Say that title five times fast…I wasn’t aware that Grand Am tires were actually a thing until I did a doubletake when passing by this one. Turns out that they are in fact a real thing and in this case are Grand Am Radial GT’s, apparently manufactured by the Multi-Mile Tire Company. I wonder if the name is the reason the owner chose them. Were I to have the opportunity to name and market a tire I probably would avoid any association with the now defunct Pontiac model, but I have a different job. If you had an Olds Alero or a Ford Tempo for example, would you avoid Grand Am tires or hope that they’d give you a little more pep in your step?
Here’s that magnificent beast in all its glory, but that’s all I could bring myself to waste pixels on. Perhaps next time. The only tire I can think of that also is named the same as a vehicle is the Goodyear Wrangler, which were the stock tires on the Jeep Wrangler such as the one we have. It’s sort of a brilliant marketing move by someone, especially then making them outline white letters (which the current model Jeep doesn’t have). Are there other instances of tires named the same as vehicles where one could have the same name on both? Offhand the Lancia Scorpion comes to mind, Pirelli Scorpions would work there…I suppose a Nissan Pathfinder could run Pathfinder tires too, actually.
The VIP auto parts chain sold a zillion Multi-Mile tires in New England, so these were a common sight.
The only Grand Ams that I liked were the ’78 thru ’80 A bodies.
I like boxy designs. Boxy is good!!
Today, everything looks like a monochrome tear drop blob with an angry cat face front facia!!
Those “of a certain age” will recall the Uniroyal Tiger Paw ads from back in the day. They of course don’t share a name with a car, but some of the ads did tout specific car brands (Pontiac GTO).
I can’t remember whether I remember those commercials or not! LOL!! 🙂
You could put Tiger Paws on you Panther, but then you’re kinda mixing your big cat metaphors. ;o)
And yes, I am sadly old enough to remember those commercials. There were print adds too.
In the mid-80s my relative had a heck of a time with Tiger Paw tires. They would not stay balanced. They were the factory tire on a Buick they bought.
He went through four (?) sets on warranty claim. Finally gave up. Went in for that fourth set so he had a brand new set, and then took his car to another tire shop where he bought something different which never gave him an issue.
Gave me the brand new set of Tiger Paws for my old teenager car which benefited from those tires. If they went out of balance on my car nobody would notice, it had far too many other problems.
That’s why Uniroyals were called “Uniwobbles”.
Uniroyals developed a reputation for the carcass shifting , making the tires out of round, either temporarily or permanently.
I had the same problem with my Tiger Paw tires, and Pirelli tires in the 80s. In my experience, the problem isn’t unique to these brands but it seemed more prevalent.
Thanx Ed ! .
I don’t think I ever saw that Tiger Paw commercial on a color TV set though….
-Nate
I’ve seen lots of Jeep Wranglers wearing Goodyear Wranglers.
Boy, you kind of forget how thick those Grand Ams were in the 80s and 90s, they were everywhere!
Obviously not inspiring a lot of loyalty though, I’m sure a lot of people who owned one never bought another GM car again, my Grand Am driving buddy bought a Hyundai which has proven to be more reliable.
That is not the grandest of Grand Am tires, no tread and a big hole in the sidewall.
The Grand Ams must have been decently reliable cars b/c they hung on forever. They seemed to land in the hands of low budget owners but despite kludged repairs or a lack of repairs – they keep rolling.
For a long time I saw a handful of this era GMs – Oldsmobiles and Pontiac FWD products in my town that were well cared for (perhaps garage kept even) and seemed to last forever. 20+ years.
QUOTE- “Obviously not inspiring a lot of loyalty though, I’m sure a lot of people who owned one never bought another GM car again, my Grand Am driving buddy bought a Hyundai which has proven to be more reliable.”
