1.
Tire
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A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped vehicle component that covers the wheels rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, provide traction between the vehicle and the road providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock. The materials of modern tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric and wire, along with carbon black. They consist of a tread and a body, the tread provides traction while the body provides containment for a quantity of compressed air. Before rubber was developed, the first versions of tires were bands of metal fitted around wooden wheels to prevent wear and tear. Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft. Metal tires are used on locomotives and railcars, and solid rubber tires are still used in various non-automotive applications, such as some casters, carts, lawnmowers. The etymology of tire is that the word is a form of attire. The spelling tyre does not appear until the 1840s when the English began shrink fitting railway car wheels with malleable iron, nevertheless, traditional publishers continued using tire. The Times newspaper in Britain was still using tire as late as 1905, the spelling tyre began to be commonly used in the 19th century for pneumatic tires in the UK. However, over the course of the 20th century, tyre became established as the standard British spelling, the earliest tires were bands of leather, then iron, placed on wooden wheels, used on carts and wagons. The tire would be heated in a fire, placed over the wheel and quenched, causing the metal to contract. A skilled worker, known as a wheelwright, carried out this work, the outer ring served to tie the wheel segments together for use, providing also a wear-resistant surface to the perimeter of the wheel. The word tire thus emerged as a variant spelling to refer to the bands used to tie wheels. The first patent for what appears to be a standard pneumatic tire appeared in 1847 lodged by the Scottish inventor Robert William Thomson, however, this never went into production. The first practical pneumatic tire was made in 1888 on May Street, Belfast, by Scots-born John Boyd Dunlop and it was an effort to prevent the headaches of his 10-year-old son Johnnie, while riding his tricycle on rough pavements. His doctor, John, later Sir John Fagan, had prescribed cycling as an exercise for the boy, Fagan participated in designing the first pneumatic tires. In Dunlops tire patent specification dated 31 October 1888, his interest is only in its use in cycles, in September 1890, he was made aware of an earlier development but the company kept the information to itself
2.
Strabane
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Strabane, historically spelt Straban, is a town in West Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was the headquarters of the former Strabane District Council, Strabane has a population of around 18,000, which is mainly Irish nationalist. It is the second-largest town in Tyrone, after Omagh and it lies on the east bank of the River Foyle and is roughly equidistant from Omagh, Derry City and Letterkenny. The River Foyle marks the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, on the other side of the river is the smaller town of Lifford, which is the county town of County Donegal. The Mourne flows through the centre of the town, and meets the Finn to form the Foyle River, in the 1600s the town was settled by Scottish families, an action that preceded the Plantation of Ulster. In 1608 during ODohertys Rebellion most of the fled to the safety of Lifford following Sir Cahir ODohertys Burning of Derry. Strabane once had the distinction of the highest unemployment rate in the Industrial World. It is one of the most economically deprived towns in the United Kingdom, Strabane suffered huge economic damage in 1987 when much of the centre of the town was flooded. Strabane had been moved out of the top 20 in the 2007 edition, Strabane was once the most bombed town in Europe per size and was the most bombed town in Northern Ireland. Many civilians and members of the security forces were killed or injured in the area over the course of the Troubles, many British Army regiments from England, Scotland and Wales served in Strabane at various times during the Troubles in the Barracks at the locally named Camels hump. As a result of the Good Friday Agreement, there is no longer any British Army presence in the town, Strabane became involved in the Ulster Project International, sending Catholic and Protestant teenagers to the United States for prejudice-reduction work. The Irish gauge 5 ft 3 in Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway reached Strabane in 1847, Omagh in 1852, the Great Northern Railway took over the L&ER in 1883. The Finn Valley Railway opened from Strabane to Stranorlar in 1863, the FV was originally Irish gauge but in 1892 it merged with the 3 ft narrow gauge West Donegal Railway to form the Donegal Railway and was reduced to the same narrow gauge for through running. The Donegal Railway opened its own line to Derry in 1900, in 1906 the GNR and Northern Counties Committee jointly took over the Donegal Railway, making it the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee. The 3 ft gauge Strabane and Letterkenny Railway opened in 1909 and was worked by the Joint Committee, the narrow gauge lines made Strabane one of the most important railway connections for County Donegal. The partition of Ireland in 1922 turned the boundary with County Donegal into an international frontier and this changed trade patterns to the railways detriment and placed border posts on the Joint Committees FV and S&L lines and on the GNR line to Derry. Stops for customs inspections greatly delayed trains and disrupted timekeeping, the Joint Committees Strabane-Derry line was closed in 1954, followed by the remainder of the narrow gauge system in 1960. In 1958 the Ulster Transport Authority took over the remaining GNR lines on the Northern Ireland side of the border, in accordance with The Benson Report submitted to the Northern Ireland Government in 1963, the UTA closed the former GNR line through Strabane to Derry in 1965
