Page 5 - General Post

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!

When you purchase a set of tires from Coker Tire, we do our very best to make sure you're pleased with the shopping experience. Our tires are guaranteed to be free from defects in workmanship and materials for the life of the tread. We call it the Life of the Tread warranty, and it applies to most of our tires, providing a prorated warranty for defective tires. You can take the warranty one step further by opting for our Extended Tire Protection plan, which offers free tire replacement on all tires that are damaged from a cut, snag, bruise, impact, puncture or cosmetic flaw, such as whitewall damage. Some exclusions apply, but look for the "Road Hazard" or "ETP" option during checkout. Make the smart choice and go the extra mile with Coker Tire's warranty program!

As if the 1911 Marmon Wasp (winner of the inaugural Indianapolis 500) doesn't have a rich enough pedigree to be considered a rockstar, this sealed the deal! Our Marmon Wasp replica, built by Honest Charley Garage, was actually featured in a rock concert in Scottsdale, Arizona this week. The concert was held in conjunction with a Bridgestone/Firestone Dealer Meeting. Coker Tire was represented at the meeting, due to our involvement with Firestone tires for the vintage market, and we put our Marmon Wasp replica on display in the concert hall, where Foreigner rocked the house! How cool is that???

It's not often that we run across an antique car enthusiast who sets out on a journey to drive around the world, but when we heard about the Model T World Tour, we wanted to be a part of it! Dirk Regter is the driver and Trudy Roorda is the co-driver, and they're based out of Holland. The Model T World Tour is a multi-year venture, which started in 2012 and ends in 2015. This year, Dirk and Trudy are in the North America, and we ran into them at the AACA Hershey swap meet!

As if we didn't have enough going on in the month of September, we finished out the month with a very cool event, known as the Somernites Power Cruise. The regular Somernites Cruise is a monthly event (4th Saturday of the month) that draws in more than a thousand cars and trucks into downtown Somerset, Kentucky for a day of car guy fun. The "Power Cruise" is held in September, and we participated as one of the starting points for the Cruise.

Well, folks, it's all over and we had yet another wonderful Coker Tire Challenge here in Chattanooga, Tennessee! Today's route was short enough to get us back here to Chattanooga by 11:30 or so, and we all congregated at the Coker Tire Museum for the finish reception and awards ceremony! We were proud to present the Bill Coker Spirit of the Event Award to John Coker for his dedication in the rallying world, and of course his determination to continue the family business (Coker Millwrights). Here is the Top 5 overall, as well as our Rookie winners! 1. Jody Knowles and Beth Gentry, 1932 Ford 2. Howard and Douglas Sharp, 1916 Hudson 3. Rex Gardner and Ty Holmquist, 1935 Ford 4. Bill Harper and Larry Blair, 1932 Ford 5. Gary and JeanAnn Martin, 1938 Ford Rookie Winners -- Team Benson/Kane, 1950 Ford

Ahh, this is our favorite time of year. Crisp, cool mornings, sunny afternoons and breezy nights. We're getting a little taste of fall around here, and it's great for our Coker Tire Challenge participants. We left this morning, and the folks in open-air cars were in long sleeves. Today's route sent us West, toward Nashville, and we went through a bunch of small towns, such as Jasper and Tracy City on our way to Tullahoma for our lunch stop. The twisty roads, countless hay fields and barns made for great scenery, as the field of cars and trucks made sure to hit all of their marks and stay on time. Finally, we came back to Chattanooga for an awesome dinner right here at the Coker Tire Museum. Check out our favorite pictures from today, and wish us luck for tomorrow!

Here we are again, it's time for another year of the Coker Tire Challenge! It seems like we just returned home from our big journey on the Great Race, and now it's time to meet up with our rallying friends yet again for a more laid back experience in our neck of the woods. It's always fun, and we always love to post up cool pictures and videos from the event, so be on the lookout for some cool shots in the coming days. Today's action consisted of technical inspection and a welcome reception in the Coker Tire Museum, but check out the photos and be sure to take a close look at that buffet table...talk about cool!

If you've owned a car with whitewall tires, then you know that the road grime and brake dust can quickly take away the beautiful, bright white finish. We always want our whitewalls to have the cleanest appearance possible, so we have a special blend of whitewall cleaner and tire dressing. It is not advised to use products that contain bleach or other harsh chemicals, as this is not good for the white rubber and can lead to problems down the road. For all of our whitewall tires, we use a cleaner called Wide White, and then finish off the sidewall with Big Classic tire dressing. We offer a Cleaner and Dressing Package deal, which also includes Whitewall Wipes as an added bonus! These products are citrus-based, so it's safe for white and black rubber, and it smells good, too!

We gave you the lowdown on the 68th Revival Glidden Tour in our previous post and let you know that part of the festivities involved a great visit to Harold Coker's barn here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. For those that don't know, Harold Coker is the founder of Coker Tire and he's the father of Corky Coker. He's been a car guy all of his life, and he's still fooling with cars on a daily basis. His car collection is very cool, and it's all packed in a barn just like you see all over the Southern portion of the United States. Check it out!

