Goodyear gatorbacks?

[Carl Giudici]

Do they still make the original VR50 gatorbacks anymore?

[svobud]

Nope.

[bob tweedy]

tires.

it seems to me that the name 'gatorbacks' had been associated with the corvette prior to the mustang use of that name and mustang had to stop using it/ or the goodyear tire on the new mustangs.
bob

[svobud]

You guys kill me by getting into the trivia side of brand name tires when all Carl wanted to know was 'are the original tires used on the SVOs still available'. That's it. No Carl - Goodyear discontinued making them years ago.

Now, for the trivia - corvette did not (or chevy for that matter) have any kind of rights to the name or exclusive rights for goodyear gatorbacks to be ONLY sold on a corvette, Bob. It was considered to be the highperformance tire of the 80s and came on a BUNCH of brands of cars new.

[bob tweedy]

tires

hey bud. the information to which i refered is svoca literature. the origional 'gatorback' tread pattern was a GM proprietary item. some time in later goodyear produced a different 'gaterback' treads which did indeed show up on different autos including the svo.
bob









r

[TheViking]

Actually there is some truth to this myth. GM may not have trademarked the name but it appears they did trademark the original 'Gatorback' pattern. This is what's listed under SVO history on the SVOCA site:

The SVO team wanted a 17 inch tire but felt the cost would be too great, so they settled for a 16 inch tire. GM was using Goodyear "Gatorbacks" on the Corvette. However, the Gatorback was a proprietary GM pattern. Thus the NCT tire that was designed for the Porsche 928 was used until Goodyear designed the SVO its own Gatorback. The Dearborn Assembly Plant had no machinery to mount and balance 16 inch wheels. Automatic machinery was developed to mount and balance the new 16" tires. This same machinery is still used today in the Dearborn Facility for 16 and 17 inch tires.

[svobud]

Thanks Ron for the copy/paste.

Bob - you stated the Mustang had to stop using the tire and name cause Corvette was already using it - not true. Having exclusive rights to their own pattern .. yeah, Goodyear gave them ONE tire for the vettes, but .. having exclusive rights to the name and tire .. not hardly.

Goodyear dropped the design for whatever reason - probably cause they made something better. Bottom line - you cant get the original tires 84' NCTs or 5 rib GBs (NEW) for your SVO anymore which is what the person who started this thread was asking.

[NavySVO]

The SVO team wanted a 17 inch tire but felt the cost would be too great,

BUHAHAHAHA.........ahhh, that's funny.....The car was right around $3k shy of twice the money for a GT already.

[Carl Giudici]

Wow, my brain hurt nows lol.

[Ken Potter]

...and while we're getting technical there were actually 2 styles of the 5 rib Gatorbacks. There were the USA style which were 225 / 50 / VR16 and the metric or German P225 / 50 / VR16. Aside from the "P" designation on the sidewall there was an extra groove cut into the blocks on the very out side edge very near the sidewall. I also think there was a "Made in Germany" cast into the sidewall of the tire right at the very edge of the bead next to the rim.

The metrics were not original equipment from the factory but were sold through Goodyear dealers as aftermarket / equivalent replacements. I think I still have a fairly worn out set in my storage unit. They were also a harder compound IIRC.

I know the seven ribs were used on Supras for sure, and maybe Z cars?

Just another one of those items I wish I had stocked up on while they were still available.

I have searched high and low for them. They are all gone now. At one time there was a rumor Coker Tire might start reproducing but that went away with the 15" five ribs like found on the GTs and SSPs. Not enough demand...

[Carl Giudici]

Parts cars? No way man, there are quite a few 84 - 86 GT's roaming around over here, some of em are ratty, and some are really nice. This one guy a few blocks away from me has a black Ttop GT and it is smoking nice. I'd give my left arm to get my hands on a white ttop 86 GT with stick.

[svobud]

I'd give my left arm to get my hands on a white ttop 86 GT with stick.

How would you drive it?

[Carl Giudici]

if theres a will, theres a way haha

[8T6 SVO]

How would you drive it?

As long as he didn't give his right arm, he could still shift it?
Drive with his knees?

[NavySVO]

I wonder where you learned math.

Illinois......

while the most expensive SVO was in the mid 16K range.

Read near the bottom Mike.....and I did say "right around".....

http://www.mustanggt.org/85gt.htm

$9500. x 2 = $19K

Most expensive SVO was......how much?