It's time for new tires! They are dry rotted and starting to go out of round, so my car wobbles when I drive. I'm happy with how long they've lasted, though, considering they're between seven and ten years old (yes, they are all different manufacture years) and I've put about 50,000 miles on them.
The tires currently on my car are Hankook Mileage Plus II shaved whitewalls; they started out as thin whitewalls and then some of the black rubber on the sidewall was ground off to expose more of the whitewall underneath. Unfortunately, no one is selling them anymore, so I'd have to either buy some tires and shave them myself, or hire someone to shave them. There are Portawalls, which mount between the rim and tire bead and make a tire look like a whitewall, but I hear they have so many problems (difficult to install and seat, slide around, come off, flap around, get snow and water stuck in them, cut into the tire, etc.) that they don't seem suited for daily driving.
But, I want REAL whitewall tires. I was hoping to be in a better financial situation by now, because real whitewall tires are insanely expensive ($200-$300+ per tire), so they are out of my price range. It's so strange that no one sells an affordable wide whitewall tire, especially since all raised white letter and thin whitewall tires have wide whitewalls already under the black rubber.
Fitts07 has a W123 with wide whitewalls that he said he got from Calli Tire for $118 each. They use regular tires and then vulcanize whitewalls onto them to make them like a true whitewall tire. I decided I would spend the money and go with them, but when I contacted Calli Tire, they said they raised the prices because the tires they normally use are discontinued and the ones they use now are more expensive and in short supply, so getting a stock size tire with a 2.5" whitewall would cost $184 each after shipping. Once again, too expensive for me.
So, with cheaper tires it is. I decided on a set of five 195/75R14 Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires with a diminutive whitewall. But, they are listed as a top quality tire and are made in USA. They were $280 after tax and shipping. My roommate bought them for me as an early Christmas present, so that is great!
I'm going to try to grind off some of the black rubber on the sidewall so it looks like this one:
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1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles