I just came back from a local Mustang show and saw a gorgeous original Shelby 350.

My question has to do with the Blue Dot tires. Two of the four tires had the blue dot aligned with the valve stem, two were not.

I am under the impression that yellow dots on modern tires should align with the valve stem. I'm wondering if the blue dots were intended for that purpose?

My web search on this proved unsuccessful. Does anyone know?

 

The dots are guides, not absolutes.
The (often yellow or red) dot should be the lightest part of the tire.
If you know the heaviest part of the wheel, you can put the lightest part of the tire there.
It is not always the valve stem.
This will allow you to use the least amount of weights on the wheel.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=17

 

Thanks. Makes sense.

Do you know anything about the old Blue Dots used in the 60s? I'm wondering if it was just a logo or if the blue dot had a similar purpose.

 

I just found this site while I was Goggleing Blue Dot (looking for more originals!).

To answer the initial question more precisely, the "Blue Dot" Power Cushion tires you saw on the 65 GT 350 were constructed specifically for that car and appeared on 65 and 66 Shelby Mustangs in the size you saw. The tires you saw were most likely reproduction - original Blue Dot tires actually appear to be more green than blue.
Prior to that, Blue Dots were made for the Shelby Cobra program.
The other dots mentioned on more modern tires are more of a ink mark / paint dab that is to be used for balancing purposes and are not a "molded in" raised dot like on the Shelby tires.

Mike
65 GT 350 # 017