When it comes to season kick-off events, it doesn't get much better than the Corvette Expo, an event that takes place in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. With such a close location, and such an awesome turnout of cars and spectators, the Corvette Expo has become a great way to ring in the car show season. For many years, we've attended the event to simply walk around and photograph cars, but this year, we set up a vendor space to hopefully speak with our customers. This event features hundreds of Corvettes, and also has a special feature area called Chevys in the Smokies, a great display of classic and customized Chevrolet muscle cars with a heavy emphasis on Chevelle.
The Corvette Expo has been going strong since 1977, and it's packing the house each year at the beautiful LeConte Center in the heart of Pigeon Forge. With indoor and outdoor areas, the event has a car show, parts vendors, swap meet, and more, plus the cool nightlife out on the strip. In addition to the nighttime cruising, there are scheduled driving activities, including a tour of the Tail of the Dragon. Take a look at some of our favorite Coker-equipped cars and trucks on display at the 47th annual Corvette Expo featuring Chevys in the Smokies. For more information on this annual event, check out www.corvetteexpo.com.
The crowd was huge at the 2024 Corvette Expo...hundreds of cars and thousands of people packed into the beautiful LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge, TN.When it comes to early Corvettes, it's hard to go wrong with black paint, silver coves and red interior. This beautifully preserved 1958 Corvette still wears its original black lacquer paint, and rolls on a set of BFGoodrich Silvertown radial whitewalls.Big block, Tri-Power, side pipes...there are lots of reasons to love this Marina Blue 1967 Corvette coupe. We love it because of the smooth-riding BFGoodrich Redline radial tires. One of the many "survivors" on hand was this 1966 Chevelle that is all original, with exception of the Firestone 775-14 redline bias ply tires from Coker Tire.Now here's a cool one. This 1966 Chevy II is a tribute car to the late Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins. The car features L79 power and old school lettering, and it rolls on uncapped steel wheels and bias ply tires.Ok, so this isn't 100 percent correct...redlines didn't come out on Corvettes until 1967, but this Ermine White 1964 convertible sure looks good with redlines and knock-off wheels!Rubber bumper C3 Corvettes are coming up in value, and this one is a FINE example, featuring a set of stock polished aluminum wheels, wrapped in BFG Radial T/A's.Original Grecian Green paint shines nicely on this 1968 Chevelle, which sports a big block under-hood and deluxe wheel covers snapped onto the original 14-inch steel wheels. New Firestone Wide Oval radial tires offer a smooth ride with the vintage look.Jeff Helms displayed one of his outstanding Chevelle survivors. This one is super rare, as it has a big block, M21 four-speed and 3.07:1 rear gears. Gotta love the plain white appearance, white steel wheels and narrow whitewall bias ply tires.Another outstanding survivor is this triple black 1968 Chevelle, which is still wearing its original paint. It features red accent stripes, which goes nicely with the Goodyear redline bias ply tires. The color combo and lettering gives the 1978 Corvette pace car a timeless look. It has the original aluminum wheels, and the Cooper Cobra tires hit the road nicely, and provide the classic raised white letter appearance.When you think 1950's, it's hard NOT to think about turquoise and white two-tone paint jobs, lots of polished trim, and of course, wide whitewall tires. This Regal Turquoise 1958 Corvette is looking nice on Goodyear wide whites.Big blocks were on the way out the door by 1972, but this Chevelle Super Sport convertible is a great piece of muscle car history. SS wheels and Goodyear Polyglas F60-15 tires.Jimmy Arnold's 1967 Chevelle is an outstanding example of a "Day 2" build. It is modified to early '70s styling, and rolls on a set of our Cragar S/S wheels and bias ply tires. The rears are Pro Trac 275/60-15 tires.Great crowds made the two-day event a fun time for everyone. The weather on Friday was a little rough, but a sunny Saturday made up for it.This 1960 Corvette looks just right on a set of our BFGoodrich Silvertown wide whitewall radial tires, sized at 205/75R15.Not all of the Chevelles were bone stock originals, as evidenced by this 1966 Chevelle, which sports a set of wide Corvette rallye wheels and Cooper Cobra raised white letter tires.Goodyear Wide Tread GT tires are the perect fit for this 1969 Camaro Z/28, with optional Rally Sport package.The king of the road in 1970 was the Chevelle Super Sport with LS6 horsepower. This 454ci big block combo made 450 horsepower. Firestone Wide Oval raised white letter tires are sized at F70-14 and mounted to Super Sport wheels.This 1969 Corvette convertible is one of only 390 examples that left the factory with the L89 big block, a combination of the L71 big block (427/435hp) and aluminum heads from the L88. It AZ-code Rallye wheels and a set of our Goodyear F70-15 blackwalls.