3.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
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The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment, the company was named after American Charles Goodyear, inventor of vulcanized rubber. The first Goodyear tires became popular because they were easily detachable, Goodyear is also known for the Goodyear Blimp. Though Goodyear had been manufacturing airships and balloons since the early 1900s, today it is one of the most recognizable advertising icons in America. The company is the most successful tire supplier in Formula One history, with starts, wins. They pulled out of the sport after the 1998 season and it is the sole tire supplier for NASCAR series. Goodyear is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company opened a new headquarters building in Akron in 2013. The first Goodyear factory opened in Akron, Ohio, in 1898, the thirteen original employees manufactured bicycle and carriage tires, rubber horseshoe pads, and poker chips. The company grew with the advent of the automobile, in 1901 Frank Seiberling provided Henry Ford with racing tires. In 1903, Paul Weeks Litchfield was granted a patent for the first tubeless automobile tire, by 1908 Ford was outfitting his Model T with Goodyear tires. In 1909 Goodyear manufactured its first aircraft tire, in 1911 Goodyear started experimenting with airship design. It later manufactured airships and observation balloons for the United States Army Air Service during World War I, the transport and reconnaissance capabilities that Goodyear provided contributed significantly to the Allied victory. In 1916, Litchfield found land in the Phoenix area suitable for growing long-staple cotton, the 36,000 acres purchased were controlled by the Southwest Cotton Company, formed with Litchfield as president. In 1924, Litchfield, as Goodyear Vice President, forged a joint venture with the German Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Company to form the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, by 1926 Goodyear was the largest rubber company in the world. Only four years earlier it was forced to halt production of racing tires due to heavy competition. Nevertheless, the popularity of the Goodyear tire on the circuit led to a popular demand for the return of the brand. On August 5,1927, Goodyear had its public offering and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange
4.
British Touring Car Championship
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The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as the British Touring Car Championship in 1987. The championship has run to various national and international regulations over the years including FIA Group 2, FIA Group 5, FIA Group 1, FIA Group A, FIA Super Touring. A lower-key Group N series for production cars ran from 2000 until 2003, the championship was initially run with a mix of classes, divided according to engine capacity, racing simultaneously. The new one-class system was popular with manufacturers from the beginning with six manufacturer supported teams from BMW, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, to this day, the super touring era during the 1990s is still looked at as the most successful period of the BTCC. The high number of manufacturer-backed teams provided very close competition, close and hard fought racing on track, in order to reduce the costs to compete in the championship, the organisers introduced new regulations for the 2001 season. The BTC Touring regulations cut costs dramatically but both manufacturer and spectator interest was low, however, the Super 2000 rules were observed for the overall championship from the 2007 season. The 2000s saw cheaper cars than the later Supertouring era, with factory teams. In 2009, the BTCC released details of its Next Generation Touring Car specification, the NGTC specification also aimed to cut costs by reducing reliance on WTCC/S2000 equipment, due to increasing costs/complexity and concerns as to its future sustainability and direction. Currently, the cars used are a mix of 2, S2000 cars continued running in the Jack Sears Trophy until the 2014 season. BTCC teams are a mixture of manufacturer entries and independent teams such as BTC Norlin, in 2010, following Vauxhalls decision to pull out of the series, there were two new works teams, Chevrolet, run by RML, and Honda, run by Team Dynamics. This included finishing all 30 championship races that year, something no other driver has achieved before or since and this ended Vauxhalls run of 4 victories in the drivers and teams championships between 2001 and 2004. Neal and Dynamics were also victorious in 2006, before Vauxhall won the 2007 title with Italian Fabrizio Giovanardi. Team Dynamics also achieved the first overall race win in the Supertouring era when Neal won a round of the 1999 BTCC at Donington park. These cost reductions saw a rise in independent entries – teams or individuals entering cars purchased from the teams when they update their chassis. With the introduction of the NGTC rules, all share a number of common components provided through a contract with RML Group. This has allowed many independent teams to enter without the need for manufacturer support, and negating the need to source ex-works cars. Teams can install an engine from their marques broad family of cars, or opt to lease an engine from TOCA, to further keep costs in check, the BTCC uses a single tyre supplier, with Dunlop the current supplier of rubber to all the teams
5.