The Glidden Tour is an event that relives the early years of the automobile, when American Automobile Association (AAA) decided to hold a touring event in the 1900's to prove the reliability of the automobile, which was in its infancy. The original Glidden Tours were held from 1903 to 1911 and they were named after Charles Glidden. Then, in 1946, the Glidden Tour was revived by the Veteran Motor Car Club of America (VMCCA) and continues to this day, visiting a different city each year. For 2013, we were lucky enough to have the 68th Revival Glidden Tour visit Chattanooga, Tennessee to see what the Scenic City has to offer!

Once again, we blocked off all of the streets in Corkyville, and invited a bunch of our friends to join us for a great day of car guy fun. We had blue skies and LOTS of sun, so folks arrived early in the morning to claim their parking spot. We knew going into the day's event that our overall turnout may be smaller than the April event, due to the schedule conflict with Shades of the Past in Pigeon Forge. We did have a few less cars, but we still had approximately 600 vehicles on hand for the fall Chattanooga Cruise In!

Our Vice President of Exports, Mr. Jim Hildebrand has been quite busy lately, with many guests from overseas. Earlier this week, Jim met with Geoff Dixon of BG Marketing LTD. Geoff visited the Coker Tire international headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee this week, as he is the sales arm for Heritage Tyres LTD, our vintage tyre distributor for all of New Zealand. Heritage Tyres LTD carries our complete product line of tires and wheels, and we hope Geoff had a great trip back to the other side of the planet!

Tsugimasa Fujiwara and Daichi Jozuka of Garage Vintage in Osaka, Japan visited Coker Tires international head quarters right here in Chattanooga, Tennesse last week. Their company, Garage Vintage, specializes in the restoration and sales of vintage air-cooled Volkswagens and supports their market by carrying a complete line of original equipment and replacement tires from Coker Tire. We're proud to have them as a distributor and glad they made the trip over here to visit with our VP of Exports, Jim Hildebrand and International Sales Representative, Adrian Bernal!

The Street Rodder Road Tour is an annual get together of street rods that head across country from state to state, visiting cool shops, car shows and all sorts of fun places along the way. Today, the crew stopped here in Chattanooga, Tennessee on their way up to Pigeon Forge for the Shades of the Past. About 50 cars were in the group, including the 2013 Street Rodder Road Tour car, a 1951 Ford Custom, built at Honest Charley Garage!

In the drag racing world, "Big Daddy" is a household name. His real name is Don Garlits and he is a drag racing legend. He's been around the sport for many, many years, and he's strapped into some of the fastest dragsters in the world. He is an innovator, a true racer and a downright nice guy, and we were lucky enough for him to stop by and hang out for a while today.

Here at Coker Tire, we sort of glaze over when we think of the cars here at the headquarters and the Coker Tire Museum. We see these cars every day, and sometimes forget just how cool they are. It's important to occasionally take a step back and reevaluate the cars in Corky's collection and let you guys know what makes them so cool. Today's subject is the "Shafer 8" an Indy racecar replica that has become one of Corky's favorite cars of all time.

Hot rods are cool because they're generally not cookie cutter builds that lack personality. Owners and builders can go as wild as they want, and part of getting the right look is the vehicle's stance. And a big part of the stance involves the tires and wheels. Sizing is key, so if you can dream it up, we can usually put together a tire and wheel package for your hot rod, custom or classic car. Read more to find out how we do it.

Fresh off of the 2013 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty, we are slowly getting things back to normal at the office. We received a phone call from Tim Suddard, Publisher of Grassroots Motorsports and Classic Motorsports Magazines, saying that he'd be passing through Chattanooga, on his way back from a family vacation in a vintage Mercedes.

We were thrilled when we heard that the Hot Rod Power Tour would be coming back to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2013. We geared up for a huge event, and that's exactly what it was...HUGE! Thousands of cars came out to Chattanooga State Community College for the official day's stop, while we prepared for an After Party Cruise In at our place! By 5pm, rush hour traffic was jam-packed with hot rods and everyone was headed to Coker!

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.

When you think of muscle cars, you might think of the optioned-up models, such as SS, GT, R/T, etc. as the top of the heap. And while those models represent the era very well, you could have very easily been outrun by a vehicle like the '65 Chevelle 300 Deluxe pictured here. While many of the 300 Deluxe cars were built with inline six-cylinder engines, or low horsepower 283ci V8's, a select few were built with the very potent L79 code 327ci small block. This is one of the few...

Nashville is about two hours away from our office, so we snuck out to attend the Goodguys Nashville Nationals on May 17-19. We do not set up as a vendor at this event because of scheduling conflicts, but it's just too close for us to miss a chance of photographing some cool stuff for our advertisements and catalogs. So, we won't bore you with the details: LP Field, Nashville, TN, 2,000 cars and LOTS of Coker Tire products on the ground. Check it out!

