excelsior

The highly contested America's Most Beautiful Roadster award is something that every hot rodder dreams about. The award is presented each year at the Grand National Roadster Show and the intense level of competition inspires some of the most creative and stylish hot rods in the world. This year, the winner of the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award is the 1931 Ford roadster, known as the Martin Special. The highly customized roadster is owned by David Martin, and built by Scott Bonowski and crew at Hot Rods & Hobbies in Signal Hill, California. The car features a massaged body, and a chassis that is tweaked and tuned for performance. Before the car was finished, David entered it in the Silver State Classic open-road race in Nevada, running in the 100mph class. The car worked flawlessly, and so it was torn apart to be painted and upholstered. The car has an Ed Pink small block Chevy, making 500 horsepower, and it's putting it to the ground through a set of our

The SEMA Show is an annual spectacle of all things automotive, as the world's top auto manufacturers (both OEM and aftermarket) overtake the Las Vegas Convention Center for a week. And while the SEMA Show features hundreds of cars, trucks and other performance vehicles, it added another level of excellence by starting the SEMA Battle of the Builders. This competition is available for any display vehicle as the SEMA Show, and all participants are narrowed down to the Top 40, then the Top 12 by a selection of judges. Then, the Top 12 builders vote among themselves to determine the Top 3. The winner of the SEMA Battle of the Builders is crowned during the SEMA Ignited event on Friday evening, after the show closes. The SEMA Ignited event is open to the public, allowing car enthusiasts of all ages to check out the awesome vehicles. This year, the SEMA Battle of the Builders event came down to three awesome hot rods, all of which roll on Coker Tire products. Continue reading to check them out!

Slammed 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!

We're blown away with the number of cars and motorcycles that are being built for The Race of Gentlemen, which is an exclusive race on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey every fall. The event only allows approved cars into the racing field, so it is inspiring hot rod builders to tackle these early style racer builds, like the Model A roadster seen here. This one is owned by Heath Pinter, a professional BMX rider and hot rodder from Southern California. When he's not ripping up the BMX course (he has one in his backyard!) he's hammering on old cars. His most recent creation is this low slung Model A roadster, which is powered by a Ford Flathead V8 with Sharp aluminum heads, dual Stromberg carbs and Fenton headers. The fenderless roadster rolls on a set of '32 Ford wires, wrapped in our Excelsior Stahl Sport tires, which measure 550R18 up front and 700R18 out back. This thing is lean, mean and ready to race. We love the bare bones appearance, and the stance is spot on. Check it out!

[caption id="attachment_6365" align="alignleft" width="720"] The classic hot rod profile of a '32 Ford three-window coupe is accentuated by a big-n-little whitewall tire combination with steelies painted to match the red accents.[/caption] The '32 Ford is an iconic hot rod platform, and boy did we see some good ones at the 2015 NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky! Folks have often said that it's tough to make a '32 Ford stand out because there are so many out there, but we picked out 11 (because we just couldn't narrow it down to 10) of our favorites. Of course, all 11 Deuces are rolling on Coker Tire products, and we'll give you some more details in each photo caption. Continue reading to see 11 awesome '32 Ford hot rods, and find out why they're cool.

Steve Coonan, owner and editor of The Rodder's Journal magazine is a tried and true hot rodder. His magazine is the premier publication for hot rodders, and his photography is top-notch. Every issue (it comes out quarterly) is a keeper, and every issue is packed with excellent hot rods that roll on Coker Tire products. With that said, Steve Coonan's personal car, a black '32 Ford roadster, has our tires on it. Steve is a stickler for small details, as evidenced by his photography skills, but he admits that something as simple as a tire and wheel swap can provide a whole new look for a hot rod. He proved it by swapping tires and wheels multiple times at The Rodder's Journal booth at the Grand National Roadster Show this year. We loved the idea, because we offer such a broad scope of tires and wheels. He called us up and ordered three sets of tires to go along with the tires that were already on the car. Keep reading to see all of the combinations in use on his beautiful highboy roadster!

And this isn't just any old coupe...it's actually a brand new coupe. It's a new all steel 1932 Ford five window coupe body, manufactured by United Pacific, who is actually a supplier for many other items, such as hubcaps, trim rings and many other accessories for hot rods and customs. Earlier this year, we were contacted by the folks at United Pacific and they let us know about a very cool project car that they were having built at Roy Brizio Street Rods. The car was unveiled at the SEMA Show on Tuesday morning, and it was VERY well received by a crowd of street rod icons, such as Vic Edelbrock, Brian Brennan and more!

We're having a closeout on ALL remaining inventory in our Excelsior Comp V product line! That means we want them out of our warehouse so we can make room for new products like our American Classic bias look radials! So, look through the remaining sizes HERE and find the right size(s) for your build. There are lots of GREAT front runner and rear sizes for hot rods, as well as a number of sizes that fit 1928 through 1931 Ford Model A's, all at discounted prices. These are the cheapest traditional hot rod tires out there! Just as a quick note, these tires are bias ply, and most of the sizes are tube type tires. Prices start at $85 a piece--get 'em while we have 'em!

While we were out in California for the Grand Opening of our new facility, we had the chance to meet a guy who is one of the best custom motorcycle builders in the world. His name is Scott "T-Bone" Jones, his shop is called Noise Cycles, and this '52 Harley Panhead is his creation. You know you want to find out more about this race-inspired custom motorcycle, so keep reading to get the full scoop.

Tires and tubes go hand-in-hand, but it can sometimes be confusing. Some tires require tubes, others don't. Some wheels require you to run tubes, others don't. So let's get down to it. When are tubes necessary for your tire and wheel combination?

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,

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!

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

We always try to make each new catalog better than the previous version, and the 2011 edition is no different. We went all out on the 2011 catalog, including all new cars, and lots of cool, new imagery. It's packed full of our best sellers, as well as several new products. Also, you'll see on the cover that we're now a distributor for Rocket Racing Wheels, meaning you can order a custom wheel and tire combination from us, just like you can with our line of Specialty Wheel muscle car wheels and Roadster Wire Wheels. These catalogs are hot off the press, so pick up your copy today! Oh and don't forget to stop by our headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee or give us a call at 1-800-242-0009.