Shropshire
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Shropshire Council was created in 2009, a unitary authority taking over from the previous county council and five district councils. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a unitary authority since 1998. The county has many towns, including Whitchurch in the north, Newport north-east of Telford. The Ironbridge Gorge area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, there are other historic industrial sites in the county, such as at Shrewsbury, Broseley, Snailbeach and Highley, as well as the Shropshire Union Canal. The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers about a quarter of the county, Shropshire is one of Englands most rural and sparsely populated counties, with a population density of 136/km2. The Wrekin is one of the most famous landmarks in the county, though the highest hills are the Clee Hills, Stiperstones. Wenlock Edge is another significant geographical and geological landmark, the River Severn, Great Britains longest river, runs through the county, exiting into Worcestershire via the Severn Valley. Shropshire is landlocked and with an area of 3,487 square kilometres is Englands largest inland county, the county flower is the round-leaved sundew. The area was part of the lands of the Cornovii. This was a tribal Celtic iron age kingdom and their capital in pre-Roman times was probably a hill fort on the Wrekin. Ptolemys 2nd century Geography names one of their towns as being Viroconium Cornoviorum, after the Roman occupation of Britain ended in the 5th century, the Shropshire area was in the eastern part of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys, known in Welsh poetry as the Paradise of Powys. It was annexed to the Angle kingdom of Mercia by King Offa in the 8th century, in subsequent centuries, the area suffered repeated Danish invasion, and fortresses were built at Bridgnorth and Chirbury. Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to defend against the Welsh and enable effective control of the region, including Ludlow Castle, the western frontier with Wales was not finally determined until the 14th century. Also in this period, a number of foundations were formed, the county largely falling at this time under the Diocese of Hereford. The county contains a number of historically significant towns, including Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, additionally, the area around Coalbrookdale in the county is seen as highly significant, as it is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. The village of Edgmond, near Newport, is the location of the lowest recorded temperature in England, the origin of the name Shropshire is the Old English Scrobbesbyrigscīr, which means Shrewsburyshire. The name may, therefore, be derived indirectly from a name such as Scrope. Salop is an old name for Shropshire, historically used as a form for post or telegrams
6.
Bar grip
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Bar grip tyres, or NDT in US military parlance, are an early tyre tread pattern developed for off-road use. Bar grips are characterised by a solid rubber circumferential centre strip and these span the full width of the tread. It is characteristic of this pattern that they do not have any tread pattern or sipes cut into the rubber to clear water. Bar grip tyres were developed in the 1930s and were the standard military pattern throughout World War II, for vehicles from Jeeps to heavy trucks and they fell from favour in the 1970s and largely disappeared by the 1990s, having been replaced by newer patterns with better all-around performance. Deliberate shaping of moulded tyre tread design, rather than concentrating on a rubber surface that didnt fail rapidly. There was little background to this though until the mid-1920s. The 1922 London Motor Show displayed a range of patterns that were reported on by The Autocar. Some of these, from Miller and the French firm of Bergougnan, however these were supplied for narrow high-pressure tyres, for use on roads and at relatively high speeds. Their design was based on notions of transverse bars giving fore-and-aft traction. In practice, such square-edged tread blocks wore badly and unevenly and this wear pattern was one reason for the practicing of rotating tyres between wheels, so that they spent equal periods wearing in each direction. Later, and better, patterns were the Dunlop Traction tread pattern of 1922 and these followed the same principle of a solid central rib with square-edged blocks, but were developed to improve tread wear. The central rib became a thin and almost vestigial rib between square blocks, the side blocks were now isolated from the centre, although linked by another narrow rib, and their leading and trailing edges formed a trapezium rather than a square. This triple square stud pattern was a pattern for narrow tyres, including motorcycles. The first deliberate use bar grip tyres as off-road tyres, were developed pre-war as truck tyres particularly for army use and they used crosswise tread bars for grip. A helical pattern was used to avoid the uneven rolling radius and vibration of a tread with simple crosswise bars and this helical pattern also gave rise to a sideways force, particularly on tarmac. As all tyres had the hand, this force increased across the two sides of the vehicle. To counteract this force, the central stop-rib was added, the stop-rib was only partly successful though, snowy conditions led the Swiss Post Office to use left- and right-handed tyres to balance the force across the vehicle. Later developments would use balanced arrangements of ribs in a chevron or herringbone layout, the more common arrangement for the later low-speed military bar grip was to use straight bars, but relying on the centre rib to avoid their vibration problems on tarmac
7.
