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Touring

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September 18, 2019
Over the past 10 years, Coker Tire has hosted many touring events, including the Hot Rod Power Tour and the Motorcycle Cannonball. While it has been a few years since we had the opportunity to host the Motorcycle Cannonball, we jumped at the chance to open the doors of our office here in Chattanooga for The Cross Country Chase, which is a spin-off event brought to you by the organizers of the Motorcycle Cannonball and Legends Motorcycle Museum. The Cross Country Chase is the creation of Jason Sims, and it's geared toward motorcycles from 1930 to 1948, so it includes dozens of great American motorcycles, as well as some European bikes thrown in the mix as well. The event stretched over 2,300 miles from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan to Key West, Florida. John Classen is the Course Master, and he's the same fellow who determines the exact route of the Great Race each year. On the journey, the vintage motorcycle enthusiasts would pass through Chattanooga, Tennessee, so it made perfect sense to
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September 14, 2017We've had several visits from the Street Rodder Road Tour over the past few years. This year, we had a little different experience, as we got to see the Vintage Air Road Tour, instead of Jerry Dixey's Street Rodder Road Tour group. The Vintage Air Road Tour comes from Texas, and it's led by Rick Love, Vice President of Vintage Air. We hosted a stop at Coker Tire, offering the Vintage Air Road Tour donuts and coffee to get their day started. With Hurricane Harvey coming through the Houston area just days before the Vintage Air Road Tour began, it had an affect on the turnout, but there were still about 40 awesome cars running in the tour, including a few that were rolling on our whitewall tires and BFGoodrich
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May 25, 2017Chattanooga, Tennessee is a hot spot for all sorts of events, and we feel like we've encouraged a bunch of car folks to visit the city with our annual Chattanooga Cruise In event. This year, the Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty is paying a visit to the Scenic City, and the racers are stopping right here in the Southside! This isn't the first time that the Great Race has visited Chattanooga, but we're going to pull out all the stops to make it the best evening stop on the event! The streets around Coker Tire and Honest Charley Speed Shop will be closed, and we're hoping to PACK the streets with hot rods, muscle cars, restored classics and more to welcome the 120 Great Race teams as they enter the Chattanooga evening stop. It all happens Sunday, June 25th from 4 to 8pm Eastern time, and the first Great Race cars should begin arriving at 5:30pm. We plan to have an open house, just like our regular cruise in events, so
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September 27, 2016The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association is a popular car show series, that spans the United States with high end hot rod events. As if the 2016 show schedule wasn't busy enough, the Goodguys staff and a group of hot rodders departed on the Goodguys Hall of Fame Road Tour. The event is in memory of Goodguys founder, Gary Meadors, and it consists of 7 days and 1,800 miles from Chicago, Illinois to Fort Worth, Texas. The tour not only features scenic drives, but also includes shop tours of some of the coolest automotive aftermarket facilities in the country, and they put Coker Tire on their list of venues to visit. The Goodguys Hall of Fame Road Tour kicked off in the Chicago area, and has visited the Roadster
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September 18, 2016The 2016 Coker Tire Challenge came to a close today, as 50 racers rolled through the finish line at our facility. We watched as Corky, Wade and Jeff greeted the racers, and also enjoyed the families and friends cheering the racers on. The racers took a short route down to Dalton, Georgia and back to Chattanooga for the finish, while the Coker Tire facilities and media crew set up the arch and prepared to photograph the cars coming back into town. The scores were tight, and it was Jeff and Eric Fredette taking home the win with an overall score of 15.49 seconds. The team of Myerscough and Chatra won the rookie division with a score of 48.45 seconds. Finally, the winner of the Bill Coker Spirit of the Event award went to Toshi Akasaka, who traveled from Japan to race with us this weekend. Take a look at our highlights and the scores from the 2016 Coker Tire Challenge!
