Coker Tire Visits

We've had several visits from the Street Rodder Road Tour over the past few years. This year, we had a little different experience, as we got to see the Vintage Air Road Tour, instead of Jerry Dixey's Street Rodder Road Tour group. The Vintage Air Road Tour comes from Texas, and it's led by Rick Love, Vice President of Vintage Air. We hosted a stop at Coker Tire, offering the Vintage Air Road Tour donuts and coffee to get their day started. With Hurricane Harvey coming through the Houston area just days before the Vintage Air Road Tour began, it had an affect on the turnout, but there were still about 40 awesome cars running in the tour, including a few that were rolling on our whitewall tires and BFGoodrich

Long before Mike Wolfe took the TV world by storm with History Channel's "American Pickers" program, he was a wheeler and dealer of anything old. We know another guy who dabbles in vintage goods, especially ones that have wheels (or more specifically...tires). Mike and Corky have been friends for quite some time, and they share a great interest in vintage motorcycles. Mike also has a thing for old cars, and recently acquired a 1936 Ford panel truck. The Flathead V8 powered truck had received some hot rod modifications, but the aftermarket parts just didn't seem to jive. After a phone call with Corky to express his concerns, the boys struck up a deal to bring the truck to Chattanooga and give it the Coker and Honest Charley treatment. The goal was to make it GO faster, STOP sooner and make it a little more fun to slide behind the wheel and go for a ride. [products]

The Posies Driven Dirty Tour is a very cool, very relaxed event that involves driving a hot rod across the country with a destination of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. It's been going on for a few years now (10 to be exact), and it's a cool tour of the country, which includes shop tours, good food and lots of hanging out. All of this leads up to the SEMA Show, which a little more fast-paced. The Posies Driven Dirty Tour starts in Pennsylvania, so it takes quite a detour for a Southern swing into Tennessee, but we offered a warm welcome, as the guys rolled into Chattanooga on Saturday, October 24th. We gave them a tour of our headquarters here at 1317 Chestnut Street, as well as a bus ride to our Distribution Center a few miles away. Then, we had a fried chicken dinner from Champy's and toured Honest Charley. We had an awesome time showing them around and we wish them safe travels on their adventures. The bad thing about the Posies Driven Dirty Tour is...well, that we're not on it! Have fun guys!

Last year we met Scott Jones, the man behind Noise Cycles in Santa Ana, California. He uses our tires on most of his custom motorcycle builds, and he seeks inspiration for his own builds thorugh vintage racing bikes and old motorcycles in general. With that in mind, we told Scott that any time he had an excuse to be in Tennessee to stop by and see us. He did just that on his way back from the Brooklyn Invitational, a huge motorcycle show in New York. Noise built a special bike to debut at the Brooklyn show, and it was finished just in time to make the event. The bike has a no frills look, but closer inspection reveals TONS of hand made components, and one very interesting feature that involved a lot of thought and fabrication. Keep reading for more...

Four years ago, we were introduced to the Motorcycle Cannonball, as it made a pitstop here at Coker Tire in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. At the time, the endurance race was intended for motorcycles built in 1916 or earlier. It was a grueling event that saw participants rebuilding engines, transmissions and more on a regular basis. Although the rules have changed since that original event in 2010, the event is still a torture test for the riders and support crews. The 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball required riders to start in Daytona Beach, Florida, and man-handle their vintage bikes all the way to Tacoma, Washington. Along the way, they stopped here at Coker for an evening of thrashing to get their machines ready for the next day of riding.

The Ross Kiwi Tomas Memorial Kickstart Classic is a vintage motorcycle ride, organized by Buzz Kanter, the publisher of American Iron Magazine. He's an avid motorcyclist who has a thing for vintage American motorcycles, and he's a long time friend of Corky Coker and the entire Coker Tire crew. The Kickstart Classic started in Maggie Valley, North Carolina at the awesome Wheels Through Time Museum, and then visited Coker Tire for an overnight stop. Then, the crew left the next morning to eventually arrive at Cyclemos Motorcycle Museum in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee. We're glad Buzz and the guys (including our buddy Bryan Fuller) stopped by our place and hung out for a while! Check out our pictures from the Coker Tire stop!

