VW Tire Fit—Rim Size and Scale

[dusty_shelf]

Shopping for additional “skinnies” for future gasser builds.  A member or two had suggested import car tires, including Volkswagen.  Have found a few listings but have questions about proper fit.

The tires are from the Revell 1968 VW in 1/24 scale.  Will these tires mate with standard 1/25 steelies, Cragers, Americans, etc.?  What would the VW rim size be compared to standard US rims?  
 

Thanks for any input.

[Mark]

Not sure what the rim width would be, but you should be able to turn up the specs somewhere online.

In the early Seventies, my older brother ran a '66 Chevelle in NHRA Modified Production class.  He ran VW Beetle tires on the front, on Fenton aluminum slotted wheels that were 4" wide as I recall.  (If I had to guess, I'd put the stock VW rims at 4" or maybe 4-1/2" width.) That was around the time drag racers seemed to be more conscious of rolling resistance on front wheels.  More people seemed to be running taller/narrower tires up front, and aftermarket vendors like Jere Stahl were offering such tires (which were probably just rebranded cheaper tall/narrow street tires).

[Skip]

Stock Tire Size 5.50 X 15" Bias Ply and Front Continental and Perelli Radial Tires Ranging from 135 to 165 X 15" X 4.5" wide rim (stretching tires was unheard of in the 60's and early 70's), Rear Tires Continental and Perelli Ranging from 165 to 285 X 15" X 5.5" Rim. (Chrome Porsche 356 wheels available in 4.5 and 5.5 widths, wide five bolt pattern, then early 70's in the then new 4 bolt pattern.)  VW Steel Wheel Size 15" X 4.5  - both wide Five and four bolt patterns, Some of the Type II Buses ran 4.5" X 15" and 4.5" X 14" Wide five steel wheels up until buses switched to 4-bolt pattern wheels. 

Late 60's - Early 70's Cal Look VW Bugs began running the Big & Little combination of front 135 X 15" and 145 X 15" Perelli Radials and rear 265 - 285 X 15" Perelli Radials on BRM, EMPI, Porsche wide five with 356 Nipple Hubcaps and other Rare wide five bolt pattern wheels on mostly Pre-1967 Bugs. (a lot of VW Performance gurus were of the opinion that 1967 was the last year VW produced a good Bug to start with for either race or hot street cars, as the wide five bolt pattern was thought to be stronger, as were the swing axle transaxles and link pin front ends were better parts to start with for both hot street, drag and off-road racing.)

A lot of the Hot Rod guys in the early to mid-60's ran 135 X 15" and 145 X 15" Perelli Radials on some of the early steel and aluminum "mag" wheels, Perelli seems to be the favored Radial tire among many of the Hot Roders. Bias Ply Tires 5.50 X15" and 5.60 X 15" were used up front on a whole lot of hot rods.

Stock VW Wheel Size 15" X 4.5 Wide Five 1950 (and earlier) through 1967, 1968 through the end of aircooled Type I production, some of the more sporty late model beetles got wider wheels, some with 14" diameters.

All of the VW sized tires will mount right up to just about any appropriate width Cragar, US Mag, Centerline, Radir... wheel, probably looking better for 60's and 70's cars, up until the time that Moroso and others began making purpose built drag racing tires. The Perelli Radial tire is what a whole lot of the 60's gassers wore on their front ends.

Probably more than you were looking for, but hope it helps.

Edited January 15 by Skip

[stitchdup]

vw pro street cars usually run firestone wide ovals on dds rear rims with mercedes smart car front tyres. you can get the wide ovals in the recent american car rim sets from aoshima. For the front tyres I'd look at the polar lights herley quinn bug, it has a slightly smaller set of the bug tyres than tamiya or revells bugs and its got some optional rims too. Its a snap kit but well worth having in the stash, and if you wanted to convert the tamiya into a split window, the polar lights roof fitsit you only use the rear of the roof. I tend to cut it ten mm above the split rear glass then use that part as a template to cut the tamiya.