One of the biggest challenges for owners of vintage cars isn't keeping them running. It is keeping good rubber around their wheels.
As the new-car industry moves toward making 17-inch wheels the default go-to, owners of cars that left the factory with 13-, 14-, 15-, or 16-inch wheels are left with fewer and fewer tire choices.
But Porsche and Pirelli have stepped up to re-release, with modifications, a wide range of tires that the automaker has approved for many of its 1959 through 2005 models.
Porsche says it has 32 new tire recommendations for the 356, 911, 914, Boxster, 924, 928, 944, and 968. In other words, if there's a vintage Porsche parked in your garage, the German automaker can now comfortably recommend a tire for it.
The tires themselves will bear an "N" certification designator, which means that they have met Porsche's standards, not to mention rally legend Walter Röhrl's testing standards.
Röhrl was involved in testing the tires by offering what Porsche says were "valuable tips" during the re-development process.
Yet the tires aren't simply what Pirelli used to make. Instead, Pirelli says they benefit from upgraded internals, like new rubber mixtures and support structures.
Overall, this brings the figure to 161 tire recommendations for what Porsche considers to be its classic cars—those produced between 1959 and 2006.
In recent years, Porsche has more aggressively supported its classics, including developing radios and dashboards for them.