Off-roading
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Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding a vehicle on unsurfaced roads or tracks, made of materials such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicles to competitions with customized vehicles, off-roaders have been met with criticism for the environmental damage incurred by their vehicles. There have also been extensive debates over the role of government in regulating the sport, traveling on off-road terrains require vehicles capable of accommodating off-road driving such as ATVs. These vehicles accommodate off road conditions with extended ground clearance, off-road tires, some manufacturers offer vehicles specifically meant for off-road use. Some examples of recreational off-roading include the following, Dune bashing is a form of off-roading on sand dunes, a Large sport utility vehicle such as the Toyota Land Cruiser is an example of vehicle used. Vehicles driven on dunes may be equipped with a cage in case of an overturn, Similar to auto-racing, experience and skill is required to maneuver the car. Before entering the desert in an everyday-use SUV or pickup, it is essential to reduce the tire pressure. This is done to more traction by increasing the footprint of the tire and, therefore. For example, tires with a pressure of 35 psi would be reduced to approximately 12-14 psi. A common modification is to fit beadlock rims, which allow tire pressure to be lowered further, without risking tire. Upon entering the desert, it is common to meet with a pack of vehicles, the group leader then leads the pack through the stunts in single file. The main reason for this technique is to prevent vehicles from losing track of direction, high speed racing in the open desert includes chases and racing on a rough desert terrain with numerous pots and bumps at the maximum speed. Drivers mostly use RWD and 4WD trucks with long travel suspension, wide stance on the front and this type of trucks is often called Prerunner. Routes in Africa generally have obstacles in largely uninhabited and uncharted terrain and these circuit routes are over 50 km and usually around 300 km long This is a type of travel undertaken with a 4x4 that mostly goes over tracks and contains some bits of off-roading. Traditionally these trips are going through relatively uninhabited areas, popular are the deserts in Tunisia, Morocco and other North African countries, continent crossing trips through Africa, trips through Mongolia or Northern Scandinavia. Due to the weight the suspension is often reinforced with stronger springs. Green laning is a pursuit, generally suitable for any four-wheel-drive vehicle. The term green lane refers to the fact that the routes are predominantly along unsurfaced tracks, forest tracks, in the UK they are usually roads which are not maintained in any way and will often include fords
8.
Whitewall tire
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Whitewall tires or white sidewall tires are tires having a stripe or entire sidewall of white rubber. These tires were most commonly used from the early 1900s to around the mid 1970s, the use of whitewall rubber for wheels has been traced to a small tire company in Chicago called Vogue Tyre and Rubber Co that made them for their horse and chauffeur drawn carriages in 1914. Early automobile tires were made of natural rubber with various chemicals mixed into the tread compounds to make them wear better. The best of these was zinc oxide, a white substance that increased traction. However, the white rubber did not offer sufficient endurance, so black was added to the rubber to greatly increase tread life. Using carbon black only in the tread produced tires with inner and outer sidewalls of white rubber, later, entirely black tires became available, the still extant white sidewalls being covered with a somewhat thin, black colored layer of rubber. Should a black sidewall tire have been severely scuffed against a curb, during the late-1920s gleaming whitewalls contrasted against darker surroundings were considered a stylish, but high-maintenance feature. The popularity of whitewalls as an option increased during the 1930s, on April 6,1934, Ford introduced whitewall tires as an $11.25 option on all its new cars. Automobile designs incorporating streamlining eventually rendered the two-sided whitewall obsolete, the availability of whitewall tires was limited in the U. S. during the supply shortages of raw materials during World War II and the Korean War. Wide whitewall tires reached their zenith in popularity by the early-1950s, the whitewall stripe width began to diminish as an attempt to reduce the perceived height of the wheel/tire. During the decade, increasingly lower vehicle heights were in vogue, during the 1950s, Fender skirts also covered up white wall tires. Wide whitewalls generally fell out of favor in the U. S. by the 1962 model year and they continued as an option on the Lincoln Continental for some time thereafter but most common were narrower 3/4-1 stripe whitewalls. Whitewall tires were an option on new cars during the 1950s and 1960s. New tires were wrapped in paper for shipping, to keep the white stripe clean, maintaining a clean sidewall was an issue. Some motorists added aftermarket curb feelers that were attached at the bottom of the wheel opening lip to help reduce scraping the whitewall tire against curbs. By 1968, wide whitewall tires were no longer available on the Chevrolet Corvette, replaced by F70x15 bias-ply nylon cord tires with thin stripes, the single-sided whitewall remained a desirable option through the 1970s, becoming a hallmark of traditional luxury. Radial tires made by Vogue Tyre featured a narrow whitewall with a gold stripe line toward the edge of the tire. They were most often fitted to luxury cars, full-fledged wide whitewalls had made a return within the modified car culture
9.
