Along Interstate 94 West
Between the Southfield Freeway interchange and Outer Drive overpass
Allen Park, Michigan
This giant Uniroyal Giant Tire was originally created by the Uniroyal Tire Company for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, as a Ferris wheel.
The wheel was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, the architectural firm that designed the Empire State Building. Over 2 million people, including Jacqueline Kennedy, Telly Savalas, and the Shah of Iran took a spin in one of its 24 four-passenger gondolas.
In 1965, after the fair, the tire was disassembled and put back together minus the gondolas. It originally stood outside of a Uniroyal sales office, the office moved, the tire did not.
A nail was placed in the tire in 1998 to advertise Uniroyal’s NailGard tires, the nail was removed in 2003. At that time the tire was renovated at a cost of $1,000,000.
