Riverside tires
- Thread starter huddy
- Start date
Keith True
Well-known member
Those are still my favorite tire.I am still running a set on my roadster,the car was parked in 1971 with a good set on it..I still buy them when the come up for sale.I'm not afraid to use them,there is a big difference between checking and cracking.
Gold Digger
Well-known member
I've got 4 on a 1923 Model T that I'm still running I bought in 1961. I don't trust them very far anymore but I used to go anywhere just a few years back.
Marco Tahtaras
Well-known member
They were great tires and very good looking in my opinion. When I was a kid I finally had to break down and by new tires for my '29 Roadster. I ordered a set from Wards. This was 1976. When I was notified they were in I went to their warehouse to pic them up. When they brought them out from the back I was horrified. What they brought out was Garfields which I've always hated. To make it even worse they were white walls! I rejected them but it took some carefully chosen words to get my money back! 
I wasn't that fond of Firestones so I ordered Goodyear diamond treads that were made in Brazil at that time but were good quality. They were priced similar to Firestones but the price difference from Wards meant buying them only a pair at a time.
The bottom line is there were no Riversides readily available in 1976 and nobody has made them since.
I wasn't that fond of Firestones so I ordered Goodyear diamond treads that were made in Brazil at that time but were good quality. They were priced similar to Firestones but the price difference from Wards meant buying them only a pair at a time.
The bottom line is there were no Riversides readily available in 1976 and nobody has made them since.
DougVieyra
Well-known member
They were pretty much the standard tires for me in the 60's - I did not like the Sears All-State or the Western Auto, etc. equivalent.
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Okay Marco - so, I do still have the two Wards Riverside 19" tires that you loaned my in 1973 - never did get them mounted - still in the dark basement (along with twenty other odd-ball 'A' tires) - still in excellent shape, very little tread wear - no age / sun cracks. Pick em' up the next time you are in Eureka. They can go on your 19" K-H (MotorWheelCorp) wheels.
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Okay Marco - so, I do still have the two Wards Riverside 19" tires that you loaned my in 1973 - never did get them mounted - still in the dark basement (along with twenty other odd-ball 'A' tires) - still in excellent shape, very little tread wear - no age / sun cracks. Pick em' up the next time you are in Eureka. They can go on your 19" K-H (MotorWheelCorp) wheels.
Roadster62
Well-known member
Just think of all the Dirt Track race cars in the 1930's that ran them. Many cars were sponcored by Riverside, I'm sure a Google search of Riverside Tire Special will turn up a few photos. Bob
glenn in camino
Well-known member
Riversides must have been made out of better rubber than the Model A tires available today. They lasted forever. That's probably why they don't make them anymore. Not profitable.
BlueSunoco
Well-known member
I fully agree with Marco. I had a set of MW Riversides back in the early 70's and loved them. Tires were put on the car in the late 60's. Plus I agree they looked good too. Had a nice tread pattern.
If I had known that they wouldn't be available I would have bought another set and put them away. I sold the car many years later and the guy that bought it is still running them, but they are getting pretty worn out.
I would buy another set in a heart beat. Who knows, maybe someone will start making them with the old tread pattern. Look what they are doing with the 21" Goodyears, a blessing for the '28-'29 guys.
I have tried to find out WHO made those 'good looking' Riverside tires and have never been able to pin it down. Nobody seems to know but everybody asks. Evidently, later on, Sears Allstate tires and the later Riversides were made by the same mfg. (an old timer told me once that Sears tires were Uniroyals, don't know if that was true or not)because they both had that hideous zig-zag tread pattern.
Riversides and Marvel Mystery Oil both come from Professor Marvel of the Wizard of Oz
If I had known that they wouldn't be available I would have bought another set and put them away. I sold the car many years later and the guy that bought it is still running them, but they are getting pretty worn out.
I would buy another set in a heart beat. Who knows, maybe someone will start making them with the old tread pattern. Look what they are doing with the 21" Goodyears, a blessing for the '28-'29 guys.
I have tried to find out WHO made those 'good looking' Riverside tires and have never been able to pin it down. Nobody seems to know but everybody asks. Evidently, later on, Sears Allstate tires and the later Riversides were made by the same mfg. (an old timer told me once that Sears tires were Uniroyals, don't know if that was true or not)because they both had that hideous zig-zag tread pattern.
Riversides and Marvel Mystery Oil both come from Professor Marvel of the Wizard of Oz
huddy
Senior Member
My coupe's Riversides are pretty much shot. Good tread, but the sidewalls have extensive circumferential cracking. Car was in the Mojave most of its life, before I trailered it east in Sept. The downside of being in the SoCal desert is the UV and ozone which play hell with rubber parts. Of course the upside is having an 83-year-old car in NY that hasn't got a speck of rust anywhere! (It really is astounding to any local who looks it over). Wish I could say the same for my Hudson - if it weren't for THREE layers of floor mats, I could look down & watch the road go by!
Anyway, I'll probably have to replace the tires soon, if I want to do any touring. I've no idea what the tubes are like.
However, the same person who had the coupe also had a 1922 Dodge touring car, and when he dismounted the (original) "Non-Skid" tires he found original red rubber inner tubes, still functional. Car only had a couple thousand miles on the odo. It had belonged to a rancher out in Hell's half acre, NV and had the rear half removed and stored; it was being used to haul hay bales out to the south 40. The rear seat sat under a pile of straw in a barn and still had the original leather in fairly good shape.
Anyway, I'll probably have to replace the tires soon, if I want to do any touring. I've no idea what the tubes are like.
However, the same person who had the coupe also had a 1922 Dodge touring car, and when he dismounted the (original) "Non-Skid" tires he found original red rubber inner tubes, still functional. Car only had a couple thousand miles on the odo. It had belonged to a rancher out in Hell's half acre, NV and had the rear half removed and stored; it was being used to haul hay bales out to the south 40. The rear seat sat under a pile of straw in a barn and still had the original leather in fairly good shape.
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tdlmomowers
Senior Member
At one time, Mansfield Tire and Rubber Co. In Mansfield, Ohio made tires under contract for Montgomery Wards. My Dad worked for Mansfield Tire.
Keith True
Well-known member
I believe the Riversides being made now are 21 inch.If they make them in 19's again I'll buy them.I mounted some clinchers on a T last winter,I think those were Riversides.The old Sears Roebuck tires were Garfields.
Monkey Ward Riversides are great tires. I can use present tense because I'm still running a set I got in 1981 from a guy that bought but never mounted them after deciding to go with whitewalls. They wear very well and when these wear out I have another set acquired some time later under the same circumstances. Unlike some of the newer stuff, you can park them in the Fall and they still run perfectly round first time out in the Spring.
