The ideas of Harvey S. Firestone and Henry Ford (founder of Ford Motor Company) were shared to pull the world out of its horse-and-buggy pace and thrust it into an era of speed and agility.

At the turn of the 20th century, Firestone was convinced automobiles were the future. In 1900, he moved to Akron, Ohio, which was soon to become the rubber capital of the world, and began manufacturing his own tyres in a small old foundry. In just six years, sales of Firestone tyres surpassed $1 million.

As the demand for tyres grew, Firestone set the pace with innovations that included the pneumatic tyre, an improvement on the difficult-to-mount clinchers then in use; the demountable rim, which for the first time made it easy for drivers to change their own tyres and the first successful set of low-pressure balloon tyres that allowed cars to travel at faster speeds with greater safety and comfort.

In 1911, the first Indy 500 was held and Firestone tyres were on the winning car. Since then, every winning car from 1920 through 1966, at the Indy 500 had one thing in common - Firestone tyres.

Towards the end of the century, the company, which had long held a strong international presence, began looking for an international partner to help it compete more effectively on a global scale. In 1988, the Bridgestone Corporation of Japan purchased the Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company. It was the largest investment ever of a Japanese company in an American company.

The merger created a truly new global company that brought Firestone's manufacturing capabilities and production operations to Bridgestone. The merger positioned the company to sell tyres internationally and leveraged technological advances that included UNI-T®, which improves tyre traction on wet surfaces, and UNI-T AQ™, which keeps performance at optimum levels even as tyres wear.

 

Firestone Tyres Available from TyreQuote.com

---