The Dunlop Story

The smörgåsbord of companies that now use the Dunlop brand all started with one man – John Boyd Dunlop. He was a Scottish vet living in Ireland and serial inventor who hit upon the rubber pneumatic tyre in 1888. This wasn’t the first time the pneumatic tyre had been invented – it had originally been invented in 1847 by fellow Scot Robert William Thomson. So, you could say the Scots were the first to invent the pneumatic tyre – twice! Nothing was done with the original invention in 1847, but by 1888 there was a clear use for Dunlop’s invention – the bicycle. Early bikes had been known as “bone shakers” due to the lack of any suspension. Pneumatic tyres allowed for enough suspension to make the ride comfortable, and by the 1880s bicycle designers had hit upon a practical design that was easy to get on and off and used gears to get to decent speeds. The new diamond framed bike became known as the “safety bicycle”, and Dunlop’s invention was the final piece in the puzzle towards making a truly practical device.

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[markhesse]

Those old advertisements and posters featured some simply lovely artwork and the idea that they were all hand illustrated back then makes them more special.

[jamesengland]

I never tire of watching your videos; you've gotten me hooked! Enjoyable and informative as always. Keep on rolling!

[darkbassi]

My dad worked for Dunlop in Coventry for over 20 years, and I remember driving past Fort Dunlop as a kid saying to my dad do you work there.

[edgarbeat]

I own a Hazelwoods bike with at least 100 year old original Dunlop self advertising tyres. As you cycle you leave a trail of. THE DUNLOP TYPE THE DUNLOP TYRE.

The bike has been stored in a loft on its original wheel stands. Tyres amazingly preserved.

[tubester]

I used to wear Dunlop running shoes in the 70's. Very well made, the soles lasted forever. They were called KT 26

[robinforrest]

Another interesting one, particularly for me as my dad was head of purchasing at Fort Dunlop in the 70's. He'd joined them when he left the RAF in 1946. I can remember he was firmly opposed to the partnership with Pirelli from the beginning. He discovered early on that they ran "double accounts" and that the official accounting records had very little similarity with the real ones. So it was fascinating to discover in your video this confirmation of what dad told me back then.
When he warned against the agreement he was lambasted by his fellow directors on the board for his "lack of strategic vision". He always said the worst thing you can do in your career is not so much to disagree with your superiors but be proved right later on. He reckoned that was why they never gave him another promotion after. Maybe Dunlop would still be with us if they'd listened to him. He took early retirement in 1983 in disgust.
Pity you didn't mention the Dunlop Denovo runflat tyre. I don't know if they went into full production but I remember dad had them on test on his company Princess 2200HLS.

[LAG]

Dunlop's under-investment was perfectly exemplified when in 1983 managers from Sumitomo came to inspect the factory in Birmingham factory and found that they were still using the same molds they got *during the Marshall plan* to make tyres. The molds were so past their use-by date the tyres ended up oval-shaped to the point British Leyland had literally no choice but to second source.

[thomasfrancis]

Another fascinating documentary which told me a lot. I remember buying from Dunlop Metalastik who were very strong in rubber/metal bondings, suspension, etc. There was a Dunlop aeroplane tyre factory next to Fort Dunlop until very recently - production moved overseas. I wonder if Dunlop diversified too much but their failure must be down to bad management.

[project_calais]

8:58 - On the National Highway A20 (Sturt Highway A20), there is a big Dunlop Tyre Arch that sits over the road as you enter the state of South Australia. Have to say it is actually rather cool to drive under and i'm sure its the only one of its kind on a National roadway in the country. I also just purchased my first set of Dunlop Tyres several days ago

[KBM]

Harvey Du Cros has the best mustache I've seen, I love these videos I found this channel last week and everything I've seen has been pure quality.

[yggdrasil]

It's weird how YT algorithms work. Today I got a burst tyre on my car after clipping a concrete divider, and without searching for it, I come home to find YT recommending me a video on Dunlop. It's a weird world.

[flemmingsorensen]

What a facinating, and very sad, story. Absolutely fantastic video 👍👍👍

[majormojo]

Excellent video and appropriate for me as I have a case of Dunlop’s disease. My belly dun lops over my belt. 😮 Fascinating story as always, thanks,

[andrewmusisi]

Thanks Mr Big Car, do not forget the transportation of dunlop products to additional markets in the former British colonies of Africa and Asia

[sr]

Although Fort Dunlop went in the 1980s the factory next to it survived until 2014. It made specialist tyres - I believe for motorsport. I actually worked with someone who previously worked for Dunlop in Coventry. They made suspension products I believe or the aero industry. I believe the factory still exists and uses the brand.

[paulmezhir]

The Dunlop "tyre" factory in Buffalo, NY, which opened in 1920 has been in continuous operation since it was built to supply Dunlop brand tires for the motorcycle industry. For a period of time in the early 2000s, Dunlop's "World headquarters" was located in Grand Island, New York, several miles from the plant in nearby Tonawanda. The Office building was originally built in the 1960s for Hooker Chemical Company which became part of Occidental (Oxy) Chemical. Dunlop took over the property after Oxy and occupied the space until around 2009, when it was abandoned and badly vandalized. The structure sat empty and neglected for several years until it was gutted and restored as a Holiday Inn hotel. The Dunlop plant still has it's Dunlop signage in addition to recent Sumitomo and Falken signage.

[wombatsyoutube]

These videos are making sense of real product history, just the way Big Car does for the motor industry. Fantastic seeing the motor trade I've been in for 36 years being untangled the way you do it.

[friendlypiranha]

We had a Dunlop Tyre bridge over the Killarney racetrack in Cape Town until quite recently.

[chrisgurney]

Yesterday I bought a new polyurethane mattress, made by Dunlop Australia - so yeah bits still around (hell my last trainers were Dunlop Volleys)
Also for about eighty years a shed on the highway between Cowra and Lyndhurst NSW had a Dunlop painted on the roof, but due to bad decisions of several parties it was lost

[regiondeltas]

Great vid as always - as one of the people who got to drive by the abandoned Fort Dunlop fairly often it was really interesting to hear the history