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.

Sometimes we get caught up in the daily hustle of selling tires, and forget about all of the cool stuff that was created specifically so hot rodders could put a personal touch on their machines. One of the coolest products that have passed through our development department and onto our customers is the Firestone Dirt Track line. They're distinct, they're old school and they're the perfect fit for a traditional hot rod...that's why WE love 'em. Here are some reasons you should love them...

We're constantly trying to improve our customers' experience with us, so it has been an ongoing process to develop our website into an-easy-to-use destination. We launched a brand new version of the Coker Tire homepage this morning, and we hope you enjoy it! It serves not only as a sales site, but we have made huge efforts to include educational bits and pieces throughout to help customers learn more about tires and wheels. When you get a few minutes, browse around the new homepage and get familiar with it.

We get lots of great questions, while we're at shows and on the phone with customers. We want to educate our customers to make the ordering process smooth and easy, so we're going to do a series of tech articles that explain several of our most popular questions. The first of these is measuring the bolt pattern before ordering a set of our wheels. It's an easy process, but it can easily be misunderstood, which can sometimes result in ordering the wrong wheels! Take a look...

How many times have you been on a road trip, and you decide to take a detour just for the fun of it? Sometimes, it might upset your significant other, or it might burn through a few more gallons of gas, but it's almost always worth it. In the case of a bunch of hot rodders from the Northeast, they decided to make a stop here at Coker Tire on their way back from the Lonestar Round-Up in Austin, Texas. We're glad they came by and you'll be glad to see their awesome machines--check it out!

We promoted the Chattanooga Cruise In to be the coolest Cruise In in the Southeast and by the looks of the turnout this past Saturday, we were right! It was HUGE! The crew had its hands full with trying to get everyone parked, and keep everyone entertained, but it was a great event for Chattanooga, and a great event for Coker Tire. We plan to host many more of these events right here at Coker Tire, including a big block party after the Power Tour stop in Chattanooga on Thursday, June 6th, as well as another one on Saturday, September 7th. The Chattanooga Cruise In brought out nearly 1,000 cars, trucks and motorcycles to Corkyville. It was hard to get an official count of spectators, but we estimate that more than 5,000 people were in attendance. It was incredibly packed all day, and we all had a great time. Take a look at some of our favorite pictures here, but visit our Facebook page and Instagram feed for many more shots! Also, keep an eye on the Chattanooga Cruise In website for updates regarding our future events!!!

Alright guys and gals, we're super excited about our event, the Chattanooga Cruise In, coming up this Saturday, April 6th from 2-8pm Eastern time. If you're anywhere near Chattanooga, you need to check it out! Several hundred cars will be on display on the streets surrounding the Coker Tire headquarters here in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. We'll also have an open house for our facility, as well as an open house at Honest Charley Speed Shop and Honest Charley Garage. Please join us!

We were just informed that the time slot changed for Hot Rod TV on Speed Channel! The Great Race will be featured on an episode of Hot Rod TV, which will air on March 23, at 10am EST. It will re-air on Sunday, March 24 at 7am and 10:30pm EST. Check your local listings just to be sure...you don't want to miss it!

Hey, that's not a bad thing, right? We've been working hard this year, and barely took the time to realize this is Coker Tire Company's 55th anniversary! The company has come a long way from its early beginnings as a BFGoodrich tire dealership, as we are now the world's leading supplier of tires and wheels for collector vehicles!

We have just been informed that the Great Race television show will air on Speed Channel on Saturday, March 23, at 10:00am EST. It airs as a special episode of Hot Rod TV, and it's going to be awesome! Coker Tire is a major sponsor of the event and it's an extreme passion for all the folks involved in promoting the event, so seeing it on Speed will be great!

What does that mean? It means Coker Tire Company took part in an event known simply as MPMC, which stands for Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council. The event took place at the Embassy Suites in Santa Ana, California, and it is a "speed dating" style event that involves parts manufacturers setting up a small demonstration booth inside a hotel suite.

The America's Most Beautiful Roadster award is one of the most prestigious awards in the hot rod world, and it's given away every year at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California. We were on hand for the Roadster Show, and speculated that John Mumford's 1927 Ford Track-T roadster would take home the 8-foot tall trophy, and we were right! John's roadster is top notch in every way, and it fully deserves the AMBR title. Since it wears a set of Firestone Deluxe Champion tires, we figured you might want to see more of it!

Winter time for us southerners is quite tough! We struggle to make it through the winter without getting cabin fever, but Southern California hot rodders can get out all year long! In fact, one of the best hot rod and customs shows in the world happens in January, so it gave us a nice break from the cold. It's called the Grand National Roadster Show, and it's a hotbed for the coolest customs, wildest hot rods and baddest gassers in the country. The best part about it? A huge percentage of the cars roll on Coker Tire products! This year, we attended the event with a camera in hand and grabbed a bunch of great photos for you guys to enjoy!

