Michelin Tire Giveaway, Round 3—Congratulations, Benedict43 and mauriciocomitre! You Should Know
Round three of this year’s Michelin and BFGoodrich tire giveaway ended in a tie (another tie!) between the 1970 Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback and the 1983 Ford F-150 XLT. Giving each winner two tires seems like the wrong way to solve it, so we’re awarding both contestants a new set of four!
Now, let’s take a look at your victors!
The 1970 Squareback was the first to get the “longer” Type 3 nose, adding even more cargo space to the already cleverly packaged design. You can add that to list of reasons why VW aficionados love the Squareback, many of which we noted in our original post. This example received a number of mechanical services in the 2020s and was recently sold by @Carclassic1 to @Benedict43—congratulations! A fresh set of Michelins will be the perfect finishing touch.
Without fail, the BaT community shows up strong each time we feature an old Ford pickup in these contests—this time it was for the 1983 Ford F-150 sold by @WCD2020. The seller did a stellar job staging this big red bricknose truck against the rocky canyons of the southwest landscape, which many commenters noted looked straight out of a sales brochure from the 1980s. Congratulations to BaT member @mauriciocomitre, who won this F-Series pickup and will have his choice of BFG rubber to help keep this old workhorse running for years to come.
Congratulations once again to Benedict43 and mauriciocomitre, and big thanks are due as always to Michelin USA, BFGoodrich, and everyone in the BaT community who voted. Your generous spirit gives us the opportunity to do big things like for BaT community members, and plays a part in keeping some fantastic vehicles on the road.
ORIGINAL POST:
It’s time for Round 3 of our monthly Michelin/BFGoodrich Tire Giveaway! Our partners at Michelin USA have granted us the ability to hand out brand new sets of Michelin, Michelin Classic, and BFGoodrich tires to select BaT auction winners. But this responsibility is too heavy to be borne alone, so we’re once again asking for your help in determining which vehicle is most worthy of new rubber.
Here’s how it works:
We’ve identified four candidates below, all no-reserve vehicles wearing older or mixed generic rubber (or both). We want you to tell us which you’d like to see get a free set of new Michelin, Michelin Classic or BFGoodrich tires! Let us know your vote in the comments, and please vote for one car only. As with our Question of the Week contests, we heavily favor the People’s Choice—but on occasion, we reserve the right to hand the prize to the most appropriate candidate in our view. Since the auctions close over the course of a few days, voting will remain open until midnight Pacific time on Monday, April 20. That gives you time to think, and gives the auctions time to run their courses. We’ll tally the votes and announce the winner on Tuesday April 21.
In no particular order, here are your candidates!
1994 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 6-Speed
1990s Japanese GT and sports cars have a big following here on BaT, and the 3000GT was perhaps the funkiest of the breed, with AWD, four-wheel steering, active aero, variable damper settings, and a big removable glass roof panel. The Martinique Yellow Pearl paint on this example makes it even more unique, and we don’t even mind it with the chrome wheels. It’s been around the world several times with 184k miles on the clock, but some big maintenance items have been checked off in the last 10k miles. It almost hurts to see it still sitting on winter tires as driving season arrives.
50k-Mile 1999 Mercedes-Benz S420
In today’s marketplace, some prefer the S420 over the more prestigious S500 and S600 because it lacks some of the more complex (and hence troublesome) features. Furthermore, this is a final-year example, and therefore less susceptible to production quirks more common in earlier cars. The big sedan looks great in Glacier White, and the W140 cabin is one of the best ever designed, bar none. It’s got a few scuffs around the edges, but just 50k miles on the odometer. Those Michelin Energy MXV4 tires suited the car well in their day, but they have been discontinued for over a decade and need to be replaced.
1970 Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback
Today, VW fields a full lineup of vehicles, but in 1970, the People’s Car manufacturer offered four primary Types, plus the Karmann-Ghia and the Thing. With seating for four (five if you squish) and ample cargo areas behind the seats and under the hood, the Type 3 Squareback was perhaps even more sensible than a Beetle. Just read the comments, and you’ll quickly see why these cars have attracted an ardent following over the years. This one is a driver with some nice patina, and runs a rebuilt 1,584cc flat-four and a three-speed automatic. The Squareback reputedly has a much better ride than other contemporary VWs, and that could only be improved by ditching the generic tires currently installed for some nice Michelins.
This big red Bricknose looks to be quite at home among the rocks and canyons, and spent its life prior to the seller’s acquisition in Washington State. The spec is about as good as it gets for a tow vehicle—XLT trim with a long bed, rear-wheel-drive, A/C, cruise control, swing-away mirrors, and dual fuel tanks. The two-tone finish has commenters clamoring for its return, but there’s no way a modern Ranger or F150 could pull of the look the way this old workhorse does. If there’s one thing that needs to change, it’s—you guessed it—the mixed set of half-generic tires currently underneath.
These are your nominees! Voting ends at midnight Pacific on Tuesday, March 24. Which vehicle should drive away on a new set of Michelin or BFGoodrich tires? Get into the comments and let us know what you think!
