CLASSIC CARS Snow tires

WINTER TIRES GIVE SNOW THE SLIP Thank Finland for creating the first models in the 1930s.

A1960s Chicago radio DJ used to call snow “freezy skid stuff.” The joking reference to hair tonic was cold comfort to motorists on slippery roads, but a few had a partial remedy: snow tires.

Finland introduced winter tires in 1934. The Kelirengas truck tire tamed dirt roads slick with ice and snow. In North America, Firestone’s Town & Country and Goodyear’s Suburbanite arrived in 1952. On rear-drive wheels, the tires improved acceleration and stability but did little for steering and braking.

The all-season tires of the 1970s seemed to make snow tires obsolete, but new tire technology in recent decades has spawned a revival.

The popularity of rally motor sports in Europe provided a convenient testing ground for tires such as the Hakkapeliitta from Nokian, which helped to cement the reputation of Finnish rally drivers in the 1950s and ’60s. The tires used hardened studs to improve traction on slick mountain roads.

Studded tires became available from many manufacturers for consumer use by the mid-1960s; however, road damage prompted many North American cities and towns to ban them. Tiremakers opted for less aggressive rubber adjuncts, such as carborundum and even walnut shells.

Silica compounds brought great improvements to tire traction in colder weather, and nearly all major brands use them in winter tires and even all-season tires. Bridgestone uses a multicell rubber compound in its Blizzak tires that enhances grip on ice.

Winter-capable tires are identified by the pictogram of the three-peaked mountain snowflake embossed on the sidewall of every qualifying tire sold in North America.

The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association and the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada created the standard.

Two Canadian provinces, Quebec and British Columbia, require drivers by law to use winter tires each snow season.