Tread lies when the mileage is low
A veteran may drive about 3,000 km a year, and many classics drive less. The tyres hardly wear and still age: the rubber goes hard, cracks appear in the sidewall, grip falls. "Barely driven, tread like new" is therefore the most common misunderstanding when you buy a tyre and when you read an advert.
The TCS gives six to eight years as the limit for Oldtimer tyres that are fitted, whatever tread is left. Switzerland has no fixed legal maximum age. The MFK marks visible cracks and defects; it does not prescribe a DOT date. Responsibility stays with the keeper.
Reading the DOT
A DOT marking is on the sidewall. The last four digits are the week and year of production. 2418 means week 24 of 2018.
Before 2000 the number had three digits. If there is no DOT number at all, the tyre is as a rule very old. Even "new" Oldtimer sizes can have sat on a shelf for years; up to about six years, well stored, they still count as new. When you buy, check the number, not the label.
What the rule requires
VTS Art. 58: minimum tread 1.6 mm. Size, load capacity and speed rating must match the papers or an accepted proof. Other wheels and other dimensions are a modification, not an accessory.
Clearly more than 1.6 mm is recommended, not required, as soon as you actually drive the car. Wear on one side gives away the axle geometry or an accident, not the previous owner's style.
Choosing
- Size and ratings as entered, not "what looks right"
- one set, one date of manufacture, one construction (you avoid mixing carcasses)
- winter and summer tyres on a classic only if you really drive in winter; otherwise a good summer or all-season set, and storage on stands or with the car moved
- spare wheel: it ages too. A 20-year-old spare is not a spare wheel
Expensive, rare sizes are made irregularly. Better a current DOT from a suitable Classic line than an "original" tyre from the 1990s.
Before the season
Pressure (cold), cracks in the sidewall, bulges, age, an even picture. After a winter stood in the same spot there are flat spots: move the car before the first drive and check the pressure. The checklist has the point; this article explains why it sits so high.