Tubes or not tubes? That’s the question that’s worrying me

After spending more than two years restoring a 1961 Ford Consul MkII convertible and then sending it to a bodyshop for a paint job that took over a year to complete, I bought five brand new tyres and took them to a local fitter.

He took one look at the rims and said that he could not fit tyres without also fitting inner tubes, as the rims were not tubeless ones.

I returned several days later and the tubes and tyres were fitted. Some 18 months later, and having only done some 1500 miles or so, I was coming back from a show in North Wales. It was a lovely sunny day and I had the roof down. Suddenly there was a terrific ‘bang’ and I pulled onto the hard shoulder. The rear nearside tyre was totally shredded (I never