sedan
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November 03, 2016The SEMA Show is full of highly customized, highly polished and highly publicized cars and trucks. But when you find a unrestored Ford Model A on the property, it stands out! The guys and gals at Hagerty Insurance started a cool program last year called the "Swap to Street Challenge", which involves Hagerty employees finding and building a car on the grounds at the massive AACA Fall Meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Last year, it was a very cool '46 Ford pickup and this year, they tackled the challenge with a Ford Model A. They started with a 1930 Model A chassis, and found a 1931 Murray-bodied slant window Model A sedan body to go with it. From there, they sourced a Flathead four-cylinder engine, and all of the parts to piece this car together. Davin Reckow and Matt Lewis were key players in the build, and they decided
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December 06, 2015Slammed is a relative hot rod term, and it usually means when something has been lowered A LOT. But this chopped and channeled Model A sedan brings a whole new meaning to "slammed". It is down in the dirt, thanks to air suspension and a spectacular chassis setup. Dave Tucci of Tucci Hot Rods in Marcy, New York built this slammed hot rod, and used satin brown as the primary color for an interesting look. The finishes, textures and colors of this slammed sedan offer a lot of visual appeal, while the wild tire and wheel combination go with the car's killer stance. Dave's sedan is rolling on a set of one-off wheels, wrapped in Excelsior Stahl Sport radial tires, sized at 550R17 up front and 650/700R20 out back. The radical big and little tire combination is just one of many features that made us take notice and catch up with Dave for a video feature. Thanks for watching!
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June 10, 2015Our tires go on some of the coolest hot rods on the planet and we were overwhelmed when we found out ALL FIVE of the Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year finalists are wearing our tires! The Hot Rod of the Year is a highly sought after award given by Goodguys at the Indy Nationals. This year, the field of entries was a tough one, but the judging staff narrowed it down to five deserving finalists with bad-to-the-bone traditional hot rods. The best part of the Hot Rod of the Year program is that the cars must be driven on a street cruise, and run down the drag strip to prove that it's not just a show car. The five finalists did not disappoint, so keep reading to check 'em out!
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February 17, 2014With the filming of "Backroad Gold", Travel Channel's hit new TV Show, just across the street at Honest Charley, we got an inside look at some of the cars being built for the show. One such car, featured in the second episode of season one is this 1940 Willys sedan that was brought back from Corky and Greg's adventure to California. The Willys came back to Tennessee and received a full rebuild with a heavy military influence. And though Willys didn't enter the military market until World War II, this sedan has a cool look and pays tribute to all of the men and women who have served in the United States military. Keep reading to find out more about this distinct Willys.
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December 19, 2012We often get opportunities to see great automobiles, but anytime a Packard pulls into the parking lot, we take notice. This one in particular caught our attention because it has a set of our tires and wheels on it! George Hubbert is the proud owner and drove it up from Duluth, Georgia to have a couple of new tires installed on the car. While he was here in Chattanooga, we took the opportunity to take pictures of his car and he even let us take it for a spin around the block.
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September 21, 2012We have a lot of visitors here at Coker Tire, and this week, we had a very special group of cars pay us a visit. A group of 11 Edsels rolled into our Chattanooga headquarters and wowed us with a great variety of the Edsel product line. It's hard to believe that these cars were regarded as "ugly" for quite some time, but they are super cool nowadays. They're also super rare, so we were excited to see a group of this many Edsels at one time!
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September 19, 2012It 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!
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October 21, 2011There's nothing like a good ole road trip with a few buddies, especially if you're behind the wheel of a vintage car! It's certainly an adventure, with the lack of technology, and the lack of horsepower, compared to our modern vehicles, but it's a lot of fun. A group of diehard Model A enthusiasts formed the "Crankin' A's of Daytona" club and they love having fun with old cars. They set out from Daytona Beach, Florida on October 16th, heading north, and they happened to stop by our place yesterday afternoon for a visit. [caption id="attachment_2243" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="The Crankin' A's of Daytona invade Coker Tire!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2244" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Two coupes, a Tudor, a Fordor and a Delivery...these guys have some cool cars!"][/caption] Our resident tour guide extraordinaire, Raime took the group through the Coker Tire facility, showing them our lobby, machine shop, service center and museum along the way. One of the guys even bought a set of tires while he was here, so we definitely appreciate that! These guys really know how to have fun with their vintage Fords, and we love seeing these long haulers because that means they're wearing out TIRES!!! We hope they come back and visit us again, but for now, let's take a look at their cars!
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October 11, 2011It takes a lot of dedication to drive a vintage car everyday. Old cars require a lot more maintenance and they're ill-tempered no matter the driving conditions. One young man, Jonathan Klinger, an employee at Hagerty Insurance, decided he'd drive his '30 Ford Model A sedan everyday for a year, so he did just that...and he did it on a set of Excelsior Stahl Sport Radial tires! You can read all about his journeys, which are about to come to a close at his website http://www.365daysofa.com/. Jonathan certainly sounds like our kind of guy, and his "about" post on his blog says it all: "I'm Jonathan Klinger and I'm spending one full year driving a 1930 Model A everywhere I go. (Starting October 13, 2010) Why? Because not everything a person owns should contain a computer." If you like old cars, and you like an entertaining read, check out Jonathan's blog!
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August 06, 2011Well, it's that time of the year again. It's August, it's hot and it's time for the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky. We're on a cool little road trip this weekend, and decided to stop at the Nats for the day. As usual, the Kentucky Expo Center was packed with hot rods of all shapes and sizes, from low slung coupes to nose-high gassers. The day started with a six hour drive, and ended with about 3 more hours of driving....with lots of hot rods thrown in the midst. Tomorrow we're headed to the Funny Car Nationals at Marion County International Raceway in LaRue, Ohio...it should be a great time as over 30 funny cars do battle, along with a great deal of Nostalgia Pro Stock and Nostalgia Super Stock. We're always wanting to figure out new ways to cater to our nostalgia drag racing people, so this is a great way to do it. We'll post pictures from that event too, so stay tuned! For now, here are some of our favorite shots from Louisville. [caption id="attachment_1926" align="alignleft" width="493" caption="Our booth at the 2011 NSRA Street Rod Nationals Plus"][/caption]
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July 15, 2011Talk 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!
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May 16, 2011There's something to be said for a historic race track, be it a dirt track, a paved track or a drag strip. Knowing that gear heads just like you were racing on that very surface 50 years ago is an eye opening experience that will put a smile on any car guy's face. With this in mind, folks around the country are flocking to nostalgia drag racing events at historic tracks. One such event and track, is the Paradise Show-N-Go, held at Paradise Drag Strip in Calhoun, Georgia. [caption id="attachment_1395" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Paradise Drag Strip is known for its uphill burnout box and slightly unlevel starting line, which causes cars with manual transmissions to roll backward at the line. Even with this flaw, it was a state-of-the-art track during the \'60s."][/caption] The track opened in 1961, and it was home to lots of big-name match races and also a home track to many Super Stock racers in the mid-60s. Legends of drag racing, such as "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick and "Dyno Don" Nicholson have raced at Paradise Drag Strip, drawing huge crowds to watch the exciting action. Back then, every driver had a nickname, and every car had a distinct personality, unlike today's professional ranks in NHRA, where each car in its class is identical, aside from a few sponsor decals.