Some people might call it an addiction, but I love finding old neon signs! If you've ever visited our place here in Chattanooga, Tennessee (by the way, we have free tours Monday through Friday at 10am and 2pm) you've probably seen a few of my signs. I've bought some from the 'Pickers, and I've bought a bunch of other ones, too! In our museum, we have a nice collection of signs, but I wanted a big one, so I picked this one up! This week, my boys installed it on one of our semi-permenant trailers at the loading dock. Check it out...it's huge!

A couple weeks ago, our cohorts across the street at Honest Charley alerted us of a very cool project that we might want to document. So, we did just that and the car is now finished, complete with a brand new set of Michelin TB5 tires!. It's a 1980 Fiat 131 Abarth tribute car, and it has lots of cool parts on it. The wide fender flares and paint scheme are in-your-face aggressive, and super-wide Michelin TB5 tires are a perfect fit.

We 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.

Local hot rodder, Lee Schmidt came by the office this week in his beautiful '32 Ford roadster, so we didn't hesitate to ask for a closer look and a ride around the block. Thanks to a tasteful mix of components, Lee's roadster sits just right and has a super clean and traditional appearance. A set of our Firestone Dirt Track tires and Hot Rod Wire wheels sets it off perfectly!

[caption id="attachment_3236" align="alignright" width="640"] Pictured left to right: Derek Smith, Steve Smith, Kindall Jolly[/caption] For the past couple of decades, a staple in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area has been a retro-themed car dealership on Rossville Boulevard. Known as Big Hearted Smitty's, the used car lot was quite successful, and had a huge neon sign out front. Steve Smith started the business many years ago, and had the sign built in 1997, by Victory Sign Industries in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Last year, Steve decided to move his dealership elsewhere, leaving behind the cool sign.

When you think of Cadillac, you think of BIG, heavy, luxurious cars with massive fins. The 1959 Cadillac Coupe deVille is one of the most iconic collector vehicles in existence, and we put our hands on a great one today. Gabe Davis is the proud owner and he drove the Caddy from Buford, Georgia this morning. He admits that the old tires were literally OLD tires, possibly from the '70s, so it didn't offer the smooth ride that we normally associate with a Cadillac. Gabe wanted to upgrade to radials, while keeping the vintage style, so he came to the right place!

[caption id="attachment_3196" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The super-cool Hot Rod Ebay build gasser van.[/caption] After two full days pounding the show floor, the realities of why this show is so important have set in. Everyone is here. Every distributor, manufacturer and everyone who has anything at all to do with the automotive aftermarket is roaming the show floors striking the deals that make the industry turn. It's awe inspiring to say the least. You start imagining the original show back in 1967 when the deals were probably handshakes made in the bar after hours and how sophisticated it is now. The seminars, educational efforts and networking opportunities that go with the standard business efforts are simply amazing.

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!

For the past few decades, we've made the long trek to Las Vegas, Nevada for the annual SEMA Show and this year is no different. We just finished loading a couple of tractor trailers with our SEMA booth as well as a bunch of our toys and new product that we want to show off. We're very excited about the event, because there are thousands of great cars and a bunch of our good friends and business partners from around the world! The best part of the event is that we'll be covering it LIVE via the Coker Tire Facebook page!

Usually, a t-shirt doesn't rank highly on the scale of importance--we use 'em for work shirts, grease rags and whatever else. We recently encountered something that makes us think differently about the importance of a t-shirt. If you follow our blog, then most of you are familiar with the Chattanooga Cruise In, which is our open house and cruise in held right here at Coker Tire. Last month, we had an overwhelming turnout, with more than 700 cars and thousands of people in attendance. We printed a small quantity of special Chattanooga Cruise In T-Shirts, so with the larger-than-expected crowd, they sold out quickly.

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.

As we all know, Indy is the birthplace of speed, so when we heard that a group of Indiana-based car guys (and gals) would be visiting us, we knew they'd have some cool stuff. The group is called the Historic Auto Club of Indiana (HAC of Indy for short) and about a dozen of their cars rolled into our place this week for a visit. From Chryslers to Camaros, this group had a wide range of classic cars, and we're glad they came to Chattanooga for a tour! Take a look!

If you've been keeping track of our Cruise In events here at Coker Tire, then you'll quickly realize that we have officially given it a name: the Chattanooga Cruise In. This event has taken off with great success, and we plan to hold more of them in 2013. We will soon be creating a website specifically for the Cruise In, so that we can efficiently handle requests for clubs, parking, etc. All of that aside, we prepared for a big crowd this past Saturday, and boy did we ever get one! With 700 cars on hand and more than 2,000 spectators, we had our hands full all day!

