Few landmarks on the Northern Beaches were as recognisable as the Tyre Man, a top-hatted, cigar-toting figure who stood sentinel over the western approaches to Manly for more than eight decades. Now, after years in storage, he could be heading back, thanks to a campaign by businessman Keith Tucker.
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Mr Tucker, owner of Autotune Freshwater, has kicked off a community campaign to find the beloved figurine a permanent home in Manly, calling on businesses with a 2095 postcode to put their hand up and offer him a spot out front.
Mr Tucker rescued the Tyre Man from storage at the former Manly Council’s works depot on Roseberry Street, Balgowlah, back in 2013, after the figure had been deemed a safety risk and removed from his pole the previous year. Since then, the iconic landmark has been sitting in pieces in a shed on Mr Tucker’s property near Mt Panorama, outside Bathurst, with no permanent home yet secured.
A Northern Beaches Icon: The Story Behind the Tyre Man
The Tyre Man’s story begins in 1933, when young William Edward Sinden, a Goodyear tyre dealer, was looking for an advertisement that would capture the public’s interest. His idea was deceptively simple: stack roughly 100 tyres on a pole at a prominent spot along Sydney Road, right where the road sweeps down toward Manly, and crown it with a life-size dressed figure.
By Mr Sinden’s own account, it worked. Motorists would pull over to debate whether the man up there was real or a dummy. Photos appeared in newspapers and magazines across Australia and around the world, and the landmark even featured in a Goodyear promotional film, “Goodyear on the March.”
The figurine’s aluminium face was said to have been modelled on George Surgeoner, a local pilot who went on to fly bombers in England during World War II. The Tyre Man received a new suit every year, working through ordinary clothing, leather, and eventually more weatherproof materials, to deal with the punishing combination of Sydney sun, rain, and southerlies. His hat was crafted from copper, his shoes were military boots.
Mr Sinden himself once noted that wherever he travelled, whether in New Zealand, New Guinea, or elsewhere in Australia, the mere mention of his name would prompt someone to bring up the man on the pole. A new figure was installed on 18 April 1963, courtesy of Mackellar County Council.
After the original Sinden’s Tyre and Rubber Co. at 100 Sydney Road was demolished and replaced by apartments, the Tyre Man stayed on at the same site on a much lower pole, though he gradually disappeared behind overgrown trees. By 2012, his deteriorating condition had made him a liability, and he was taken down and put into council storage.
Mr Tucker’s son Jake, then 15, and a group of mates tackled the restoration of the Tyre Man’s head at St Paul’s Catholic College in Manly with the help of visual arts co-ordinator Christopher Boylan. The project took three months to complete.
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Mr Tucker had previously considered putting the Tyre Man on display outside the former Ultratune service centre in Manly, but when he sold that business, the Tyre Man was shipped to his property near Mt Panorama. Now Mr Tucker is ready to act. He plans to restore the figure, fit him with a new uniform, and get him ready for his new home.
All he needs is a business willing to take him in. Anyone interested in giving the Tyre Man a new home can contact Mr Tucker at info@autotune.com.au.
Published 30-May-2026
