The Forgotten Fact About the Michigan Uniroyal I-94 Tire
Every time I feel like I understand a bit of Michigan lore, I learn something new that blindsides me.
I've driven past the giant, 80-foot-tall Uniroyal Tire on I-94 heading into Detroit a handful of times. It's a fitting welcome into the Motor City and as silly as a giant 'inflated' tire can seem, it's a proper "Now entering Detroit territory" signal.
I look forward to passing it, especially when I'm riding with someone who hasn't been to Detroit before. The colossal wheel demands attention, after all.
However, it holds a story behind its sidewalls and treads that threw me for a real loop. Keep in mind that I've lived in Michigan for just two years. There isn't exactly a sign saying "The Uniroyal Tire is More Than Meets the Eye!" And no one ever told me the truth either.
No, sometimes the internet reaches through the screen and slaps some knowledge in your face that you just weren't expecting, and that was the case for me when I learned the real story behind the Uniroyal Tire.
It was constructed in the early 1960s in New York for the 1964-65 New York World's Fair by the same architectural firm that designed the Empire State Building. What does every good fair need? A Ferris wheel - and the Uniroyal Tire was just that.
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The tire used to have "US Royal Tires" written across the sidewall and had 24 gondolas, or a Ferris wheel cart, that could each hold four people. It could carry 96 people per ride and was estimated to carry 2 million riders during the fair.
By the time the tire had made its way to Detroit, it had been gutted of its Ferris wheel components, effectively transformed into the eye-catching billboard it is today.
The Uniroyal Tire holds 60 years' worth of secrets, far more than any one tire should. But if you didn't know this one, now you do.