<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Canuck</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Michelin were building radials in the 50's. Radial tires were their core business. Cars like Volvo, Peugeot and Renault were commonly shod with radials from the mid 60's.
Oldsmobile offered a radial as an option on the Toronado in 1966 but the weight of the car was too much for this tire. Ford offered Michelin Radials in 67 or 68 as optional tires as previously stated.
<span style="font-weight: bold">GM started using radials on its product line in 1974 in all but its least expensive cars. Not sure if they had the tires as an option in 1973.</span>
Paul </div></div>
GM started using them in 1973, on the Trans Am and the Corvette:
and others (Grand Am). It was a big deal but the S/R 500 was the weak link as stated in earlier posts. Ever wonder where the RTS (Radial Tuned Suspension) emblem on the TA came from?
BFGoodrich came out in the very early 70's with the Radial T/A and even ran LeMans in 1972 on the John Greenwood Corvette race car on street tires.
http://www.greenwoodcorvettes.com/BFGCars.html
From a BFG press release:
The BFGoodrich Radial T/A tire was the first radial to win in SCCA competition when the Tire Birds (based on Chevrolet Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds) won at Watkins Glen in 1971.
The BFGoodrich Radial T/A tire was the first street-legal radial to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans when John Greenwood raced his 1972 Corvette.
I got my 1st set in 72 and never looked back. MANY street "meetings" between my 62 Corvette Fuel Injected 68 Z28 302 powered 1956 Chevy DelRay and other, faster cars were decided because of those tires (and maybe the 4.56 gears too). (back in the early 70's ...)