by Michael E.Ware:
At the Beaulieu Autojumble last year I was intrigued by a wheel and tyre on show with James Whieldon and Nick Mouat from West Grimstead, who repair and remake spoked wheels (tel. +441722712701).
Prior to the Ten Year Test being introduced into the United Kingdom 1960 it was not uncommon for cars to be found with smooth tyres and sometimes even with the canvas base showing through! This tyre was different though it was a on a standard Austin 7 Ruby wheel. The tyre had a completely bald tread over which someone had placed a larger tyre from which had been removed triangular sections of the tread and the bead of the tyre had also been removed. After this the tyre was mounted over the bald tyre so giving some tread! Was this done in war time, or was it a way of improving grip for off road use? It is thought the wheel may have come from "an agricultural vehicle". I had never seen anything like it before.
However, on a recent visit to the Lakeland Motor Museum I saw a different version of the add on tread.
In the early days many tyres were smooth or had minimal tread. "The dreaded side slip" was always a problem for those drivers, especially on city wood block surfaced streets. An enterprising company came up with a strap on tread with metal studs and the museum has an example on show.Thinking of bald tyres before the Ten Year Test came in. When I was looking for suitable items to put in the National Motor Museum's recreation of a 1938 country garage I wanted to display some bald tyres with canvas showing through. These were very hard to find in 1995 when I was looking for them, I had to advertise and from memory only got four!
photos by Michael E Ware