You've probably noticed that we've had a bunch of groups visit Coker Tire in the past few months. Today, we had the Eliminators Car Club, all the way from Bucyrus, Ohio! They came in a diverse group of cars, ranging from a '67 Mustang to some more obscure cars, like a '60 Pontiac and a '57 Ford wagon, converted into a sedan delivery. There was even a '64 Ford ex-drag racer, which had all of the documentation, old pictures and event decals to prove it! Other cars included a cool '57 Chevy 150 and a Ford panel truck, rolling on Coker Classic wide whitewalls.

After having our Friday night kickoff party and cookout, we prepared ourselves for a hot rod convoy to Somerset, Kentucky. We had a dozen cars from around the area leave with us from Coker Tire, including a few Coker Tire employees. Leaving from Chattanooga at 8am, fellow enthusiasts joined the line as we motored up Highway 27 toward Kentucky. We'd continue to pick up cars as we made our way to Somerset, with the final count nearing 50 by the time we reached our destination. Upon arrival we were blown away with the size and organization of the Somernites Power Cruise event!

A few months ago, we were given the opportunity to sponsor the Somernites Cruise In, which is one of the largest Cruise In events in the country. It's held in Somerset, Kentucky, which is just a few hours north of our headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Somernites has an event called the Power Cruise, which consists of big groups of cars traveling from a particular starting point and ended up in Somerset. The Somernites event already has starting points in Nashville, Bowling Green, Cincinnati and more. Somernites board member, Keith Floyd came to us with the idea to add a new Power Cruise starting point in Chattanooga and we didn't hesitate to agree to it. Part of the fun would be a Friday night kickoff party at our place, where we could welcome our guests, and show them a good time!

We 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!

On Sunday morning, our Coker Tire Challenge participants left our early and got back to Chattanooga just before lunch time. They were greeted by friends and family, as they crossed the finish line and prepared for the awards ceremony and dinner. Below are the Top 3 results from the Rookie and Veteran categories. Great Race Grand Champions, Barry and Irene Jason took home the overall victory...they are on a roll! Honorable mentions are Greg and Casey Cunningham with a 5th place finish, as well as John and Beth Coker with a 10th place finish overall!

If you guys follow our blog and/or our the Coker Tire Facebook Page, then you know that we're having a BIG Cruise In on Saturday, September 29th. It's going to be a great event with hundreds of cars, so we're very excited about it. Our special Cruise In shirts were a big hit last time and we sold out quickly, so we're doing it again this time around. We just got our shipment in so we wanted to show it off! We order 200 of these shirts in various sizes and they're going to only be available at the event. It has an awesome design and the best part is the price.....10 bucks! For that kind of investment, you gotta get one!

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!

Among our fondest memories and during the most impressionable time of any gearhead's life are the teen years when cars were the coolest and the mysteries of hot rodding were just beginning to reveal themselves. Many of us had a shop class in school and piddled the hours away imagining how fast that Camaro would be if we could just afford a new set of aluminum heads all while learning to change the spark plugs in the assistant principle's Camry.

CNS News, 16 July 2012

New Ethanol-Blend Fuel Approved by EPA Can Damage Car Engines, Group Warns

WASHINGTON, DC - A new blend of gasoline comprising 15% ethanol, approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last month and now available in Kansas, could damage automobile engines, the Kansas Petroleum Council is warning. We dont have a problem with ethanol, council director Ken Peterson told CNSNews.com. We use it virtually in every gallon of gasoline thats produced for sale in this country, but the E15 is kind of a different animal in that both the petroleum industry and the car manufacturers have raised concerns about potential damage from the use of E15 fuel in a misfueling situation [putting the wrong type of fuel in your vehicle by mistake]. And were essentially trying to issue a warning, a caveat emptor type of comment, to just be careful about this.

Dang! The US Senate does something for a change!

Today is National Collector Car Appreciation Day! The United States Senate recently did something worthwhile! Glory be! Wonders never cease! Senate Resolution 452 designates July 13, 2012 as Collector Car Appreciation Day as an acknowledgment of the importance that the automotive hobby has on our society.

Now that the 2012 Hot Rod Power Tour is in the books, we wanted to do a quick recap and show off a few pictures that we snapped along the way. Coker Tire was a proud sponsor of the Day 2 stop in Muskegon, Michigan, which included a spectacular day of action. The weather was just right and we had a blast. Thousands of cars, and thousands of spectators came by for the day, and many of them stopped by the Coker Tire booth to check out what we had to offer. In addition to tire displays, we had Corky's brand new '54 Buick on display, as well as an 1908 American Simplex Indy racer and the Honest Charley rat rod pickup. [caption id="attachment_2560" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Corky's '54 Buick is awesome...just looks mean with those wide whites and black steelies!"][/caption] Corky invited his buddy Audie Blaylock, and his band, "Redline" to play at the after party that evening, and boy did they put on a show! Corky even got up on stage with them and sang a tune. During our time

