VINTAGE TIRES

I think we’re all well aware that old tires pose a safety risk, not to mention the reliability issue.   Advice varies on when you should replace your tires, but it seems that most say that tires older than 7 or 8 years should be replaced.

That said, I’m always interested in the old tires often found as spares in these cars, and the latest acquisition, a 1956 BN2 with right hand drive and brought to the USA in 1962, is no exception.  It’s part of the “automotive archeology” thing, piecing together the car’s history from the physical evidence.

This Avon brand “Turbospeed” tire probably dates from the late 1950s or so.  The original spare would have been a Dunlop Roadspeed, so it’s not a stretch to infer that at some point those Dunlops were replaced by a set of Avons, and when the Avons were replaced, “the best one” (the least bad one) was assigned to spare tire duty.  And there it remained until now.

Well done, faithful Avon.  You performed long and well.  We’ll bury you with appropriate honors.