Material usedLet's start around 1888. Back then, car tires were made of solid rubber. These tires were okay for old roads but not great for the newer paved ones. Then John Boyd Dunlop invented the pneumatic tire, which is filled with air — these air-filled tires made rides much smoother and quickly became popular.During World War II, there was a shortage of rubber. So, companies used different materials like plant fibers and synthetic rubber. After the war, they went back to using regular rubber, but the use of synthetic rubber started growing. In 1931, a turning point came with DuPont's successful industrialization of synthetic rubber. This made it easier to produce more and better tires. Around the same time, the balloon tire also came out. It was a low-pressure tire with better contact with the road, making it smoother.In the 1970s, run-flat tires were introduced. These tires could still be driven for a short distance even after getting a puncture, and they were introduced with a growing interest in materials that could offer reliability in different conditions. Today, you have tire companies making tires that are better for the planet as well. A good example is companies like Hankook developing airless tires, or NPTs (Non-Pneumatic Tires), using uni-materials that are more energy-efficient in production and recyclable.Tubeless tires1947 was a big year for tires — the B.F. Goodrich Company made the first tubeless tire. This was significant because it didn't need an inner tube to hold air. The transition from pneumatic to tubeless tires is a bigger event in the evolution of the tire than one would think.The pneumatic tire, coming out of Dunlop's ingenuity, had changed transportation, allowing for smoother rides and more efficient travel. However, the introduction of tubeless tires changed the game dramatically. By eliminating the need for an inner tube, these tires offered better safety and efficiency. They combined the puncture-sealing capabilities of inner tubes while offering improved ride quality, resistance to bruising, and better air pressure retention. By 1952, Goodrich's innovation had been patented, and within three years, tubeless tires became standard on most new cars. In fact, Howard N. Hawkes of the U.S. Rubber Company described the widespread adoption of tubeless tires as "one of the most far-reaching changes ever to take place in the tire industry."Radial tiresAround the same time tubeless tires took off in the 1950s, another new tire came out — the radial tire. This was also a tubeless tire but with a special design. It had layers of rubber cord that made it even better. Here's how the story goes: In the 1960s, Andy Bush, a Sears buyer driven by the need to give Sears a competitive edge and address the growing dissatisfaction with the existing bias-ply tires, pursued a partnership with Michelin. Despite initial rebuffs, his persistence paid off, and in 1965, Sears began offering radial tires under its Allstate brand.Radial tires, with their unique construction where cords stretch from rim to rim, offered numerous benefits over traditional bias-ply tires. They were more durable, provided better handling, worked well at high speeds, and improved mileage. The real turning point came in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The demand for radial tires surged in the middle of increasing public awareness of tire safety and performance, coupled with the oil crisis that emphasized fuel efficiency. Major car manufacturers started to adopt radial tires, recognizing their superior qualities. By the mid-1970s, a significant proportion of cars from brands like Ford and General Motors were equipped with radials, and the rest is history.