The Uniroyal Giant Tire was created by the

United States Rubber Company The company formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, now Uniroyal, is an American manufacturer of tires and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as ammunition, explosives, chemical ...

for the 1964 New York World's Fair, where it functioned as a

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...

. Since 1966 it has served as a static display in

Allen Park, Michigan Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,638. Ford Motor Company is an integral part of the community. Many of the company's offices and facilities lie within the city limit ...

, alongside Interstate 94, between the

Southfield Freeway M-39 is a north–south state trunkline highway in Metro Detroit area of the US state of Michigan that runs from Lincoln Park, on the south end, to Southfield on the north. The official southern terminus of M-39 is at the corner of Southfield R ...

interchange and

Outer Drive Outer Drive is a bypass road which encircles both the eastern and western portions of the Detroit, Michigan region. It resembles a jagged horseshoe and was not originally intended to move traffic as much as it was to provide a pleasurable driv ...

overpass.

Dimensions

The tire has a diameter of and weighs , is anchored in of concrete and steel, and can withstand hurricane-force winds. The exterior

tire tread The tread of a tire or track refers to the rubber on its circumference that makes contact with the road or the ground. As tires are used, the tread is worn off, limiting its effectiveness in providing traction. A worn tire can often be retrea ...

is deep, with an interior volume of . It is not made of rubber, but of a Uniroyal-developed polyester resin reinforced with

glass fiber Glass fiber ( or glass fibre) is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass. Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the inventio ...

, which makes it flame resistant. It is the largest non-production

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...

scale model ever built, and one of the world's largest roadside attractions.

History

Construction & operation

The structure was designed by Hardesty & Hanover and

Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon, founded as Shreve & Lamb, was an architectural firm, best known for designing the Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world at the time of its completion in 1931. History The firm was founded in 1920 as Sh ...

as a

for the 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing, Queens, NY. Built next to the

Grand Central Parkway The Grand Central Parkway (GCP) is a 14.61-mile (23.51 km) long parkway that stretches from the Triborough Bridge in New York City to Nassau County on Long Island. At the Queens–Nassau border, it becomes the Northern State Parkway, ...

at a cost of $750,000, the Tire sat next to the Transportation and Travel Pavilion for both seasons of the fair. Rides initially cost 25¢, but the fare was doubled to 50¢ for the 1965 season. Contrary to some urban legends, the structure is made of steel and

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, and was originally emblazoned with "U S ROYAL TIRES" its sides. It had 24 barrel-shaped gondolas, each carrying up to 4 people, and could carry up to 96 passengers at once. It was driven by a 100 hp engine and sat atop a 40 ft (12.2 m) foundation. During the fair, the wheel carried over 2 million people, including prominent passengers such as Jacqueline Kennedy,

Telly Savalas Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was an American actor and singer whose career spanned four decades. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on th ...

, and the

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

1965 World's Fair- Royal Tires Ferris Wheel

Relocation

When the fair ended in 1965, US Rubber offered to donate the exhibit to the

City of New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

or any other entity who wanted it, citing moving costs of $300,000. In response, the Parks Commissioner and City Planning Chair were quoted as saying the Tire's "use as an integral amusement area is absolutely opposed by the Department of Parks. This type of amusement, commonly known as 'Kiddie Cities,' does not enhance a park." Later that year, the tire was eventually disassembled and shipped via 22 trucks to Allen Park, MI (a suburb of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

), where it was reassembled without its passenger gondolas in 1966 as a static display outside US Rubber's Midwest corporate headquarters. Today it still stands tall as a symbol of Uniroyal's heritage and a Detroit landmark. In 1968, the Tire's original location became the Flushing Meadow Zoo after a 2-year redevelopment led by Robert Moses. On May 20, 2015, Uniroyal staged an event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the tire for members of the Automotive Press Association and other guests, who toured its interior.

Renovations

Michelin completed its purchase of the

Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company The company formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, now Uniroyal, is an American manufacturer of tires and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as ammunition, explosives, chemical ...

in 1990, and in 1994 announced plans to renovate the landmark, including a new hubcap and the addition of neon lights for the UNIROYAL lettering. The tire's

cover was cleaned, painted, and modernized with a new sleek look. In 1998, a giant nail weighing . was placed in its tread as a promotion for Uniroyal's new NailGard puncture resistant tire. The nail was removed in 2003 and was donated to the city of Allen Park, to be auctioned on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

to raise funds for the Allen Park Historical Society programs and facilities. In 2003, the Giant Tire was renovated as part of Detroit's I-94 corridor revitalization project. The work included the replacement of 30 interior steel beams, asphalt and storm drain installation, and the replacement of the neon lettering with reflective lettering.

References

{{Ferris wheel Landmarks in Michigan Roadside attractions in Michigan Former Ferris wheels Michelin Tires Michigan culture 1964 New York World's Fair World's fair architecture in the United States Relocated buildings and structures in Michigan Tourist attractions in Wayne County, Michigan