Goodyear Blue Streaks (and Grand Sports)

[jeff chester]

Re: Other tires

I found this great (cheap) picture at Meijers of a 69 black 427/435 corvette..It has a pair of Firestone Steel(60)Belt tires on it. Where can I get these??jc

[David D.]

Re: Goodyear Blue Streaks (and Grand Sports)

Jim, You mentioned that Yenko used to sell the blue streaks in 1960, the only photo that I have is of Yenko in a 61, did he have a 60 Corvette that was raced and that had the same scheme as the 1961 car that graces a previous RESTORER magazine?

Dave D.

[Everett Ogilvie]

Re:Vintage Goodyear Blue Streaks

For the current offering of Vintage Blue Streaks, would the 5.50 size fit the front wheel wells of mid-years, and would the 6.00 size fit the rear? Assume mounting them on 6" knock offs. The Goodyear site says the 5.50 has tread width of 6.4 to 6.6 and the 6.00 has tread width of 8.4. Do the current Sport Car Specials indeed have the great looking blue stripes? I don't know anything about the compounds on these of course, they are G12, G7, G15 etc. Thanks to all for the interesting inputs.

[Duke W.]

Current GY vintage racing tires

My GY racing tire catalog is a bit dated (1994), but I think the line of vintage racing tires has remained basically unchanged. The 5.50 -15 calls out only a 5" rim and is 8.5" wide with a 6.6" tread width, and it is only 25.5 inches in diameter. It should work out okay on a KO, and you could use it on the street if you don't venture too far. I would recommend the hardest compound unless you are seriously racing. I commonly see the 5.50 on C2s at vintage races.

The 6.00-15 is substantially larger. An 8" rim is called for and the tire has an OA width 10.6" with a tread width of 8.4 inches and an OD of 25.5", same as the 5.5O. As you can see, the nominal sizes of these tires don't tell you much about the actual dimensions. I've seen the 6.00 on Vic Edelbrock's SWC vintage racer, but he's massaged the body, and I wouldn't be suprised if he has wheels machined to a custom offset.

The shorter OD of the 5.50 will likely keep the fronts from rubbing the frame at full steering lock, and their shorter diameter will effectively shorten the gearing about 6 to 7 percent relative to the OEM tire, which increases the speedo reading (and error) by an equal amount. They will probably look great and handle well when pushed hard, but they likely will not track as well as a modern set of radials in normal street driving. The list price of the 5.50s in my old catalog is $164 each, and it's tough getting a deal because they are only sold through GY racing tire distributors and racing tire dealers. I don't think any of the currently available GY vintage racing tires have the thin blue strip that we remember from the original Blue Streak Sports Car Specials from the sixties

Duke

[Jerry Clark]

Re: Other tires

If you have the picture I am thinking of the tires display white letters AND redlines. The answer is ya can't, the redlines are added to the raised white letter Firestones and to the best of my knowledge were never produced.

jerry

[jeff chester]

Re: Other tires, Oh well

I keep on dreaming, they are cool though..jc

[Lou Lapham]

Re: Street Blue Streaks

Jerry -As i said in my post Plymouth did install these street Blue Streak tires on production cars.Formula S Barrcudas had these tires either standard or as an option.I did see original Plymouths with these tires.As for the name Blue Streak it was applied to several different street and race tires including drag slicks.The blue stripe was not applied to every tire called Blue Streak it was just a trademarked name much like Tiger Paw or Firestone 500. Lou

[Duke W.]

Current GY vintage racing tires update

I checked the GY web site and found that there are now two 5.50-15 vintage racing tires. The one I referred to in the above post is the G-12. It has five wavy circumferential grooves. The G-7 only has small sipes for a tread pattern, and they would probably be downright scary in the rain. The G-7 is 0.3 inches greater in OD, but one inch narrower overall and requires a 6" rim versus the G-15 which is wider overall but only requires only a 5"rim. This sounds somewhat anomalous, but a variation in the way the tire is molded likely account for this difference. Both are available in two compounds, but they are different. The G-7 is also a lighter tire (12.0 lbs vs. 14.5 for the G-15). I suspect the G-7 is designed for a lighter car and may not be suitable for a Corvette. At this point if your are interested I would check with some local vintage racers or your nearest GY racing tire distributor as listed on the GY web site, but be careful what you tell them. These GY vintage racing tires are NOT DOT legal, and they might get skittish if they think you are going to run them on the street. Tell them they're for a vintage racer or a trailered show car.

Duke

[Jerry Clark]

Re: Street Blue Streaks

Hi Lou:

If you look at thecarcollection.com you will see the first Hemi convertible ever built and it carries a set of Blue Streak street tires. I haven't been down since this thread started to look at the sidewall but they are the skinniest things I have ever seen, this Hemi would make short work of them in no time.

jerry

[George Jerome]

Re: Street Blue Streaks

Since it seems that using the current Blue Streaks for the road or finding pre-63 sets are not really a viable option does anyone know of a currently produced tire that approximates the look of the 60's racing or high performance tires? I'm NOT interested in the current radial red lines or reproduction original equipment tires we've all seen. I would love a set of period looking high performance tires for the Torq - thrust wheels I currently run. Thanks for any info.

[Duke W.]

Re: Street Blue Streaks

I depends how you use your car, George. If it's a weekend car then the GY 5.50-15 G-12s are a viable option and would look great on the American Torq-Thrust wheels. (Is the same wheel/tire that most of the vintage racing Corvettes run.) I currently have three sets of wheels and tires for my SWC and plan on a fourth - a set of Torq-Thrust wheels with some 225/60VR-15 BFG Comp T/A R1s, which are DOT legal racing tires. My old skinny 1963 Sport Car Specials will go on the KOs and will be for non-NCRS shows. There are almost unlimited wheel/tire choices, they are easy to swap, and each one can give your Corvette a different "flavor".

Corvette

[George Jerome]

Re: Street Blue Streaks

Thanks Duke, but it's not just a weekend car as I drive it to work, weather permitting, during the summer. What I am hoping to find is a set of tires that look like those used during the sixties but are DOT approved. I don't really think that the current radial high performance tires have the same look as far as the sidewalls are concerned. About the closest thing I can describe that approximates the look I am after is a current truck tire as far as sidewall appearance.