IML: Old Cars, Old Tars
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IML: Old Cars, Old Tars



I just wanted to share this little story with everyone in case I can save a few lives, and since it seems I am destined to become the man who has had the Most Blow-Outs in an Old Imperial.

To make it as brief as possible, you cannot let your old car sit around for long periods of time with old tars (i.e., "tires") on it and then expect to hop in and take a 5 hour cruise at 70 mph to a Packard/Imperial meet and expect everything to be hunky dory. I mean, it may be possible, but not in my experience.

This Saturday, about 2 hrs. out of my hometown on my way to Anniston I noticed a shimmy, or a weird vibration, in the front of my '68 Crown. Having gone thru this experience before I recognized it as one of the symptoms of a bad tire.

"Gosh dang it, I'm about to have a blow-out!" I thought to myself [language edited for IML]. Well, almost as soon as I had that thought and started to look for a place to pull over, it went KA-BLOOIE!!!

Now, this was not your casual blow-out. No, I never get those. This was not "I say, Muffy, did you hear a pop?" "Why yes, dear, I believe I did." "Do you think we ran over a paper cup, perhaps?" "Why no, goodness gracious, I believe we've blown a tire!" "Do you really think so, Muffy?" "Yes, lumpkins, I think we should pull over right now to check it out." "In that case, I believe I will, Lovey Dove."

No, this was "Holy &*%#!!! Grab something and hold on, we're about to die!" That kind of thing. The tire actually took the liner of the wheel well and unpeeled about 6 inches of it from the wheelwell.

Anyway, prepared as I was, I limped off the roadway and no one was hurt. Eventually I made it to Anniston. The last time something like this happened to me was in my '68 convertible, and I have compiled this list of contributing factors:

1. The tires were at least 10 years old
2. They looked fine (means nothing)
3. The car had sat for at least 3 months
4. The tires were underinflated (one was at 24 psi)
5. I inflated them to 35 psi before the trip
6. I was doing highway speeds for an extended period of time
7. Prior to the blow-out the car started to shake as if going over a washboard surface, even though the highway was smooth


So my advice to all you Imperial owners out there is, don't let your car sit in one place, and DON'T expect old tires to get up and do the work of new tires after they've been sat around in the garage for a long time! And also, if you have a major blow-out, just relax and gently guide the car over. They're harder to steer but not impossible.

Hey, good luck & enjoy!

Mark M



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