We have a great relationship with the folks from Bridgestone/Firestone. Many of our top products are licensed by Firestone, and built in the original molds, so we are constantly in contact with them on a business level. This week, we were able to invite them into our headquarters here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, while they were in town for a group meeting. We welcomed the Bridgestone/Firestone Communications team with a small reception in our museum, and gave them a ride to dinner in Corky's 1936 Yellowstone bus. It was a great time, and we're glad they took the time to visit our place!

We had a great group of visitors for our 2pm tour today. These men and women are from the Professional Car Society, a car club dedicated to "professional cars", aka hearses, ambulances and flower cars. They brought along a few of their cars, most of which were Cadillacs. We love it when car clubs and groups visit our place, here in Chattanooga, TN and the Professional Car Society certainly enjoyed their visit.

It's not often that we see a car, truck....or wagon....that truly stops us in our tracks. Between all of the car shows that we attend and the folks that stop by and visit our headquarters, we see some pretty wild stuff! Well, we looked out the window yesterday afternoon, and saw what can only be described as a full size Radio Flyer wagon sitting in our parking lot. This creation came from the mind of Ted Mangum, from Ellisville, Mississippi, and he does all sorts of events with it, from parades to car shows and everything in between. Some of our guys from the office went for a ride in the wagon, and the smiles on their faces said it all! Ted is in the area to visit Chattanooga area schools, for the Art 120 organization. We're glad Ted stopped by and gave us a ride!

Remember last month when we told you about the magnificent Model T World Tour? We gladly sponsored this epic car journey, and so far, Dirk Regter has traveled 30,000 miles on a set of our Firestone 30x3-1/2 tires! Dirk and his wife Trudy have around 30,000 more miles to go, and we're wishing them the best of luck. Earlier this week, they stopped by our headquarters here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, so we snapped a few pictures and gave them a warm welcome.

[caption id="attachment_4138" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The "Lucky Riders" pose with the Honest Charley Garage crew before heading out.[/caption] We see some pretty cool stuff around here. So much cool stuff, that sometimes we might forget just how cool it is, and then a group of guys on a backroad adventure roll into the shop for food, sleep and a visit and it all come rushing back to us.

Well, they're not exactly on speaking terms with ole Ralph, but maybe the controversial "Unsafe at Any Speed" writer inadvertently made these cars even more popular in the long run? The cult-like following of Corvair owners across the United States are as dedicated to their favorite cars (and vans) as any group out there. One such club, filled the Coker Tire Company parking lot today as the Choo Choo Corvair Club toured the Chattanooga, Tennessee headquarters.

Today, we are running wide open to prepare for the Chattanooga stop of the 2013 Hot Rod Power Tour, which blasts through the Scenic City tomorrow, June 6th. This afternoon, a couple guys pull up in a slick little '31 Ford Model A coupe and these guys completely skipped today's Birmingham stop to get some new tires and wheels. Harry Kavelaars came all the way down from Orangeville, Ontario, Canada for the Power Tour, so we welcomed him with a hardy, "Come on in and stay a while" and commenced to swapping his tires and wheels while he waited.

We often have groups come through to tour the Coker Tire facility here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the wonderful spring weather we're having is condusive to some open air cruising, including a great bunch of motorcyclists who stopped by Friday afternoon for a tour. The riders were a part of the Chad "Chubbs" Lambert Memorial Weekend. They planned ahead with us to reserve enough space and time for a big tour, so we walked them around the facility to show them what the company is all about! The Chad Lambert Memorial Weekend is a great event in remembrance of a great guy, so we're glad they stopped by our place!