There are plenty of cool things going on around here, but one of the coolest is the fact that the Honest Charley Garage crew will be making their TV debut this Wednesday night on the Speed Channel! That's right, our boys across the street are going big time! They were approached with the idea to appear on the TV Show, Car Warriors, which is a weekly program on Speed, airing on Wednesday nights at 9pm EST. Of course, HCG obliged and built a killer car while out West for filming. We don't want to spoil the surprise, so tune into see the HCG crew turning wrenches and building an awesome car in just 48 hours!!! Just as an FYI, Honest Charley Garage is part of the Coker Group, and does high quality automotive restoration work. They can do it all, and put their skills to the test on Car Warriors. The show pits two teams against each other in a major time crunch to build the coolest car possible within the 48 hour time frame. It's a high tension environment and our boys handled it well. You guys

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] [caption id="attachment_2449" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Here's a closer look at those Firestone Dragster DOT slicks!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2452" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Awesome Chevy gasser rollin' on Coker's!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2443" align="alignleft"

If you were a part of the 2010 Hot Rod Power Tour, then you probably remember the awesome stop here in Chattanooga, Tennessee! We had a HUGE cruise in right here in Corkyville, and for 2012, we plan to hold a Coker Tire Cruise Night in Muskegon, Michigan on June 3rd! We'll have all sorts of cool stuff going on, including a live performance from Audie Blaylock and Redline! This highly acclaimed bluegrass band will show those Michigan folks how it's done! The best part about Audie Blaylock??? He's a CAR GUY! If you're in the area or on the Power Tour, do yourself a favor and join us on June 3rd for the Coker Tire Cruise Night!!!

"Corvette guys" have a reputation for being overly picky about their cars, but when it comes to the high class restorations these cars undergo, we don't blame them for babying the cars. We love to see a great restoration with all the right bits and pieces to make it truly authentic, but we also like to see real survivor--a car that has never been restored, but still has all the right stuff. Last week, we encountered a 1959 Corvette survivor here at the shop, and couldn't help but give it a thorough inspection. The car is currently owned by Scott Hamrick of Jefferson, Georgia, who recently purchased it from the original owner. Scott has every piece of documentation that you could dream of, and it's all tied directly to this particular car. He even has the original Georgia title, which was issued in 1962, the year Georgia began issuing titles to motor vehicles. When he bought the car, he got it all, including pictures of the original owners with the car when it was fairly new. Through all

Here at Coker Tire, we love to handle business the old fashioned way. We've been around since '58, so these traditional values have long been a staple of this company. However, during this day and age, you have to reach out to your core customers and find new ones with alternative methods, such as social media. A few years ago, a website was considered "good enough", but now, it's common for an automotive aftermarket company to spend quite a bit of resources to maintain a strong social presence on the internet. For Coker Tire, we're on the move with lots of social media efforts, with the goal of reaching our core demographic and keeping folks aware of our scope in the automotive field.

For our company, social media has been a passion of the Marketing Department, and it has blossomed nicely over the past year or so. It's important to keep things fresh, so we're constantly updating our pages with new content to help keep you in the loop! First off is the Coker Tire Facebook Page--it's packed

Another week of racing resulted in yet another successful race for Phoenix Race Tires specialist and fellow racer, Mike Crutchfield. Check out his report from the weekend activities! "This past weekend at the Jegs Cajun Sports Nationals had a very good turn out with over 500 cars. The weather was spring like which made for a great race weekend. I had a lot of interaction with customers that were on Phoenix tires and with others that needed to be. Sold some tires and got some promises to sell some more. The performance based Competition Eliminator class had several cars with Phoenix tires and Kevin Self qualified number 1 and was the runner up sporting a brand new set of Phoenix radials. In Super Stock Eliminator there was a 77 car field which made for a 7 round race with several fast runs made on Phoenix tires. I was the eventual winner. The Phoenix tires preformed flawless all weekend with the 60 foot times within 1 hundredth of a second." --Mike Crutchfield

A few weeks ago, we were approached by a major magazine publishing company to potentially borrow a motorcycle from our huge collection here at the Coker Museum. Source Interlink Media would be attending a major event, known simply as the Dealer Expo. This trade show is the premier global business venue for the powersports industry held in Indianapolis, Indiana, so our friends and Source Interlink wanted to represent a wide variety of motorcycles in its display booth. We kindly obliged and gave them our 1930 Indian Scout 101 for the weekend. A few interesting details about the bike is that it was very popular with racers, hill climbers and stunt riders. It had a couple options for engines, but this one features the 45ci V-twin, which produced 18 horsepower from the factory. With a 75mph top speed, the bike was quite the runner, and we're glad to have it as part of our collection. It even has a set of our Indian script tires on it!

We travel to more than 50 car shows a year with our tractor trailer rigs, and we're upgrading our fleet with fresh new designs! To give our trailers the "rolling billboard" affect, designer Michael Mattheiss gave each side a distinct look, and we couldn't be happier with the way it turned out! Our rigs are seen all over the country, so we want folks to see what we're all about. Check out this design, and look for it at a show near you!

