The 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
We love it when a big company like Hagerty comes up with a cool idea that utilizes its employees in a way that gets them away from their desk for a few days. The Hagerty Swap to Street Chasllenge is a group of Hagerty employees that have been tasked with restoring a '46 Ford truck in 100 hours, while on display at the AACA Hershey fall meet in Pennsylvania. This event is the ultimate swap meet, and the idea is for the Hagerty crew to source all of the necessary parts from the swap meet. Some parts will be used, while others will come from some of the new parts vendors....such as Coker Tire, of course! We provided a set of Coker Classic 600R16 radial whitewall tires and Hot Rod Steel wheels for the Ford pickup. The goal is to restore the truck and drive it back to the Hagerty headquarters in Traverse City, Michigan after the show is over. The cool part about the whole deal is that it's being filmed, and a LIVE FEED is available to see the progress. You can click here for the live feed, and click here to get more information on the build.
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We love a good ol' car guy adventure. We do stuff like the Great Race, the Driven Dirty Tour and other road trip adventures on a regular basis, but we encountered a slightly different approach to the standard old car road trip this week. Apparently, a group of guys from California flew to Hershey, Pennsylvania for the AACA Fall Meet with a pocket full of cash, in search of a classic car. The goal was to buy a car at Hershey and drive it back home to California, with Coker Tire being a pit stop along the way. Ok, you have our attention!
The passing of a year of the calendar for kids seems to have very important points during the year like the end of school, Christmas, and birthdays. My calendar year seems to have important dates that focus around car events. As a died-in-the-wool car guy, I know it is Fall for sure when the AACA National Fall Meet, better simply known as Hershey rolls around. If you have never been to Hershey, Pennsylvania for this huge collector car extravaganza, you MUST put this event on your list.
Last weekend, we had a lot going on. Coker Tire was widely represented across the country, as we had a truck and trailer at the Bakersfield, California HCCA meet, as well as a big crew at the Portland, Oregon Swap Meet. Without a doubt, we supplied lots of tires for collector vehicles, but we also had some fun too! While our sales guys were hard at work, our staff photographer went up to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to the Spring Grand Rod Run. He came back with a bunch of cool pictures, so we just wanted to share them here. Check 'em out!
[caption id="attachment_2450" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="This Model A is super cool! Love those Firestone cheater slicks on the back!"][/caption]
With 2012 right around the corner, we're preparing for a full year of fun events, traveling place to place in one of our tractor trailers. One in particular, which we refer to as the "High Tech Truck" just got a major facelift, with a brand new wrap that covers nearly every square inch of the trailer. It has a cool design with all sorts of photos on it....AND, one side is different than the other! We'll be heading to lots of events this year, so after you check out the pictures of our new trailer wrap, see our event schedule and find out where we're headed! By the way, if you want to save money on shipping, you can take advantage of FREE delivery to shows. That means you can walk into the show empty handed and walk out with a brand new set of tires and wheels that are mounted, balanced and ready to bolt on to your collector vehicle.
While I was in Hershey, Pennsylvania for the big AACA swap meet, I visited the annual Mini Muster at the Marmon Club spot in the Chocolate Field on Friday. Clay Thomas, a longtime member of the Marmon Club, told me about his 1922 Marmon 2-passenger speedster while club members Lou Iaccino and Dave Cargill listen in. The Mini Muster has been a 3-5 p.m. tradition for decades at Hershey for Marmon lovers from all over the world and I'm one of 'em! This year it was attended by 25 owners and club members.
[caption id="attachment_2217" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Having a good time with great friends at the Mini Muster, during the Hershey AACA meet!"][/caption]
Of course, I had to brag to the club members about my
Oh, yeah... I forgot to add this to the Davenport trip. My buddy Mike Wolfe had this piece of crap belly tank racer on display that he had found out pickin somewhere with his hit tv show "American Pickers". I tried to get him to price it to me. It is powered by an Indian 4 cylinder motor. Rear end is a motorcycle three wheeler. I thought it was cool. Maybe he will come down off his high horse and price it to his old buddy Corky. If you see him or Frank, tell them I want it and to be nice to me on the price...
Check out a couple of pictures...
[caption id="attachment_1957" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="This thing is just too cool! I gotta have it!"][/caption]
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One of my favorite swap meets is the Iowa Chief Blackhawk Chapter of the Antique Motor Cycle Club of America which happens Labor Day weekend in Davenport Iowa. It is always hot! Was this year too! Usually I fly in but some of the guys drive up earlier in the week to set up our tire display. I really really really like antique motorcycles so I have to be at Davenport. This is about the biggest early bike show in the world. I get to see all my buddies too.
Dude (my bike restorer) said he needed a saddle and a pedal crank for a "barn find" Excelsior board track racer project he is doing for me. I was successful picking those pieces up so Dude can finish that bike. Usually I see all the Excelsior stuff on the field or "it finds me!...sort of calls out to me, you know." I found my buddy Vince had just picked up a 1913 Excelsior twin barn find on the way to Davenport from his home in Auburn CA. I had to have it. What do you think? Completely original... and it still has the original all