Good Luck Finding a Performance Tire for Your Classic Muscle Car

Good Luck Finding a Performance Tire for Your Classic Muscle Car, If you own a '60s or '70s-era muscle car, you've probably become aware of an ironic problem: It is virtually impossible to find high-performance tires for these high-performance beasts.

The BF Goodrich Radial T/A is about as good as it gets - and though it's a good-looking tire, with handsome raised white lettering, the Radial T/A is not really a performance tire. It's pretty much a basic all-season radial with a standard passenger car "S" (112 mph) speed rating and tread designed for normal street driving. And that's about all there is.

You can find standard radials, some with white lettering, some blackwall. But if you want a sticky-compound performance tire with an H (130 mph or better) speed rating, you're going to find the cupboard's pretty bare.

So how come no one makes performance tires for old muscle cars? Well, they do make them - just not for the factory 14 and 15-inch steel rims those cars originally came with. You can get the same super-aggressive Michelin Pilots (or whatever) that come on a new Corvette or Mustang GT - provided you use modern large-diameter wheels.

At minimum, you'll need to change up to a 16x8 rim in order to have access to modern performance tires for your old muscle car.

But that changes both the look of the car (for sure) and (very likely) will dramatically alter the way the car rides and handles - possibly not for the better, either. At least, not without making appropriate changes to the rest of the car's suspension.

Keep in mind that the typical '60s-era, 70s-era performance car was designed for 14 or 15 inch wheels (and tires appropriate to wheels that diameter and width). Just because a 17 or 18 inch tall rim physically fits doesn't mean it's right - or even safe - for the car. Before you contemplate such a swap, consult an expert or you could end up with a car that handles worse than it did with the factory 15x7 steelies and a set of 225/70-15 Radial T/As.

Much larger (taller/wider) wheels and tires will probably also increase rolling resistance as well as the car's unsprung mass. Steering feel could become very screwy. Overlarge wheels/tires may end up rubbing inner fender wells or bottoming out whenever the car hits a pothole or dip in the road. It may be necessary to completely modify the factory suspension set up (springs, coils) and alter the geometry/camber, caster and all the rest of it - in order to get modern-sized wheels and tires to work right. And they will never look right. Not to me, at least.

As with '60s and '70s-era suspension geometry, the relationship of the car's body lines and proportions to the size of the wheels and tires was based on the look of 14 and 15 inch rims - considered "large" back in the day. You can get away with a 16 inch rim, but 17 ad 18 inch wheels just look awkward on a classic-era muscle car - like colorizing classic movies from the '30s.

The fact that it can be done doesn't mean it should be done. Sure, there's a possible performance enhancement to be had - both in terms of handling and traction (a big issue for V-8 muscle cars). But modern large diameter rims all look pretty much the same. Can you think of a modern wheel that really stands out - is part of the car - in the way that something like Pontiac's '70s-era Honeycomb wheel or Chevy Rally rim stands out?

Most muscle cars came with factory wheels that defined the package and contributed greatly to making the car what it was. What is a Shelby GT500 without its factory Magnum 500 wheels? Or a '71 GTX sans its Hurst mags? These wheels may be small by modern standards, but they have a style - and history - that you throw into the dumpster when you take them off the car in favor of a set of look-alike chromed-generic ree-uhms that every other pimped-out Escalade is also riding on.

But that brings us back to the dilemma of finding a decent tire - for the factory wheels - that's worthy of the capabilities of a classic muscle car. Coker and other suppliers are remanufacturing OE-type tires for numerous classic cars, including classic muscle cars. This is a relatively small potential market, but apparently, there's enough interest to make it economically worthwhile. I think there are probably enough of us out there with muscle cars we still like to drive (as opposed to just trailer to high-end car shows) to make it worthwhile for an outfit like Coker (or maybe even BF Goodrich) to make us some decent tires to fit our cars' stock/factory rims.

But we need to make our wants known for this to happen. So, if you feel like I do and would like to be able to buy a performance tire to fit your muscle car's factory wheels, drop 'em a line and let 'em know. The two most likely prospects are BF Goodrich and Goodyear, both of which used to make great tires for American muscle cars but don't anymore.

Are Muscle Cars The 'Just For Men' Hobby?

Eric's Autos: Are Muscle Cars The 'Just For Men' Hobby?

Perhaps you've noticed. In the pages of muscle car enthusiast magazines and at car shows where muscle cars are the main attraction, the over-40 crowd is the largest demographic.

Twenty years ago, if you looked through, say, Hot Rod magazine, Car Craft or High Performance Pontiac, the owners of featured cars were mostly young guys in their 20s and 30s. It was the same on cruise nights. Muscle cars were young men's cars.

Now it's almost entirely the Just For Men set. Which is a little jarring (the whole muscle car thing was at one time Youth personified) but is easily explained.