……Brand loyalty? Back in the day I had a Quad-4 Grand Am SE sedan and a Turbo 2.0L Grand Am SE coupe, went on to own several Fiero GT’s and a McLaren Turbo Grand Prix coupe plus a new ’92 GP coupe with the rare “Twin Dual Cam V6”, and now own a Fiero Formula and a 2005 GTO 🙂
These still are the “Wisconsin People’s Car”, one step below the “Wisconsin Limo” that is the Grand Prix.
Oh yes I’ve seen them often.
I was always amused at the Wrangler tires on my Cherokee 🙂
Here’s another instance of a tire that shares a vehicle name – the Firestone Town & Country. This ad below is from 1963, but I think Firestone used the Town & Country name for quite a while; I don’t think they always truck tires, though I’m not sure about that.
But the chances of finding a pair of these on a Chrysler Town & Country is rather slim.
And if you did, they’d probably be on the back wheels…
Everybody ran these on their cars, including my father.
Don’t forget Uni, Roy, and Al commercials.
Anybody ever see a Ford Tempo running Goodyear Tiempos or a Chrysler 200 Touring running Goodyear Eagle Tourings?
…or and Eagle Talon sporting Eagle GT Tires.
Bentley would probably be elegantly horrified were one to put Continental tires on their Continental.
Lincoln might be ok with it though…..
I caught a ’65 Falcon wearing Falken tires:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake/cc-outtake-1965-ford-falcon-wagon-riding-on-falkens/
I had a ’93 Firebird Firehawk and I ran Firestone Firehawk tires. No, I didn’t. I ran Coopers. I also had a 2001 Olds Aurora, and I ran Aurora tires. Nope, again Coopers.
I guess someone could easily have put Formula Tires on a Firebird Formula too. I don’t think Formula ever used a Pontiac Formula in its ads, but this one with a Camaro ran quite a bit in 1986-87. Maybe the folks at Pontiac wouldn’t have smiled at that matchup too much?
Maybe Cooper tires on a Mini Cooper?
Given the Fisk tire brand was revived 24 years ago you could put Fisk tires on your Fisker.
Multi-Mile also made Grand Prix Radial tires. I remember having a set on my Nissan pickup in the mid 80s. I recall them being a decent relatively inexpensive tire that did what they were supposed to do.
Multi-Mile also made Grand Prix Radial GT tires. I remember having a set on my Nissan pickup in the mid 80s. I recall them being a decent relatively inexpensive tire that did what they were supposed to do.
There for a while the Grand Am was of the cheapest RWL tires you could buy. So I’ve definitely seen them before.
I used to buy Grand Am radial tires for years. they were some of the best aftermarket tires available. I never had a problem with them. I haven’t had any recently, so I’m hoping the quality is still good.
Primewell and Sailun, well, another story. And let’s not get started on Good Ride and Ling Long.
Sadly, I never thought to put Futura tires on my Fairmont Futura, but I may’ve put them on one of my Thunderbirds back in the day.
From foggy memory, but roughly:
Some automaker had a dormant trademarked name. They decided to dust off the old name and slap it on a new model. Then they noticed that some tire manufacturer have been “pirating” their good old name. LoL
The automaker took the tire company to court. IIRC the decision was that the two products are different enough that nobody is going to get confused, they could both use the name.
I believe it was “Futura” at issue, but I’m not positive.
Well, not exactly,I looked it up.
Plaintiff was Ford, Defendant Pep Boys, “Futura” the issue.
PepBoys suggested that they just get along and both use Futura.
Ford said “no” wanted their old Futura name all to themselves.
Ooops, big mistake, court granted Pep Boys exclusive rights.
Coker Tires on a DeLorean?
Sorry.
High Five!
Zing-a! LOL
There were Kelly Charger tires
My favorite style of Grand Am 1985 – 1987. My Mom had a 1987 SE with the V6 – she loved it. Teenager me loved the Delco Bose Stereo.
I had Grand Am Radial GT’s on my 79 Grand Am. I worked next to a tire shop that sold them, and the shop recommended them. I thought they worked well…