Earlier today the 80-foot Uniroyal tire in Allen Park, Michigan was the scene of a birthday party of sorts
Uniroyal Giant Tire
Return with us now to 1965. Diet Pepsi, Pop-Tarts and Spaghetti-O's first appear in grocery stores. In the sports world, the New York Jets sign Joe Namath while Cassius Clay changes his name to Muhammad Ali. In St. Louis, the Gateway Arch is completed and, beyond Earth's atmosphere, spacecraft explore both Mars and our own moon.
Meanwhile, back in The Big Apple, the New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows continues for a second year (this fair, by the way, is where the new Ford Mustang makes its debut).
In addition to Ford, a number of other corporations have a presence at the fair, including US Rubber, maker of US Royal Tires. US Rubber's exhibit includes an 80-foot Ferris wheel in the shape of a giant whitewall tire. It's constructed of steel and polyester resin with a fiberglass surface, 24 barrel-shaped gondolas – each carrying four people - rotate around the circumference of the tire (powered by a 100 horsepower motor) where, if it were a normal tire, you'd normally find the tread.
Following the close of the fair at the end of the 1965 season, US Rubber sold off the gondolas, disassembled the tire into 188 sections and shipped it by 21 railroad flat cars to Allen Park, Michigan where a corporate building was located. At the time, the company also had a tire plant in Detroit employing some 10,000 workers (the plant has since been demolished and the corporate building is gone).
Choosing a site in Allen Park along Interstate 94 midway between the city and Detroit's Metropolitan Airport, it took 4 months to reassemble the tire where it has stood ever since, welcoming visitors and natives alike to the Motor City.
Keeping things rolling
Earlier today, members of the Detroit-based Automotive Press Association were invited out to the Giant Tire's site to tour both the inside and outside of what has become a Detroit icon.
"We’re proud to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Giant Uniroyal Tire, one of the most enduring icons representing the ‘Motor City’ and a nation known for its great industrial and automotive history," said Ray Fischenich of Uniroyal. "The Uniroyal team has been dedicated to updating and renovating the Giant Tire as our tire technology has evolved over the years. We’re committed to continuing these updates so that the tire will remain a landmark for many years to come."
Updates, you say? Absolutely.
Although many of the changes to the Giant Uniroyal Tire have been subtle, only its shape remains the same.
When it first arrived in Detroit, both sides wore plain white sidewalls and a cone-shaped hubcap. Later, the "Royal Seal" logo was added to the whitewall. In 1994, it was given its first update with neon lighting and a new hubcap. In 1998, it was modified once more with a giant nail embedded in the tread to promote Uniroyal's self-sealing NailGard passenger tire.
The nail, by the way, was removed 4 years later and auctioned off with the proceeds going to Allen Park's historical society.
By far the biggest renovation took place in 2003, when Uniroyal invested close to $1 million to refresh what had now become a landmark as part of Detroit's I-94 revitalization efforts. Updates included the replacement of 30 steel beams inside the tire, installing asphalt and storm drains, painting the exterior, applying reflective lettering, and other structural improvements designed to ensure the Giant Uniroyal Tire would grace the approach to the Motor City for years to come.
Giant Uniroyal Tire Facts
• It was designed by the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb and Harmon – designers of the Empire State Building.
• The Giant Tire Ferris wheel quickly became one of the fair’s most memorable attractions, entertaining more than two million visitors, including the Shah of Iran and Jacqueline Kennedy and children Caroline and John Jr.
• Each ride cost 25 cents, lasted about 10 minutes and, according to fair literature, offered "a spectacular view of the fairgrounds."
• The Giant Uniroyal Tire is the largest tire model ever built, standing 80 feet tall and weighing 12 tons.
• The tire’s interior is 120,576 cubic feet, and the tread measures half-a-foot deep.
• It would take 960 Uniroyal passenger tires to make the Giant Uniroyal Tire.
• If the Giant Uniroyal Tire was an actual tire on a car, at 80-feet, it would fit on a 200-foot-tall car.
