We've worked pretty hard to encourage our customers to get out and drive their collector cars, and events like the Coker Tire Tour to the Mitty provide even more inspiration. There might be an ulterior motive hidden in there (to sell more tires, or in this case Sports Car Tires). The Mitty is a road race for vintage cars, and it's held at Road Atlanta, which is a couple hours away from our headquarters here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This year, we partnered with Classic Motorsports Magazine to create a driving experience like no other--a trip through some of the most beautiful scenery and twisty back roads with a final destination of the Mitty. With more than 50 cars participating, it was a big hit, and we're hoping to do more of these driving events in the future.
If you've followed Coker Tire for very long, then you know we are HUGE advocates for getting out and putting plenty of miles on your collector vehicle. We're proud to announce a new excuse to get in and go for a drive--the Coker Tire Tour to the Classic Motorsports Mitty. If you've never heard of "the Mitty", it's a road racing event held at Road Atlanta and it's geared toward vintage cars. We're planning an awesome ride from our facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee to the awesome Braselton, Georgia-based race track. The trip will include twisty back roads, delicious food and a finish destination that will offer lots of fun. It all starts with a "Cars and Coffee" type event here at Coker on Friday, April 24th. Then, we travel to beautiful Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge, Georgia, and finally navigate the back roads to Road Atlanta, where a BBQ dinner will be waiting for us at the Mitty. Your ticket includes
The SEMA Show is the biggest automotive event of the year. It's a trade show with thousands of vendors, and thousands of awesome cars, trucks and motorcycles on display. Folks from around the world attend the event to show off new products, and increase sales for their businesses. It's a huge opportunity for everyone involved, and we're glad to have a big presence at the show. We have an indoor booth in Hot Rod Alley (booth number 22775), and we have a tractor trailer rig in the Silver Lot outside. This year, we debuted a brand new booth design, which has a vintage gas station theme.
Racing a vintage car is a gamble--it's putting a priceless piece of racing history in harm's way around every corner. Parts can fail and drivers can make mistakes, so to say vintage road racing is dangerous and exciting is an understatement. We love racing, especially if it involves vintage cars, so it was no-brainer for us to be a part of the Speedfest at the Classic Motorsports Mitty. The race is held at Road Atlanta, which is just down the road from us in Braselton, Georgia.
Yep, they let us country folks into California! The MPMC Media Trade Conference is an annual event in Santa Ana, California, and it's a great chance for us to meet with all sorts of automotive media. MPMC stands for Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council, and we produce enough motorsports-related products to make the cut. It's a cool event that offers a "speed dating" format, where each company gets a 30 minute meeting with each media outlet.
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.
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!!!
On his way through the Chattanooga, Tennessee area, Ken Gross decided to make a stop here, to pay a visit to Mike Goodman at Honest Charley and take a look at our recently finished Marmon Wasp. Ken is a well-established journalist, working for many, many big-name magazines. He's a true hot rodder, and he's one of our associates in the Collectors Foundation, so it was nice to catch up with him! We stopped long enough to get a picture taken, and continued on our way...we had a great time on his short visit, and hope to see him again soon!
[caption id="attachment_1539" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Corky Coker alongside long-time friend and fellow car guy, Ken Gross. "][/caption]
