Free, authentic and useless

[spannerman]

Yes but not yours!

[Michael]

Ah well, it is going to the tip, there will be a charge.

Is there not a Historic Tyre Disposal Scheme?

[Special Bits]

I have a very old 350-19 hanging off the back of my boat, on a rope, as a drogue, keeping it from swinging about on its mooring.

[Bob Culver]

Hi Michael

i dunno the arrangement in UK  but fabric tyres are reasonably easily cut up and fit in rubbish wheelies. The beads likely spring steel so beware dont ruin cutters. Angle grinder useful. 
For frugal souls like me who have run my everyday car on old tyres for decdes, steel radilas were a serious retrograde step.

[Robert Leigh]

The déchetterie (rubbish tip) at Auxi-le-Chateau has skip for old tyres, but you have to have property there to use it. If only the British were as sensible it would reduce fly tipping.
Robert Leigh

[Chris KC]

I'd be the first to admit the tyres on my car are 'a few years old' but they are fundamentally sound. Tyres from several decades ago must be regarded as suspect. As others have said in this and other threads, they would no doubt get you home, or perform adequately for odd runs to the pub and back - but that's not the point: It's how they perform in the 2 seconds when you have to swerve to avoid a pile-up on a fast dual-carriageway and everything is going sideways that might make the difference between an ugly death for you and your passenger and a gripping story to tell at the office. These things happen rarely, but when they do, decent tyres can be a life saver.

Well said Robert - high time our councils took responsibility for disposing of our waste (like we pay them to) or better still re-purposing and up-cycling it, instead of turning a profit from the juicy bits.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Robert and Chris,

You need to move to Scotland - recycling is very well organised and free.

[Hugh Barnes]

and the other aspect of running on new tyres is that how much better the cars run on them. I replaced 20+ yro Dunlops on the Cabriolet this year for Longstones and it transformed the way the car drove and handled...

[Bob Culver]

Hi Hugh 

If you could elaborate please would be very welcome.

Tyre influence can be surprising.  Books suggest crossplies on front and radials at rear are OK and very many Beetles ran like this. But both on my 1964 rwd car and on the same model owned by my father the combination was terrible. At 55 mph on uneven surface the cars darted about like Sevens and required similar total concentration. I dunno the reason. Possibly camber steer from local tilt of the road varied dramatically front to rear.

owners of 1930s Americans also report great improvement with hard old tyres replaced by pliant new. Whehter or not thsese superior to new tyres in their time I dunno.

[Hugh Barnes]

Here, in the Fens of East Anglia, we have very 'wavy' roads due to the ground being on the move all the time. The new tyres made an instant apparent 'addition' to the suspension movement on undulating roads and the car went over the bumps in a much smoother manner. Similarly, there seemed to be much less steering movement from the rear end, I would imagine for the same reason. Cornering became more precise, I felt. Again, maybe not as a result of the new front tyres per se, but as a general improvement to the way the car handled generally. All very subjective, I admit but, to me, a very clear improvement...