I have been very disappointed in the Firestones in the last few years.Full of cracks in a couple of years,poor wear,all on the car that had them on it for better than 20 years.We figured if the last ones lasted so good,another set of the same ought to also.Not so.They do look nice though.Maybe I expect too much out of them.I have used the Bedford tires,figured they would be a good temporary measure until I could decide if I was keeping the car or not.They are still going strong.I have some 20+ year old Insa's too.They are holding up fine.I am still running a set of Sears(Garfields)from the late 60's on a sedan.They may ride like iron but they are wearing like it too.I have some Wards Riverside on a roadster.Same vintage,no cracks.I have some Universals on a roadster pickup,some people hate them,and have had nothing but trouble with them,and others just love them.And,these are local boys so that I actually get to see the cars and talk to them.So far they meet my criteria,hard,black,and round.What is bothering me right now is tubes.I installed four new Firestones a couple of years ago for a customer,in the morning I went to the garage and found all four flat.All had splits on the mold parting lines.I installed his 20 year old tubes I had just taken off,and have not had trouble since.