1967 Firestone spare tire original? Made in CANADA? - Broken "G" in 'GM' on KH wheel

[Michael W.]

Re: 1967 Firestone spare tire original? Made in CANADA? - Broken "G" in 'GM' on KH wh

As interesting as this thread is, even if the car was sold originally in Canada why would it have tires made in Canada when the car was made in the US .

It wouldn't, simple as that.

[Brian M.]

Re: 1967 Firestone spare tire original? Made in CANADA? - Broken "G" in 'GM' on KH wh

My fathers 1970 Impala came with the double stripe tire.

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 Firestone spare tire original? Made in CANADA? - Broken "G" in 'GM' on KH wh

Scott,
I found the exact same tire in the spare carrier in my 67 Coupe with an engine assembly of Dec 1966. It was a California car, not a Canada car. I sent pics of my tire to some guys who know WAYYY more than I and they all agreed that it was NOT an original tire but an odd ball.....Not sure if this helps you or further confuses you...Figured I would let you know. I still have the tire if you need/want any info off it. Good luck. ARA

Thanks for the reply Ara, I realize it can't be original now, but it's interesting to find out someone else had the same spare. It seems like it would be an unusual thing to replace a spare tire unless it was worn out, which is unlikely, since most people would only drive on the spare for the length of time it takes to repair or replace a flat tire before returning the spare back to the tire tub.

Unless it was a common thing to buy five new tires at a time?

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 Firestone spare tire original? Made in CANADA? - Broken "G" in 'GM' on KH wh

As interesting as this thread is, even if the car was sold originally in Canada why would it have tires made in Canada when the car was made in the US and I trust the tire were on the car when it was shipped to Canada for sale? Pete

While researching the spare tire, I read (either an old Restorer article or here in the TDB archives) that one reason a car might have a non-matching spare is because a potential buyer might see the exact car they wanted on the dealer's lot, but they wanted different tires. The dealer would gladly swap the tires and/or wheels to make the sale, but wouldn't necessarily bother with changing the spare to match.

Or the customer might ask for the spare to match, but he wants double whitewall tires, and the Canadian dealer (or an American dealer) has those double whitewalls on other cars on his lot, and they're close enough in size to fit, so he obliges the customer and slaps 4 (or 5) Canadian double whitewalls on the car. Although in this case, the double whitewall was mounted facing inboard.

I'm just reading the archives and old articles, seeing how the pieces and parts I have square up with other peoples' experiences, and trying to figure things out as I go.

[Michael W.]

Re: 1967 Firestone spare tire original? Made in CANADA? - Broken "G" in 'GM' on KH wh

Unless it was a common thing to buy five new tires at a time?

Sort of, it was common practice to rotate the tires so that all five got equal use. This is in the days before radials.

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 Firestone spare tire original? Made in CANADA? - Broken "G" in 'GM' on KH wh

Thanks Michael, I didn't know the spare was included in the rotation, and I hadn't read about that anywhere yet. The cars I have owned all had the under-size spare tire, except for the 1969 Corvette that I had for 11 years.

I didn't know about this place when I had my '69. I wish I had.

Glad I know about this place now.

[John H.]

Re: 1967 Firestone spare tire original? Made in CANADA? - Broken "G" in 'GM' on KH wh

I didn't know the spare was included in the rotation, and I hadn't read about that anywhere yet.

Scott -

See page 37 in your owner's manual.

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 Firestone spare tire original? Made in CANADA? - Broken "G" in 'GM' on KH wh

Scott -

See page 37 in your owner's manual.

Thank you