(From the Odd Car Archives)
1958 Golden Sahara II with Goodyear's Illuminated Neothane Glow-Tyres
(From Wikipedia)
The Golden Sahara II or Concept Goodyear Golden Sahara II is a futuristic concept car designed by American custom car designer George Barris, based on the 1953 Lincoln Capri, presented at the Petersen Motorama show in Los Angeles in 1954 and upgraded to Version II in 1956.[1][2]
There were only two sets of these tires released to the public. An original set to the creator of this car, and this set that Goodyear gave to the place that restored this car.
The neothane is clear and the originals had 18 lightbulbs installed inside to get the glowing effect.
They never made it to production despite Goodyear spending 10 years trying to make it happen. Mostly because they were very expensive, and not at all practical - the tires would get dirty and the effect would be lost. Also, neothane didn’t provide enough grip in the rain nor did it stand up under hard breaking, as it had a low pour temp of about 250F.