Originally Posted by
Retro Grouch
Started getting popular in the middle 60's. I bought a set of steel belted radial tires for my '65 Cutlass. They lasted 40,000 miles which was around double conventional tire wear. These days I'd consider a tire with 40,000 miles on it just nicely scuffed in.
I think pickups and trucks drove on bias tires for quite a bit longer than that. Trailers too.
I think I can remember bias tires being an option in the 70's, but you may be right, I don't ever remember driving on them in a small car.
Nonetheless, it is possible those little wires have gotten worse over time as nearly 100% of the vehicles on the road today use radials, except for a few trailer tires.