Marmon Motor Car Company built some incredible cars from 1902 until 1933, including the winner of the inaugural Indianapolis 500--the famous Marmon Wasp. Based in Indy, the company produced a number of cars that were high end in nature, and that meant they were large cars with a lot of style. There aren't many Marmons left, but The Marmon Club has grouped many of the remaining cars together with annual meets, such as the Marmon Muster, which was held right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee this week.

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Yesterday, we posted a video of Jim Hildebrand and Ben McKinnon (from Anitque Tyre Supplies in Melbourne, Australia) chatting about cars, tires and other stuff, but we just wanted to post a couple of cool pictures of Ben hanging out with Corky in his 1913 National Racing Type roadster. They happen to be parked in front of "world famous" Honest Charley Speed Shop. Check it out!

Sometimes our tour groups relate directly to the products we sell, and sometimes it simply involves a great group of car guys (and girls) that want to see what Coker Tire is all about. Today's tour doesn't relate to our tires, but it certainly relates to the car guy culture. The Florida Corvette club visited Chattanooga, Tennessee, and decided to pay us a visit as well! Check out the photos from their tour!

It was exciting news to hear that the Model A Restorers Club National Tour would be Hosted by the Scenic City A's and based right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee! They're calling the event "Ahooga in Chattanooga" and it has truly been a pleasure to see hundreds of Model A's riding around town for the past several days. The event is based at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, but the members have spent some quality time at Coker Tire. Big groups came through for visits and we've seen our share of Model A's this week. Check it out!

Today, we were privileged to welcome another sizable group to tour the Coker Tire facility here in Chattanooga. The group is known as the Tennessee Ridge Runners, and it's a club of motorhome enthusiasts and a chapter of the Family Motor Coach Association. These guys and gals love traveling, and they decided to pay us a visit to see what Coker Tire is all about. Our tour guide, Raime Brown gave them the tour and made sure they had a good time during their stay at the Coker compound. We want to say thanks to the fine folks from the Tennessee Ridge Runners for stopping by, and we hope to have them back soon!

[caption id="attachment_2796" align="aligncenter" width="640"] SHAY OWNER'S CLUB INTERNATIONAL Tour Group[/caption] Look closely and you'll see the lug count isn't quite what you expected. They're replicas! Harry Shay's Model A replicas were built between 1979 and 1982 and could be bought through Ford dealers and a group of Shay Model A enthusiasts found their way to Coker Tire Company today for a tour.

If you know much about Coker Tire, then you know we are 100-percent in favor of driving your classic car or hot rod. Drive it hard and drive it often--it's the reason we spend so much time getting them running and driving properly, so you might as well take advantage of it! A guy by the name of John Gilbert is doing just that with a wickedly-chopped Model A coupe, and he decided to stop by Coker Tire along the way. [caption id="attachment_2784" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Looks comfy![/caption] John is a freelance photographer and writer and does a lot of work for Street Rodder magazine. He has been around hot rods, motorcycles and classic trucks

We love it when antique car clubs visit Chattanooga, and 2012 has given us many great chances to see them. We've had a number of unique car clubs visit the Scenic City, and we've managed to wrangle most of them over here to visit our facility. This weeks feature tour is HUGE, with 200 participants. It is the National DeSoto Club, which has been in the area for the past couple of days. So far, they've visited Rock City, the Chickamauga Battlefields and of course, Coker Tire Company! Tomorrow, Saturday July 21st, the club will have a car show at Camp Jordan in East Ridge, just a few miles down the road from us. A small portion of the cars

If you're new to the old car hobby then you may not have heard of a guy by the name of Henry J. Kaiser. He was quite the engineer and he certainly developed some of the most unique cars of the late '40s and early '50s. Kaiser, Frazer and Henry J were the big three offerings, and each car had its own set of models, with various trim levels and configurations. The company didn't last very long, but it left behind a great legacy that results in a dedicated group of owners. The Kaiser-Frazer Owners Club has a national meet once per year, and the 2012 event is just up the road from us in Sweetwater, Tennessee.

