[DanEC]

Originally Posted by Rick Parker

I believe MarkIV said it well, its the tire that many of the cars being sold at B/J came with or were upgraded to as an option when they were on the road, OR it's percieved to be the tire.

I'll share a little story..About 1972 a close friend bought a Lotus Super 7. This is a little English 2 seat car that weighs about 1000 lbs and had a 1600CC 140HP Twin cam engine. When it was first put on the road the tire it had wasr Goodyear Sports Car Specials (Blue Streaks.) The car was all over the road and followed every irregularity on the road. He promptly replaced them with the BFG TA's which were being touted as a performance tire. It immediately settled the car down and it drove entirely different, albeit better because it increased the unspung weight significantly and it was a radial, the first wide performance radial.
I think the TA's work relatively well on a full bodied car such as a Chevelle, 442, or something that weighs 3500 lbs. Its (the tires) flaws will not be as appearant as it is on a relatively light 2300-2500 lb Cobra that provides a lot of feedback and can be overpowered easily. But the tires look good and THAT'S why they've continued to be produced in varying forms. White letters reminicent of the 70's with a wide foot print belong on a 70's muscle car and are easily accepted. in the 70's they WERE a step up from a Firestone Wide Oval, or Goodyeay Polyglas tire, like it or not.

That's a point I've made several times on BF Goodrich TA's - they were a good tire when I mounted them on my Pontiac GTO and Trans Am in the mid-70s. But that was 35 years ago. I've not read anywhere that the basic design has been updated in the meantime - I'm sure the compound has changed a little - but it's still a nearly 40 year old tire design.