Why do Metro Detroiters remember the Uniroyal Giant Tire breaking loose and rolling down I-94?

To close out the year, we're taking a look back at some of our favorite Daily J podcast episodes of 2022. If you missed this one about Metro Detroit's Uniroyal Giant Tire, you missed out. And if you already heard it, it's worth another listen. Enjoy!

ALLEN PARK (WWJ) -- There are several things that have immediate recall for Metro Detroiters.

The 2003 blackout. The almost-fist fight between Bill Bonds and Mayor Coleman Young. The Boblo Boat. And more recently, the painfully popular Giant Slide on Belle Isle -- just to name a few.

But among all of those, there is one Metro Detroit mainstay that almost everyone is familiar with… and that’s the Uniroyal Giant Tire in Allen Park.

The tire was first used as a Ferris wheel (and advertisement for what was then called the U.S. Rubber Company) at the New York World's Fair in 1964.

It was eventually moved to Uniroyal's Allen Park property in 1966. Nearly six decades later, the tire continues serve as a Metro Detroit landmark, towering over I-94 between the Southfield Freeway interchange and Outer Drive overpass at 80 feet tall.

Because of its place in local history, the tire has been the subject of a lot of lore through the years.

One such story that has persisted is that it once broke loose from its perch and rolled down I-94, causing chaos.

In fact, some locals insist that they have memories of this happening, even reading about it in a very well-known Detroit newspaper in the spring of 1974.

So would you believe us if we told you that was actually true? Well…at least, part of it.

On this episode of The Daily J podcast, WWJ's Zach Clark and Annie Scaramuzzino explore the unique history of the Giant Tire in Allen Park, and the origins of its many myths and legends that have continued to be passed down for over 50 years in Metro Detroit.

Related

Detroit's Giant Slide fail named 2022 Clip of the Year by Jimmy Kimmel with performance by Gmac Cash [WATCH]