We love old cars, especially those from the '50s and '60s, when styling efforts were at an all time high. Chrysler led the pack with some of the most interesting designs in the industry, and put the automotive world on its ear when it unveiled the Chrysler 300 in 1955. The new model featured luxurious details inside and out, as well as a powerful Hemi engine. Two years

This past week has been a crazy week for us at Coker Tire. We're winding down from our big Cruise In last weekend, while a bunch of tire sales representatives are on the road in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. We also had a major magazine company come in and do a great article, which we will announce at a later date. Along with all this, we've had a number of group tours come through, including a Triumph club, which passed through the Chattanooga, Tennessee area on Wednesday.

When you have a building, (or in our case a series of buildings) packed full of cool stuff, people are gonna want to see it! That's why we've started providing tours for large groups, as well as daily tours at 10am and 2pm EST for smaller groups. People love this place, and most of our visitors would've never guessed that Coker Tire and its sister companies do so much for the collector car hobby. Thanks to our tours, and our awesome tour guide, Raime Brown, visitors learn a lot about the Coker companies and some of Corky's private collection of cars, trucks and motorcycles. [caption id="attachment_2492" align="alignleft" width="600" caption="Visiting from Longview Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina....thanks for joining us!!!"][/caption]

• • Saturday, April 21, 2012
  • 4:00pm until 9:00pm

• Honest Charley Speed Shop, 1309 Chestnut Street

• Join us for a huge gathering of collector vehicles in downtown Chattanooga. Coker Tire and Honest Charley will provide an open house, and access to the Coker Tire Museum. Hundreds of hot rods, muscle cars and other vintage vehicles will cover the surrounding streets of Coker Tire. Live entertainment, great food and lots of fun will make this cruise in a blast!

We're passionate about cars, motorcycles, and basically anything with a motor, but you'll never find a group of folks more passionate about their cars than the Mopar crowd. These guys and gals are true enthusiasts, and they live by the "Mopar or no car" attitude. The North Georgia Mopar Club is based in the greater Atlanta area, but this visit included folks from other regions as well. We were honored to have them here, and our tour guide extraordinaire Raime gave them the grand tour of our place. Raime showed them Coker Tire, including the Museum, as well as Honest Charley Speed Shop, so these Mopar gurus got to see it all.

Alright, we'll admit it, Fox body Mustangs aren't really in our wheelhouse when it comes to the tire market. Some of the drag racing guys might run our Phoenix brand slicks, but for the most part, we're a bit out of the loop. However, the SVO Club of America heard about our place and wanted to come take a look during their big meet right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. So we invited the group to take a tour, and grabbed a few photos while they were here. [caption id="attachment_2220" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="See that off-center hood scoop? That\'s a sign of an SVO!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2224" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Check this thing out! Flared

If you think all police officers hate drag racing, think AGAIN! An organization called Beat the Heat is composed of active and retired police officers who reach out to the public through a very popular hobby.....drag racing. They race in all sorts of cars, all of which have police department-style paint jobs and working lights, just like regular patrol cars. The goal is to teach children and young adults the dangers of street racing, and the fun and excitement that comes from racing at a legal drag strip. It's an awesome way to reach out! Beat the Heat has a World Finals event once a year, and for 2011 it is held right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We were proud to have them cruise into Corkyville Thursday evening, so we opened the doors, so the racers could see everything we have to offer, including Honest Charley Speed Shop! Local police officer and drag racing enthusiast, Marty Dunn organized the event, with racers coming from all over the

People give us feedback all the time, so it's easy for us to see how our tires are put to use. Some folks race, some folks do the car show routine, and some people simply drive the wheels off their old car (not literally, of course). One particular customer is Bob Simonds, owner of a 1966 Alfa Romeo, and he likes to show his sporty roadster at various shows, but also likes to drive it frequently. Last week, Bob made the trip to Lexington, Kentucky, to participate in the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) National Convention. Part of the festivities was the Concours, where Bob's car placed 3rd in his division, which was packed with a great deal of highly-restored '66-69 Alfa Romeo Duettos and 1750 Spiders. He says the 3rd place finish is a high honor and it wouldn't have been possible without the OEM wheels and the period correct styling of the Vredestein tires! He gave us a peek at the award, and it's way cool...he even pulled up to the shop in his Alfa Romeo!

