I have been offered an original Dunlop SP57 165/HR15 spare tire. The seller wants $200 for it which I thought was a little high.

What do you concours guys think it is worth?

Did the spares usually have "S"'s in the treads?

Overall, the tire is in excellent condition with no cracks and it appears to have never been on the road. However, I realize it wouldn't be advisable to use. Just considering the purchase to use as a concours prop.

Thanks,
Rich

Here are a few pictures.

James, I would think very light use on that tire. If it had no use, wouldn't the yellow band be on the contact surface as well ? The Mich. XZX are still more, so might not be too bad of a deal. They don't come up too often. $100 for it would be better. Plan on putting it on your spare wheel for concours events?

Rich,
What are you running now? How important is it to have a period spare ($20 would be more appropriate) for concours in 2011, if the four on the street don't match?

I have four CN36's that look great, and my original Conti spare, but I wouldn't drive them for more than 10 miles. They are unsafe.

I know that there are folks like Cocker out there, who supply very usable tires for "some" cars, and they will run you upwards of the price of that SP7 by the time you buy the tire, tube (what's that?), mount & balance. But how many 914's came with Vredsteins? And who wants to drive on Michelin X's....for o huge premium.

I'd simply pass on the tire. Forty years of age, no matter the tire condition, is too much.

Time to update.
Pat

Thanks for the feedback.

I currently have a good usable spare, but I was just considering using this to display when I show my 914-4.

Obviously, it wouldn't match the other four tires, but I thought it would be cool to have an original spare.

Would the original spares have S's on them like this one?

I have one of those Dunlops mounted on a fully polished Factory Fuchs
This is my spare

sorry double post

I have an SP57 and it does have the S's in the tread.

like this

I have an extra SP57 that absolutely has never been on the ground. Make me an offer (send me a PM). I bought it on ebay back in 2003 when I was preparing my 914 for Parade. My goal was to purchase 4 of them to match my original spare. I wasn't able to find 3 more in time for Parade and then never continued my search.

what amazes me about the one I have in the pics is that I can't find any crazing or cracking in the sidewalls or tread...looks pretty good for being as old as it probably is.

Sometimes the crazing/cracking won't show or start until the tire is put under load - i.e.: on the car to run/roll, like Steve was going to do had he found 4 in time for Parade.

Definitely not drivers!

Rich, here are a couple of the `70's period SP57 advert. from "back in the day" fyi -

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

IMHO the Semperit M401s & M201s were much better tires - they handled as well as Michelins, Continentals & Pirellis, and just a little less so than the SP57s. But you were lucky to get 10-15k out of SP57s & Pirellis, and 20k out of Michi's & Conti's - while Sempi's lasted 30 or 40+k (depending on how hard you drove, AX, etc.). Sempi's were one of the factory supplied tires, and readily available in the USA for replacements thereafter, at about 70-80% the cost of Michi, Conti & Pirelli back in the day.

Tom,

Pretty cool ad. Thanks for sharing.

This tire belongs to a buddy of mine and I saw it when it was on a Fuchs rim under pressure and it still looked pretty good. One of his wheels developed a crack so he had to use his spare rim and now has no need for this tire.

I just think his price of $200 is a little high. If it were a 14", I would be more interested as it would be great to display when I show my 914-6, but my 914-4 isn't really a show car, but I thought it was still pretty cool. Although, I would continue to use my current spare if needed.

Rich

I also have an SP57 that is in remarkably good shape still.
It would be cool to have a full set of five for concours purposes.
All I would want for mine would be cost of shipping.