Well written by someone that has thought through this tragedy and knows what he is talking about.Yes, tires age. And yes, the tires on our cars age plus truthfully, they weren't very good to begin with compared to what is available today. They were the best of what was available at the time for a car with no where to store a spare tire.
The three enemies of tires are heat (including under inflation), ozone and time (as the tires dry out and lose essential chemicals).
As carefully as CJ's cars are treated and stored, I'm beginning to get concerned about the tires even at normal highway speeds. It doesn't get that hot here during the summer and the cars aren't driven aggressively. Driving the Tail of the Dragon a couple of years ago with the quick group it became obvious that the tires weren't up to the challenge. CJ pulled off and let the rest of the group have their fun while we proceeded at a less aggressive rate. That had nothing to do with her ability to run fast and everything to do with old, hard tires.