First, muscle cars have become expensive cars - and that almost automatically rules out anyone under 30. The days when a high school or college-aged kid could find a decent-condition '60s or '70s muscle car for two or three thousand bucks are long gone. The more popular models - anything with a big block V-8; a Mustang or a Camaro - easily fetch $30,000 or more. Some are six figure cars, a development that's almost inconceivable to those of us who were high-school age in the early '80s - when such cars were just old beaters and gas hogs that no one especially wanted. Certainly, no adult wanted.

The point being, not many kids in their late teens/twenties today are in a position to cough up the money it takes to buy a muscle car. It's not like a new (or recent model used) car, which you can at least finance at a decent interest rate. Most of these purchases involve a private seller who will accept just one thing - cash. Good luck trying to scrape together $20,000 on McDonalds and lawn-mowing money.

The high cost of entry has kept the muscle car ownership pool almost completely static. The guys who were young in the '80s and '90s (when muscle cars were still affordable) bought theirs then and have tended to hold onto them; or they simply have the money to indulge because they're now in their middle years and have had decades to sock away the cash for fun things like blowing a wad on a 40-year-old GTO.

A secondary effect of the high cost of entry is, of course, that younger prospects never got to work on muscle cars, so never grew to know and love them, either. Their formative years were spent hopping up front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive "sport compacts." This where the Youth have gone. It's what they can afford; it's what they know - and it's where the future lies (for them).

But where does that leave the classic muscle car hobby? It's a graybeard's thing; something that older dudes will continue to be into for as long as they're able to be into it. But that's not an indefinite, infinite thing.

Prediction: After another 20 or 30 years roll by and the majority of Baby Boomers and Gen. X muscle cars groupies are either dead or more interested in their wheelchair scooters than they are in muscle cars, the cars themselves will mostly fade away as curious relics of an ancient time - much like steam locomotives and Civil War re-enactments today. A few newbies will carry the torch, but for the most part, muscle cars will not even register as a blip on the screen come 2030 or so.

The upside is - if you're still around and still interested - you'll probably be able to buy that 383 four-speed Coronet you always wanted for a decent price at last.

FireBreather is a Muscle Glimpse with Classic Design

Classic Design Concepts FireBreather is a Muscle Glimpse at What Might Have Been

In all Of the American automotive nameplates to be scrapped within the last 10 years, most people will probably tell you the saddest loss is that of Pontiac. (We were always fond of Oldsmobile, but that’s a screed for another day.) The ‘Building Excitement’ brand’s execution was particularly galling as it was announced just as Chevrolet’s reborn Camaro was rolling into showrooms, nixing any chances of a corresponding fifth generation Firebird and Trans Am

Mega-Batteries for Your Old Muscle Car

Mega-Batteries for Your Old Muscle Car

There are two battery-related challenges to owning an old muscle car. One, they can be hard to start - especially if the engine is a big V-8 with high compression (which makes it tougher to crank, which places high demand on the battery).

Two, they often sit for weeks (or more), which can be harder on a battery than daily use because it's not being constantly recharged by the car's charging system - which only works when the engine's running.

A solution to both problems could be a high-performance battery like one of the new Optima spiral cell batteries .

These batteries are physically and functionally different from conventional batteries. Each battery contains six spiral cells (instead of plates in line) that wind around a central core; instead of the electrolyte sloshing around between the plates as in a conventional battery, it is held in suspension on absorbent mats that act like a sponge. The design allows more total plate surface area, which results in superior performance in a compact design that is also leak-free and corrosion-free, because there is no flowing electrolyte.

When you hit the ignition key, Optima claims you'll get the "strongest 5 second burst" of power available, which should make starting even the hairiest big block a snap.

I got one (RedTop with 1,000 cold cranking amps) recently for my 455-powered Trans-Am and am a believer. Where the old battery - a conventional plates-in-a-row type - often noticeably strained as it tried to rotate the big V-8 despite having the same exact same CC amps rating, the Optima spins the 455 over as easily as the PR materials claimed, with a near instantaneous start.

Superior hot-start performance - a big issue for muscle car owners - is another plus.

The design is also better able to withstand vibration (another issue for muscle car owners, especially if your car has a lumpy cam) and the battery is completely spill proof. You can even mount the unit on its side, if you wanted to.

An Optima battery is more expensive up front (about 40 percent more than a similarly rated, plate-type premium battery) but in addition to being able to start your car reliably, every time, the Optima will last longer because the spiral cell design is inherently more durable, doesn't shed lead paste (as happens routinely on the plates-in-series suspended in electrolyte fluid in a conventional battery) and can take being "cycled" (discharged and recharged) without losing their ability to hold a charge better than a standard battery. The increased surface area of the spiral-wound cells, meanwhile, also gives faster recharge times.

The Optima batteries are generally more compact than the units they replace, which helps with installation and mounting. In my case ('70s-era Pontiac) getting the battery in and out is now a lot easier - and the unit came with the same factory-type side terminals as the OE battery, so the stock cables bolt right up.

The RedTops are available for pretty much any classic muscle car and are ideal for modified vehicles and hot rods. If you have a lot of aftermarket electronics, Optima's YellowTop line is what you want. In addition to the superior starting power of the RedTops, the YellowTops are designed for maximum cycling (discharge/recharge) capability.