of my 21,231 original mile 1958 Corvette. The car stayed in the same family before I purchased the car in 1985. The second owner took the original blackwall 6.70/15 US Royal Safety S non DOT tires off the car in 1980 with approx. 13,300 miles on it because he wanted whitewall tires. So he purchased some Sears wide whitewalls for the car at that time and put the originals in a closet in the basement. When I bought the car it had the whitewalls on it, but I received the originals out of the closet which match the original spare. I installed the originals, and have had them on the car for the last 26 years and a total of 1232 miles. My question comes from being flight judged at the Joplin regional. I was told that my tires could not be original unless I had the 5 1/2" wheel option with small hubcap. I have the original sales invoice which does not indicate this option, but also does not list the whitewall tires as an option under my option list. I will continue in next post.

Marc -

See your other post, same subject.