Bicycle tire
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A bicycle tire is a tire that fits on the wheel of a bicycle, unicycle, tricycle, quadracycle, bicycle trailer, or trailer bike. They may also be used on wheelchairs and handcycles, especially for racing, Bicycle tires provide an important source of suspension, generate the lateral forces necessary for balancing and turning, and generate the longitudinal forces necessary for propulsion and braking. They are the second largest source, after air drag, of consumption on a level road. The modern detachable pneumatic bicycle tire contributed to the popularity and eventual dominance of the safety bicycle, the first bicycle tires were iron bands on the wooden wheels of velocipedes. These were followed by rubber tires on penny-farthings. The first patent for rubberized wheels was granted to Clément Ader in 1868, in an attempt to soften the ride, rubber tires with a hollow core were also tried. The first practical pneumatic tire was made by John Boyd Dunlop in 1887 for his sons bicycle, Dunlop is credited with realizing rubber could withstand the wear and tear of being a tire while retaining its resilience. This led to the founding of Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co, by 1890, it began adding a tough canvas layer to the rubber to reduce punctures. Racers quickly adopted the pneumatic tire for the increase in speed it enabled, finally, the detachable tire was introduced in 1891 by Édouard Michelin. It was held on the rim with clamps, instead of glue, three main techniques for attaching a bicycle tire to a rim have been developed, clincher, wired and tubular. Clinchers originally did not have wire in the beads and the shape of the bead interlocked with a flange on the rim, however, this type of tire is no longer in general use and the term clincher has transferred to the modern wired-on tire. For the remainder of this article, the use of the word clincher will be assumed. In an attempt to provide the best attributes of both wired and tubular methods, tubular clinchers have also been offered, most bicycle tires are clincher for use with clincher rims. These tires have a wire or Kevlar fiber bead that interlocks with flanges in the rim. A separate airtight inner tube enclosed by the rim supports the tire carcass, an advantage of this system is that the inner tube can be easily accessed in the case of a leak to be patched or replaced. The ISO 5775-2 standard defines designations for bicycle rims and it distinguishes between Straight-side rims Crochet-type rims Hooked-bead rims Traditional wired-on rims were straight-sided. Various hook designs re-emerged in the 1970s to hold the bead of the tire in place and this allows higher air pressures than older wired-on tires. In these designs, it is the interlocking of the bead with the rim, not the tight fit or resistance to stretching of the bead, some tires are torus-shaped and attached to tubular rims with adhesive
10.
Tubular tyre
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A tubular tyre, referred to as a tub in Britain, a sew-up in the US, a single in Australia, or just a tubular is a bicycle tyre that is stitched closed around the inner tube to form a torus. The combination is then glued onto a specially designed rim, referred to as a sprint rim in Britain, tubular tyres require more labour to repair a puncture than clincher tyres. The tyre must be removed from the rim, opened up, patched, sewn back up, clinchers have largely replaced tubulars for amateur racing, but tubulars are still commonly used for indoor track racing, professional road racing, road time trials, and cyclo-cross racing. The resulting combination was either slightly lighter or stronger than more common clincher tyres until the clincher tyres, taken as a whole the total weight of a tubular rim and tyre is always lighter than its clincher equivalent. However, for all non-racing purposes the lightness advantage is offset by the need to carry at least one entire spare tubular tyre. Yet the extra weight—and more importantly, rotational inertia—is off the wheel, advances in tire sealant have made carrying an extra tire a bit outdated. Other advantages of this include a decreased chance of pinch flats. Furthermore, when a tubular goes flat at high speed there is a safety margin because it is likely to roll off the rim if it is properly glued on. Tubular tyres are fitted with Presta valves, a tubeless tubular, with an integrated airtight liner instead of a separate inner tube, has been introduced
11.
