Driving down the road, my wheels started turning, I thought … over 17 million cars are sold
every year, in every color imaginable … so, why are the tires always black? Is it to match
the road? For that matter, why make the roads black?
Why not pink or green? The first roads were dirt paths (brown). When these got muddy and
impassable, people paved them —with gold! Gold straw that is—creating history’s
first road food! (if you were a horse). Later, pavement included shells, pebbles, and cobble
stones. You can still find cobbled streets today—blue ones in Puerto Rico and goldish
brown or amber in New York’s lower Manhattan. Why swap such beautiful colors for monotonous
black? To go with the tires? Today’s roads are usually made with a combination
of asphalt, bitumen, and other petroleum products —a durable mixture that melts easily and
spreads smoothly across a road’s surface. And …it’s naturally very dark. You can
make asphalt colorful, but it’s expensive! And it’s just going to get dirty. Why not
save that money to plant flowers in the divider? … you know, for color.
Still, the roads in Texas are sometimes a kind of clay red. That’s no accident: it’s
because those roads are made of aggregate—or crushed up and mashed together—rock. And
the rocks in Texas are kind of red (maybe they’re sunburned). I couldn’t find a
pink road anywhere, but if you know one —mention it in the comments!
Ok, that explains black roads, but what’s with all the black tires? After all, wheels
weren’t always black. Chariot wheels could be shiny bronze. And donkey carts and covered
wagons had wooden wheels—sometimes painted! The first tires were actually made of leather—they
smoothed the ride, but—unlike black leather jackets (which never go out of style and last
forever) — leather tires were undyed and wore out quickly.
If you’ve ever bumpety-bumped along in a vehicle with wooden wheels, you get why we
use rubber tires. When you get to the bottom of it, the shock absorption of rubber is a
huge improvement! But the rubber on those tires is naturally white! So, why are the
tires black? I mean, we let the axle retain its natural
silvery color. Probably, because axles need to be strong and you don’t make anyone nervous
by implying that your axle is anything other than steel. But why is it called an axle when
it isn’t an axe? You don’t cut down trees with your car. Axle comes from the Latin root,
“axis” and it means pivot or line. But, it doesn’t take a Latin road scholar
to notice that some tires have white walls—where the natural rubber color is left alone, or
even brightened up, with zinc oxide. In fact, bright white was once standard for the whole
tire—that’s why chauffeurs in old movies are constantly polishing them: imagine trying
to keep white tires clean! But camouflaging dirt is not the reason manufacturers started
adding the chemical compound, “Carbon Black,” to their product. So why travel to opposite
end of the color spectrum all the way to black? We paint the bodies of cars, but usually one
solid color. Boooriiing! Older cars were often two toned. And I could go for a nice plaid
or leopard print. Why not stripes? Early car manufacturer, Henry Ford set the standard
when he said: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as
it is black.”
Are you “tired” of all this tire talk? No? Okay, let’s continue…
Exposed to the wind, rain, snow, mud, and the occasional collision, car paint undergoes
lots of wear and tear. That’s why Henry Ford developed a super-tough, asphalt-based,
paint that could really take the road. We know asphalt is tough, but it’s also expensive.
All car paint is. Depending on factors like rust and chips, repainting a car in the US
can range anywhere from $300 to over $3,000. You can make colored asphalt; colorful cars
bloomed all through the 1920’s but light and bright colors made the paint even more
expensive! When the stock market crashed, people went back to depressing—I mean durable!
Economical! —colors. Today, the most common car colors are neutrals.
But —if you like money—invest in a yellow car. Not only will its cheery color keep you
on the Bright Side of life, yellow cars have a higher resale value than their dour mates.
I’m no economist, but it has to do with supply and demand — there are fewer yellow
cars on the market, so lemon-lovers have to ante up.
You will see colorful advertisements painted on trucks… but that’s because ads aren’t
meant to last, and if they work, they pay for themselves. Otherwise, patterns are cost-prohibitive.
But, wouldn’t it be great to see art on every car? Instead of going to museums … our
highways, could become “Moving see ‘ems” (OK ... if you can come up with a better name—leave
it in the comments.) But looking at yellows, and neutrals, and
fancy ads, I wonder … maybe tires are black because black goes with everything? Accidents
happen … why tempt fate with tires that clash?
Tires do have a lot of safety features: no-slip tread prevents skidding, snow-tires prevent
sledding, and run-flat tires let you drive to repair shop after you drive over a spike.
And colors are traffic safety features. Orange cones, red fire trucks, the stripes of a cross
walk … There’s a long list of colors on the road chosen to catch your eye and help
you avoid hazards. But the black of your tires isn’t one of them.
You know what is in some tires for safety? Walnut shells! It sounds nutty, but walnut
shells are super-strong, and their “micro bits” help tires grip slippery roads! Maybe
they could use the inside of the walnut too. Peanut-butter sticks to the roof of your mouth,
would walnut-butter stick to the road? But… shouldn’t that make the tires nut-colored?
Why stick with black? Goodyear asked the same question. In the 1950’s
Goodyear developed tires in many shades to match your car. They even suggested you might
want to change tires regularly to match your fancy evening dress! (Of course, you should
wait to put on that lime green chiffon number until after you changed the tire!) They also
developed tires made of translucent material with lights inside. They glowed down the road!
Cool! Why weren’t they a hit? Two problems. First, like the white tires,
they got dirty really quickly. And second… you got it, Bright Sider—money! The look
of these tires was not just short lasting; it was expensive. Bad combo.
Tonight, you might see some lighted tire rims (the metal part of the wheel that shows).
White, yellow, pink, or green—light-up rims have glow-in-the dark stickers or LED lights,
but check your local regulations before you buy them: light-up rims can be the opposite
of safe, and not legal in places that have deemed them a distraction.
Speaking of distractions, the world’s biggest tire is also black: it started life as Ferris
Wheel at the New York World’s Fair in 1964! Today, it sits on the side of Highway I-94,
in Detroit (The Motor City). Weighing 12-tons, and standing 80 feet tall, it’s difficult
to miss. (If you do, maybe you shouldn’t be driving.)
Paradoxically, the world’s biggest tire manufacturer, calculating by units created,
makes the tiniest tires. Lego makes tires with diameters just over a ½ inch and they
produce about 318 million tires a year! Making Lego the “Biggest” tire producer! And
yes … these teeny tires are black … to look like the real thing.
Black is chic. Maybe manufacturers would add dye to tires if they weren’t black already.
But they don’t have to. The compound Carbon Black does the trick and it’s there, not
to please Goth drivers (although that’s nice too), but because Carbon Black makes
the tire stronger— and more likely to get you to your destination.
I hope all the tire talk didn’t leave you flat. Ha get it?
Hey, if you learned something new today, then give the video a like and share it with a
friend! And here are some other cool videos I think you'll enjoy. Just click to the left
or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!