H&H designed an 80’ diameter, 96-passenger, welded tubular construction amusement ride for the 1964 World Fair. At the time, it was branded as the “World’s Largest Tire,” which was also a working Ferris Wheel. It now sits in Detroit, serving as a tourist attraction. About two million people rode the wheel, including Jacqueline Kennedy and the Shah of Iran.
After the fair, the mammoth 86-foot tire was dismantled and shipped by rail to Detroit, where it was reassembled outside a Uniroyal sales office. Later the sales office moved, but the tire stayed put, becoming a symbol of Detroit’s industrial might.
The interior’s Ferris wheel assembly went to an amusement park, and a new framework of structural steel was built to support the giant attraction. The tire weighs more than 100 tons and took 130 days to rebuild. The tire, described as “the largest ever built,” is designed to withstand hurricane-force winds and certainly blowouts.