Spare tire
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A spare tire or spare tyre is an additional tire carried in a motor vehicle as a replacement for one that goes flat, a blowout, or other emergency. However, some tires are not meant to be driven long distances. Space-savers have a speed of around 50 mph. When replacing a damaged tire, placing the compact spare on a non-drive axle will prevent damage to the drivetrain, if placed on a drivetrain axle, the smaller-diameter tire can put stress on the differential causing damage and reducing handling. The early days of motor travel took place on roads that were littered with stray horseshoe nails. Punctures were all too common, and required the motorist to remove the wheel from the car, demount the tire, patch the inner tube, re-mount the tire, inflate the tire, and re-mount the wheel. To alleviate this time-consuming process, Walter and Tom Davies of Llanelli, Wales, at the time, motor cars were made without spare wheels. Their company, Stepney Iron Mongers, had agents distributing the United States, Belgium, France, the pre-mounted spare tire and wheel combination proved so popular with motorists that carrying up to two spare tires became common. Automakers often equipped cars with one or dual sidemounts, the spares were mounted behind the front fenders as they blended into the running boards. In 1941, the U. S. government prohibited spare tires on new cars, shortages of resources caused by World War II led to quotas and laws designed to force conservation, including rubber that was produced overseas and difficult to get. A similar ban was implemented by the U. S. during the Korean War in 1951. Contemporary vehicles may come equipped with full-size spares, limited use minispares, the spare tire may be identical type and size to those on the vehicle. The spare may either be mounted on a steel rim or a matching road wheel as found on the vehicle. Additionally, a limited use spare may not be safe on a loaded truck or one that is towing a trailer. Due to the size of the spare, it is often mounted on the outside, such as the rear door of SUVs. These supposed benefits are debatable, a space-saver is typically only 7 kg lighter than a full-sized wheel. There is also the difficulty of transporting the full-sized wheel and tire once the space-saver has been fitted, the spare is usually mounted on a plain steel rim. They are typically smaller than the tires on the vehicle and can only be used for limited distances because of their short life expectancy
12.
Continental tire
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A Continental tire is an upright, external, mounted spare tire behind an automobiles trunk compartment. The term also describes a non-functional bulge that is stamped into the lid or a cosmetic accessory to the rear of the car giving the impression of a spare tire mount. The pre-mounted spare tire and wheel combination on early automobiles typically meant an external mounting, early European sports cars had their spare tire attached on the back of the automobile since their trunk or storage space was often very small. The development of the trunk on automobiles meant the spare tire could be placed out of sight. Edsel Ford had a car built after returning from a trip to Europe that would have a continental look – including a spare tire mounted on the trunk. The 1939 Lincoln Continentals short trunk with its external rear spare tire mount became a distinctive design, similar spare tire placements added to more prosaic automobiles were also described as a Continental kit, borrowing their name from the production Lincoln Continental. There is a legend that Henry Ford II complained that the trunk of his personal Ford Thunderbird did not have room for a set of golf clubs without removing the spare tire, the 1956 Thunderbird had its spare tire mounted outside. However, adding weight behind the wheels was said to adversely affect steering and handling. For 1957 the Thunderbirds trunk was stretched 5 inches to allow the tire to migrate back inside. This external spare wheel mount became a customizing aftermarket appearance accessory during the 1950s, in the United States, the external Continental tire mounting was a factory option on various types of cars during the 1950s and early 1960s. On some models – such as on the Nash Metropolitan, Jeepster Commando, most often, the cars rear bumper was extended and the tire had a fabric or metal cover. The bracket for the wheel was designed to swing away for access to the trunk. Contemporary examples of Continental kits are sometimes found on customized automobiles and it has become an accessory that typifies the spirit of the 1950s. Continental kits were made popular by the pimpmobile craze of the 1970s. Continental tires are known as fifth wheels in hip hop slang, numerous compact sport utility vehicle models of today have an exposed rear mounted spare tire. This is no longer described as a Continental tire, fender skirts Whitewall tire Spare wheel cover Media related to Continental tires at Wikimedia Commons
