1956

There are certain cars and builders that create a lot of buzz before, during and after the SEMA Show. Boosted Bela is one of those cars, thanks to the tireless efforts of Andy Williamson, who was heading up the PR for the project. Progress photos, teasers, and lots of hype resulted in a SEMA reveal that blew everyone away. By now, you're reading this and thinking that the ratty looking '56 Chevy in the pictures can't possibly be the car we're referencing, but you'd be wrong. Boosted Bela is a slammed '56 Chevy that is rough on the outside, but super detailed everywhere else. The build was exclusively covered by Chevrolet Performance on The BLOCK, and it absolutely exploded on social media in the days and weeks leading up to the SEMA Show. Once it was on display in the Mobil 1 booth, the car was plastered all over Instagram and Facebook, gaining as much notoriety as cars with $50,000 paint jobs. In fact, Motor Trend Magazine named Boosted Bela one of the Top 15 cars at the SEMA Show. The truth of the matter is that Boosted Bela is just plain cool. It sits right, it has a killer supercharged LS-based engine and of course, it's rolling on a set of wide whitewalls and steelies from Coker Tire. Continue reading to find out more about Boosted Bela and enjoy the photos and video!

Last year, we heard about the Tri-Five Nationals, and instantly wanted to be a part of the inaugural event. It helps matters that it is organized and promoted by our buddy Chris Sondles from Woody's Hot Rodz, which is a shop that specializes in Tri-Five Chevy builds and sells many of our products. As the plans for the event developed, Coker Tire stepped up as one of the leading sponsors, and presented the "Celebration of 60 Years of the 1955 Chevy", a special section with original 1955 Chevrolets of many models and configurations. As we rolled into historic Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, it didn't take long to see that the Tri-Five Nationals was destined to be HUGE. And that's exactly what it was--the official car count was 1,858 registered entrants, all ranging from 1955 to 1957 Chevys, including a few pickup trucks and Corvettes from the famous Tri-Five years. Tens of thousands of spectators took part in the event, which had drag racing, autocross racing, a massive show-n-shine area, a swap meet and a packed vendor area.

Throughout the process of filming the The car started out a little on the rough side, but with some replacement sheet metal, and a bunch of other replacement trim parts and interior components from Year One, the car is now a nicely finished Tri-Five with a cool custom look. To get the right stance, the Honest Charley boys installed two-inch drop spindles up front and three-inch lowering blocks out back. They also moved the leaf springs inward to create more real estate for tires and wheels. With this in mind, they installed a set of 17x8-inch Rocket Booster wheels out back, wrapped in 255/45ZR17 BFGoodrich g-Force tires.

In the 1950's, American auto manufacturers hit their stride with awe inspiring designs that put a stamp on what some would consider the greatest decade in automotive history. By 1955, all of the "big three" manufacturers (Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Chrysler) had redesigned the flagship models with cool, new styling that sent consumers sprinting to the dealerships across the country. For the Plymouth brand, the Belvedere was the top dog in the product line, and with miles of stainless steel trim, beautiful front and rear styling cues and a host of engine options, it's easy to see why it was so popular. We got our hands on one of these '50s classics during the filming of the Backroad Gold TV show, which airs weekly (Wednesdays at 9:30pm EST) on the Travel Channel.

It's hard to believe, but it's been nearly a month since the deadly tornado outbreak hit the Tennessee Valley. Devastation was unbelievable, and our region was absolutely shocked by the damage. Just south of us, Ringgold, Georgia was hit hard, leaving a path of destruction, and just to the East of us, Apison, Tennessee received lots of damage. Joe Lombardo, a longtime Honest Charley Speed Shop employee is near and dear to us here at Coker Tire, and his Apison home was leveled during the storm. His property had many trees on it, which are now gone, and his barn is now in pieces.

...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!