Original Tires

[DougVieyra]

When discussing anything to do with the Ford Model T - like tire color - one must remember that in the two decades of production, there were also two decades of change in the car, and more importantly, in the rest of the automotive world, including tires. So what tyres were on a 1909 Model T were in no way interchangeable with a wheel of a 1927 Model T.

The technology and material of tire production changed dramatically between the first Model T in 1909 and the last in 1927. While rubber tires where white in 1909, they were no longer so by 1927 - They were black. It was only in the very early years of tire production that they were all white. By the 1920's technology and materials advancement had brought the color of tires to the black that we know today.

[Mike V. Florida]

From Hemmings this day in history,

"On April 6, 1934, Ford introduced whitewall tires as an $11.25 option on all its new cars. The dramatic white-highlighted tires had gained popularity as a luxury detail in the 1920s, and “wide whites” saw the peak of their popularity in the 1950s, tapering off into the 1960s, when they fell out of favor."

See also this about when the white wall was invented;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogue_Tyre

[jhowes]

I saw recently on youtube where a guy was scrubbing the black off of tires to produce a white wall. He said that all tires were white underneath and you just needed to remove the black to get a white wall. I saw him do it. Jack