Giant Uniroyal Tire Doesn't Tread Lightly
As Motor City Icon

By Martha Hindes
Senior Correspondent
Detroit Bureau
The Auto Channel

DETROIT, May 2015, If we tripped and did a nose-dive in front of a giant, 80-foot high tire, would we be considered road kill? OK. Bad joke. But consider that the vehicle tire that sits beside busy I-94 near Detroit would be appropriate on a 200-foot-high auto – about a 20-story building – and you a sense of how intimidating that can be. That gives what must be a “deer in the headlights” perspective of a squirrel caught in mid-street between opposing traffic staring at approaching tire treads.

For those who have had a “what the bleep is that?” moment arriving in town from Detroit's international airport, there really is an explanation. Yes, it looks like a car tire, rising high above treetops and peering down on the never-ending rush of east-westbound traffic on the interstate below. Fortunately, for outer space futurists and valley of the giants believers, it's not.

Kennedy Mom and Daughter 1964 Worlds Fair NY

1964 Worlds Fair NY

The huge structure found its present home there shortly after the closing of the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, where it had thrived as a theme-based ferris wheel ridden by many families with children, including Caroline Kennedy in the tow of her mother, former first Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Some of those once junior-grade ferris wheel riders, escorted by a tiger suit clad “Tiger Paws” mascot, got a chance to see what was left of it today as Uniroyal – now a subsidiary of Michelin – set up shop at the tire for a 50th Anniversary Party hosted by Detroit's Automotive Press Association, a professional organization whose members cover the depths and ongoing foibles of the industry that lent the “Motor City” designation to Detroit decades ago.

Detroit May 2015

And some sturdy and fearless media members took the opportunity to scale part of the beams and crossbars of the innards that no longer houses the wheel mechanisms or passenger pods that once gave its riders a spectacular view of New York City.

For those not indoctrinated in vehicle history, Uniroyal originally was the United States Rubber Company that went from making shoe and boot soles to World War II military tires. It was acquired by premium tire company Michelin in 1990 to serve as that company's populist brand.

We can't guarantee how long the giant tire can continue to withstand Michigan's cold, snowy winters or hot, waterlogged summers. But one thing is for sure. It won't suffer from going flat. A huge nail that had protruded from the tire after it was reassembled at its present home eventually was removed and now resides in the history museum in suburban Allen Park, site of the tire. The only thing missing is the giant nail that “punctured” the surface for many years.