SEMA News—June 2016

HERITAGE

By Drew Hardin

Photo Courtesy Petersen Archive

Glue-On Glamour

Dot-O-Wols were considered “the latest in tire glamorizing” when Al Paloczy photographed them in the September 1959 issue of Car Craft magazine.

“Constantly on the vigil for new restyle products, timely customizers are jumping on the bandwagon for the Dot-O-Wol tire patches,” said the article, which noted that the dots were available in black for whitewall tires and white for blackwalls.

The story outlined the steps needed to attach the dots to the tire: Measure and mark off where the dots will go so that they’re evenly spaced around the tire; use the abrasive tool included in the kit to rough the sidewall surface below the dot; squeeze a bit of cement (also included in the kit) on the dot’s mount location; peel off the dot’s paper backing, exposing the adhesive on the back of the dot; and apply the Dot-O-Wol to the tire. “Adhesive and patch will bond together.”

Car Craft’s single-page story showed only close-ups of the tires, not the cars they were mounted on. But a search of the Petersen photo archive turned up all of Paloczy’s film for the story, which included overall shots of the cars. The how-to was photographed on a ’55 Thunderbird that had been customized with nerf bars, a tubular grille and pinstriping by George Barris.

The tire used for the story’s lead shot was mounted on a ’59 Corvette, unmodified except for the tire dressing. We did notice that the ’Vette had an Oregon license plate and that the address listed in the story for Dot-O-Wol company was in Portland. Makes us wonder if the Dot-O-Wol folks brought their dots—and a demonstrator car—south for some publicity from the LA-based magazine.