As you may know, Coker Tire has is very own Performance Division, which consists of Phoenix Race Tires, and M&H Racemaster tires. As a race tire company, we are very involved in drag racing with our two Drag Tire Specialists being avid racers in various classes. Eric Gullett races a '69 Camaro on the outlaw circuit, and has recently rebuilt his car to run in the 4.70 index class, while Mike Crutchfield runs Super Stock on the NHRA Sportsman circuit. Mike recently returned from a NHRA event in south Georgia, so take a look at his race report, and you'll see how well our Phoenix tires are working! "The weather was again less than favorable at the NHRA division 2 Lucas oil series event at South Georgia Motorsports park. Getting over 3 inches of rain and high winds during the weekend almost canceled the event but persistence prevailed and the race was finished. The Phoenix race tires again stole the spotlight in two of the major classes. In Competition Eliminator, Grant Lewis again was the

Last year, we had our first cruise in here at the Coker Tire and Honest Charley headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee! We had experienced a few tour-related cruise ins, such as the massive Hot Rod Power Tour cruise in, but our event last fall was the first standalone cruise in for us! We had great results, so for 2012, we're having TWO cruise in events--one in the spring and one in the fall! Go ahead and mark your calendars for April 21st and September 15th! [caption id="attachment_2371" align="alignright" width="500" caption="Join Us for the Spring Cruise In....April 21st!"][/caption]

The Marketing Department at Coker Tire is responsible for lots of cool stuff, as it is their job to get the word out about our great company. In doing so, the department participates in a number of promotional deals, giving Coker many opportunities to reach out and help charitable organizations, especially those who are involved in the old car hobby. One such group, the Chip Mill Charitable Foundation, contacted us a few months ago, regarding a Corvette project car that would be restored and sold at Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction Scottsdale in January.

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.

We've been gearing up for the Austin Hatcher Foundation's charity event called Pistons & Fenders, and just thought we'd give you a sneak peek at our museum, where the event will be held. We've been moving cars, moving motorcycles and setting up tables for the big event. For more information on the event, CLICK HERE. It all starts here tomorrow February 4th, right here at the museum, and we're pumped...check out what we've working on! [caption id="attachment_2334" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Here are some cars that might not normally fit the bill in our Museum...but they're pretty cool! Nearest is a BMW, middle car is a Jaguar and the furthest away is a Porsche."][/caption]

As car guys, we surround ourselves with like-minded folks, and we often find that the car guy bond puts everyone on the same page. From regular Joe's to celebrities, car guys are on a level playing field. Take Jay Leno for example: he's a big-time celebrity, but the moment you start talking cars, he's just one of the guys. Granted, "just one of the guys" probably doesn't have a Duesenberg in his collection, but you get the idea. Corky and Jay have been buds for quite some time, and many of Jay's precious machines roll on a set of Coker Tire, so the guys at Jay's Garage got them together and shot a very cool (and very informative) segment on tires for vintage cars. The video is a comprehensive look at Jay's Duesenberg, which received a set of our new Excelsior Stahl Sport Radial tires, which are sized appropriately for vintage cars and have the looks of an old bias ply tire. The modern performance of radial construction did wonders for Jay's ultra-rare Duesenberg, and its proven to be a

Yep, it's that time of the year yet again....time for a new Coker Tire catalog! Our Marketing Department has been slaving away at the catalog, and there's no doubt that it's our best one yet. Graphic Designer, Aaron Wolfe worked alongside Corky and the gang to create a fresh look with all sorts of new products. The finished product is really cool, so we wanted to share it with you as a sneak peek. Check it out! [caption id="attachment_2320" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="On the cover is (Uncle) Bob Coker\'s beautifully restored 1955 Buick Motorama four door hardtop prototype! It rolls on Coker Classic bias ply whitewalls and Buick Skylark wire wheels."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2321" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="A great-looking \'32 Ford coupe represents our Coker Classic pages, and wears a set of Coker Classic 16-inch radial tires."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2322" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="The back cover is pretty cool, too! It has a killer

Now that's a cool name for an event! We're proud to be a part of Pistons & Fenders, which is a charity event, held right here Chattanooga, Tennessee. As a matter of fact, it's going to be held at the Coker Tire Museum on February 4, 2012. The event is being put on by Pandora's European Motorsports to benefit the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer. The doors open at 6pm EST, and tickets can be purchased by visiting the Austin Hatcher website....CLICK HERE. [caption id="attachment_2316" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Click the photo to visit the Austin Hatcher Foundation website for more information about the event!"][/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.

It's that time again, as we count down the days to Christmas. We celebrated Christmas at Coker Tire with a big shindig in the Museum last Friday night. It was a great time, thanks to a truck load of good food, a bunch of good friends, and a visit from ol' Saint Nick himself. Check it out...we had a great time, and we wish you a very Merry Christmas this year!!! [caption id="attachment_2304" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="The gang\'s all here!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2300" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="The Christmas spirit was alive and well in the Coker Tire Museum!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2301" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Santa and Mrs. Clause came in and stole the show..."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2302" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="All the kids gathered around, waiting for their name to be called."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2303" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="This little guy has his hands full!"]

