Time to get back - whitewalls ??

I've never liked whitewalls on Speedsters; it just doesn't look right. But that's only my opinion.

Btw; I'm not crazy about the flames either, but it's the only one I could find on short notice! 

 

Yes I'm a bit undecided.

 

Here is one I saw On Google images 

Wide white walls on a white Speedster are the bomb.....Period.

 

Narrow white walls?   Not so much.  

 

There was someone here in New England with a Meissen Blue Cabriolet with wide whites and I thought that was well done, too...  don't think they might look good against red or black - I would have to photoshop a few cars to see.

 

I seem to remember more 356's with wide whites in Europe than in the US.  We're too cool for that sort of thing here 

 

Al:  I really like how those flames were done.  But not on THAT car!

Gordon,

 

I think I need to keep searching Google Images or photoshop wide whitewalls onto the Speedster.

 

Yes I was also uncertain how they would look on red cars.

 

So the cream cars seem to just turn very classic and if my car was cream I would probably have them on..

Not a fan of whitewalls on speedsters. But whatever rows your boat!  I remember when whitewalls were an "extra" on new cars. Then greed in Detroit, led to tires built with white on one side and blackwall on the other. ... This of course was before the radial tire, when engineering and tread design, dictated the tire direction of rotation.

 

Remember the days when Sears had the horsepower, to get Michelin to make the Sears Radial?  The original private label.

I found two images

 

One with chrome wheels like my Speedster.

 

And the other has red steel wheels.  I'm starting to lean towards adding them and using the wide white wall.

 

I'll see what I can find over the coming week.

 

 

Wide whites are a very cool look. Mango has a set still, I think. Switches them in for some shows. No? 

 

The ultimate cruisin' look, are the wide whites. Low and slow, chromed-up and fully-accessorized. I'd run them with the full hubcap or the fake Rudge Knockoff look.

 

BUT:

 

If you also envision the car with meatballs, nerfs, blacked-out wheels, roll bar and/or any of the other "outlaw"-style accoutrements, then the whitewall tires won't be right. 

 

You want whites? Think plush.

 

Unless....

 

Unless, maybe, you're married to that rat-rod concept. In that case: flat red or black paint, distressed leather seats...the whites could work. Just make sure they are dirty.

I'm really liking the wide whites with the red painted rim and the baby moons.  And FWIW Bernie I think with the darker red color like your car it'd look sweet.

 

But you're right photoshop them onto the car so you really know what it'd look like before you drop the coin on the tires.

I'm a fan of white walls.  I have had both on multiple VS's, and my dads 356AT1 ( purchased new  in Spain).  and now I'm also putting them on my 62' coupe project.  I'm a Sunday driver... Though I use the cars virtually any sunny day, and for any possible arend.

 

Attached es a couple of shots I had stored on my blackberry, VS with a hard top. can shoot one tonight without the hardtop... i think my yellow '62 will also look nice with them on...

 

2nd foto only = before I did the 5wide /disk conversion, whiper and headlight upgrades.

Coupe earlier this spring... Coker whitewalls are on order... hope to have installed by fall.  I think they will look nice with the yellow.

Much like art in general, cosmetics for our cars are best decided by a committee of one: he who pays the coin.  Pick what floats your boat.  The look you want is the one you'll get.  Sounds easy, huh?

I used to trace the white MICHELIN XAS lettering on my '72 Porsche 914 years back - tedious but I thought it looked racy.

 

Ever see the white "porta-walls".  Not sure what they would do to radial tire side walls thought - I could see wear in the weak flexible side walls????  $75.

 

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/cla...etail.php?id=1764940

 

A couple pics from tonight, without the hardtop.   Well said Jim... It's a matter of personal taste..  I think white walls are sexy. ;-)

 

enjoy

Luis

@ nLuis

 

Beauftiful car Luis, looks really nice with the whitewalls.

 

I agree Gordon. I love flames, and the painting techniques these days; they can look so real! They just look so wrong on a Speedster..

I don't even like to think about flames on my speedster :-/

> On Aug 12, 2015, at 9:56 AM, SpeedsterOwners.com <alerts@hoop.la> wrote:
>

First of all, regardless of any of our opinions, it's only what you like that matters.  That being said, it isn't my cup of tea at all and I think the reason you don't see them very often is because most people prefer the look of regular tires.  I could be wrong, but I think Marty may have had a set at one time and took them off and so did Mango Smoothy.  Just do a search for white wall and you will find lots of discussion about them.

Much better than flames in your speedster.

Whitewalls do look good on some classic cars. From the above pics they look classy and elegant on a Speedster, more of what one thinks of when viewing a classic Porsche...at least in my opinion, FWIW.

 

Way back in the day whitewalls were an option for many cars and if one could afford a Speedster back then often times whitewalls may have been added.

 

For us older guys remember when we'd remove hubcaps, paint the rims black maybe adding baby moons and have the tires flipped around blackwall out...whitewalls were for 'family cars'...LOL.

My Dad had a fit when I did that to my first car a '54 Chevy BelAir that I'd bought in pristine condition

Unrelated, but Luis -- that hardtop is SUPER cool. Makes the Speedster great for cold weather too. Love that. Nice car man! 

 

I'm with Troy. Ultimately, if you like it, that is what matters. 

 

Anand

Thank you Anand & Robert.  The hard top is very useful here in Seattle...  The top was made by Kirk (VS), and tweaked by Russ (fibersteel).  The plexi window hardware and how to came from Russ as well.  Both awesome guys!

 

Even in summer its great to put on for our weekend getaways to Whistler (British Columbia)- 5 hr drive , and Bend (oregon) - 7.5 hr drive.   Our 7 yr old loves the weekend road trips to the cabins with Dad and the "little cars" as she calls them. Great quality time... and like with my father back in the day, she is already getting time behind the wheel... on dads lap.

 

BTW Anand-  I saw the Jay Leno pic's.  your Coupe turned out AMAZING!!!!  AMAZING!!!  i only hope my '62 turns out a fraction as nice as yours did. i would be happy!

 

cheers 

not mine (although even i am surprised how close it looks)

 

Yours looks better, Paul.

What Stan said... x2!

X3!