Talk about a great bunch of guys and gals! These folks are on a bit of a road trip and decided to drop by our place for a tour. Raime Brown did her thing, and made sure everyone had a good time and learned a little bit along the tour. We cleared the parking lot and packed the cars in there to grab a quick shot of them in front of the building...turned out pretty cool! Big thanks to the Southern Kentucky Street Rodders for visiting Chattanooga, Tennessee and for coming by our facility. Here are some of our pictures from the visit!

Here at Coker Tire, we don't focus on any particular style of car...we like 'em all! And that includes little bitty cars! Today, we had a group of cars visit the Coker Tire facility and we were able to fit over 30 of them in our 15 car parking lot. They call it the Mini Meet, and little cars come from all over the country to meet up. This year, the Mini Meet was held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, just a couple of blocks over from us, so they migrated over here this afternoon! We walked them through the showroom and back into the Coker Tire Museum, where they got to see all sorts of cool stuff and get the rundown from our Tour Guide extraordinaire Raime J. Brown. Check out some of our pictures from the Mini Meet 2011...

Just like anything else, pronunciations are different around here. Some people say Chevrolet, some people say Chevy, but around here, it's pronounced "Chev-uh-lay". On that note we had four awesome "Chevuhlay's" in the parking lot today at lunch time...they were on their way back from the Hot Rod Power Tour so they made a quick stop here at Coker Tire to take a look around. It was pretty good timing on their part because we're getting set up for the Great Race, so there are a few old cars already rumbling about in Corkyville.

THE GREAT RACE CONTINUES RALLY SUPPORT OF AUTISM WITH A BENEFIT AUCTION Chattanooga, TN The Great Race began in 1983 when a couple of car guys, Tom McRae and Norm Miller, got together and bought out an ailing race promoter, who had attempted to organize a vintage car race from California to Indiana. After acquiring the assets, McRae and Miller went to great lengths to market the event, and their efforts paid off, as the Great Race turned into one of the greatest automotive events of all time. McRae and Miller always strived to contribute to local charities, and the Great Race was a terrific place to gather a large donation. Now, with Corky Coker in charge of the Great Race, the same generous spirit lives on with the 2011 event. [caption id="attachment_1542" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Corky Coker with Peter Charman from The TEAM Centers, Inc."]

On his way through the Chattanooga, Tennessee area, Ken Gross decided to make a stop here, to pay a visit to Mike Goodman at Honest Charley and take a look at our recently finished Marmon Wasp. Ken is a well-established journalist, working for many, many big-name magazines. He's a true hot rodder, and he's one of our associates in the Collectors Foundation, so it was nice to catch up with him! We stopped long enough to get a picture taken, and continued on our way...we had a great time on his short visit, and hope to see him again soon! [caption id="attachment_1539" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Corky Coker alongside long-time friend and fellow car guy, Ken Gross. "][/caption]

...flock together. And that was exactly the case today, as the Mockingbird Run came through Chattanooga, Tennessee and stopped at Coker Tire Company. These guys and gals are dedicated Thunderbird enthusiasts, and they braved some hard rain to get here, and braved it again as soon as they pulled into the Coker compound. Perry Anthony puts this run together, and has a Thunderbird of his own!

We were invaded by classic cars of the Chevrolet variety this past Friday! Bow ties were EVERYWHERE! The Vintage Chevrolet Club of America rolled into Chattanooga for a big meet at the Chattanooga Choo Choo and decided to make a stop at Coker Tire. Raime gave 'em a tour and some refreshments, while we snapped a few pictures of the cars and trucks in attendance. Check it out!