If you follow our Facebook fan page, then you know we blasted the page with live photos from the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a great event and we had a blast, as always, so it's time to wrap it up and get ready for the winter season. We met lots of great folks at SEMA, some new to the industry and some old timers like us. We debuted new booth artwork for our indoor booth and a brand new full wrap on our tractor trailer rig, which was positioned outside of the convention center. With new products on display, as well as the completed Marmon Wasp and Honest Charley rat rod truck, our booth(s) were a big hit. Check it out! [caption id="attachment_2277" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Our updated SEMA indoor booth with new counter artwork, and TV\'s!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2278" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="As always it was a packed house at the Las Vegas Convention Center!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2279" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="One

If you've been to our headquarters here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, then you've probably been to the museum. Inside the museum, we have a vintage airplane--a 1929 Mystic Lake to be exact. We bought it a few years ago, and hung it from the rafters. Originally, the experimental aircraft had a Henderson motorcycle engine, but it was later swapped for a 65hp Lycoming engine.

In case you haven't heard, Corky really, really likes vintage motorcycles. About a year ago he picked up an unrestored 1917 Harley Davidson with sidecar. It was basically all there but the sheetmetal on the sidecar was pretty rough so our guys, Richard Marter and Delton Scott, completely built a new sidecar body using the bones as patterns. These guys can do anything! The knucklehead sittin in the sidecar is our main man Hal Everett. He is a dang good mechanic...not to be confused though with a dang good sheet metal man...that title still rests on Delton and Richards shoulders! Maybe you saw Hal on our Barn Finds episode of Hot Rod TV recently. Hal's a mess and a fun part of HCG! The bike? It's at Dudes getting the restoration completed. It'll be Dude-ified, restored, finished and shown in 2012.

There'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!

Debra Rodery is a member of "our family" at the Coker Group working daily in the accounting department in Chattanooga. Debra and her Softball Team recently particpated in Womans Seniors Softball Tournament in St George, Utah. They competed against select teams from all over the Nation ultimately placing third. Debra pitches for and plays second base for her Chattanooga based team. You Go Girl! We are proud of you!

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 fenders, wide wheels and tires, and a full roll cage...this thing means business!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2225" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="The SVO Club of America out in front of Coker Tire!"][/caption] Oh, do you want to know more about the rare and increasingly valuable Mustang

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 two Marmons, a replica of the 1911 Marmon Wasp that won the first Indy 500 and a Model 34B chassis. I also invited the club to host its annual meeting, called the Marmon Muster, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2013...maybe they'll come down to my part of the country and we

It 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!

When I was a young man, my mom always worried about me drivin fast. I had some fast cars and I did drive fast,.. You know it! Mustangs and GTOs were the thing though, not Mercers... [caption id="attachment_2211" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Me and momma in a Mercer!"][/caption] At the Hershey AACA National meet, my friend Fred Hoch took a picture of me and my momma in his T Head Mercer Raceabout. I am pretty sure that I was born at the wrong time. I would have been the terror of the dirt roads in a teens era Mercer Raceabout. It is my kind of car. it goes fast and is a man's sports car! Fred Hoch should leave me that Mercer in his will,... I am sure it would be the right thing to do! From the road, Corky

As you get older, birthdays get less and less exciting, but I try to make it fun for my wife Theresa, because she puts up with so much of my car guy antics. So, I guess giving her a car for her birthday doesn't really help the cause...oh well. Last year, I got her a BMW Isetta, which is a very small car and I also bought a Mini Cooper for her. See a trend? She seems to be gathering a pretty cool collection of tiny cars, so I guess I'll just keep feeding it! [caption id="attachment_2178" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="The whole gang (besides Taylor...he's at school) with Theresa's new Bantam!"][/caption]

Still on the road and documenting his steps, Jeff Stumb gives us another overview of his day's travels. Check it out: DAY 6 -- Kingston, Ontario, and Watertown, N.Y. We enjoyed our time in Canada, but we were looking forward to getting back in the United States. So we were not prepared for what lay ahead in Kingston. Canada is beautiful, but Kingston was an unexpected pleasure. It was like a mini Seattle or Vancouver the way is sits on Lake Ontario. It is a city of almost 150,000 people, and the downtown actually overlooks the lake, including Confederation Park and City Hall which is where the lunch stop will be on June 27, 2012. It is also the exact halfway point of the race. When we left Kingston we traveled back into the United States across Thousand Island Bridge. It wasn't long before we arrived in Watertown, New York and met with volunteers for the event. The stop in Watertown has been moved to the Fairgrounds to handle the enormous crowd local organizers are expecting. More to come