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September 18, 2016Saturday's route on the 2016 Coker Tire Challenge sent us in a different direction than yesterday's trek to Huntsville, Alabama. We started our day by motoring up to the small town of Dunlap, Tennessee, where the racers would go on the clock and immediately climb Fredonia Mountain. From there, we zigzagged our way over to McMinnville, and eventually Sparta, Tennessee for a lunch stop. Just before lunch, we drove through the beautiful scenery at Rock Island State Park. After lunch, it was excellent valley views and winding mountain roads for most of the afternoon route. The temperatures were a little on the warm side, but all of the mountainous roads offered plenty of shade and a slight drop in temperature, compared to the valleys. We ended the day at the Coker Tire headquarters, where the racers had a night out
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September 16, 2016Ahh, what a great day for a drive! Ok, so it a little warm and the sun was harsh, but a BAD day on the Coker Tire Challenge is better than a GOOD day at work! We started our day at the Coker Tire headquarters, and headed into Alabama for a big day of rallying through the hills. We saw all sorts of terrain, from less-than-perfect backroads to smooth highways as we headed into lunch in Huntsville, Alabama. The afternoon route offered lots of hills and mountain grades, with the destination of Corky Coker's house for a beautiful dinner reception at the farm. We had a blast today, and grabbed some cool picture along the way. With a record turnout at the 2016 Coker Tire Challenge event, it was hard to capture them all, but we'll get a second chance tomorrow as the race continues on. Enjoy!
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September 15, 2016The Coker Tire Challenge is an annual vintage car rally right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We host it and offer folks the opportunity to participate in a time, speed, endurance rally like the Great Race, but at a much more casual and affordable level. This year, we have a record turnout, with 52 entries, and it is our 11th year doing it--we typically average a little over 40 cars. We're excited about the 2016 event, and we're so glad to see all the familiar faces from the Great Race and previous Coker Tire Challenge events, as well as the fresh faces of the rookie teams. Today's activities included registration and tech inspection, as well as some practice runs and a kickoff banquet in Corky's museum. We'll be bringing you daily recaps of the action, so stay tuned to the blog, and follow our Instagram and Facebook page to see even more content!
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September 12, 2016There is no doubt that September is a busy month for us here at Coker Tire. We have several events of our own, and it always seems to be a popular time for other touring events and groups to visit our place. This year, we had a special treat, as the Geico Motorcycle Hot Bike Tour made its first ever stop in Chattanooga, Tennessee. You may remember our involvement with the Hot Rod Power Tour in 2010 and 2013...the Hot Bike Tour is a similar deal, but it's geared toward motorcycle enthusiasts. Our motorcycle tire product line is growing in popularity, so hosting an event like this is awesome for us, and we were excited to see the bikes start pouring into the Southside of Chattanooga on Sunday, September 11th. Bikes continued to roll in as the day went on, and we enjoyed the awesome turnout, live music and of course, the invited builders who had some killer custom motorcycles on display.
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October 26, 2015The Posies Driven Dirty Tour is a very cool, very relaxed event that involves driving a hot rod across the country with a destination of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. It's been going on for a few years now (10 to be exact), and it's a cool tour of the country, which includes shop tours, good food and lots of hanging out. All of this leads up to the SEMA Show, which a little more fast-paced. The Posies Driven Dirty Tour starts in Pennsylvania, so it takes quite a detour for a Southern swing into Tennessee, but we offered a warm welcome, as the guys rolled into Chattanooga on Saturday, October 24th. We gave them a tour of our headquarters here at 1317 Chestnut Street, as well as a bus ride to our Distribution Center a few miles away. Then, we had a fried chicken dinner from Champy's and toured Honest Charley. We had an awesome time showing them around and we wish them safe travels on their adventures. The bad thing about the Posies Driven Dirty Tour is...well, that we're not on it! Have fun guys!
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July 29, 2015It feels like we just got settled back into the office after a long two-week adventure on the Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty, but we're already getting close to our own personal vintage car rally, the Coker Tire Challenge! It's a three-day rally that is based here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. You can find information about it on the Coker Tire Challenge website, and you can click here to sign up for this year's event. It's much more affordable than the Great Race, and it's a little more relaxed, so it's a lot of fun without a major commitment. Join us from September 17-20th, 2015 for the 10th annual Coker Tire Challenge! Keep reading to see a few pictures from last year's event.
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April 28, 2015We'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.
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March 12, 2015If 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
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February 24, 2015Coker Tire Company has been a huge supporter of the Great Race for many years, and continues to be a sponsor of the event each year. The Great Race promotes DRIVING old cars, and that's what we're all about. We're excited to announce that the Great Race has expanded its format to include the Great American Tour for this year's course on historic Route 66. And while the Great Race is geared toward competition, with $150,000 up for grabs, the event organizers decided to offer a more laid back option for car enthusiasts who wanted more of a tour and less of a race. The result is the Hemmings Motor News Great American Tour presented by Hagerty, an epic journey on historic Route 66 to see all the sights of The Mother Road.
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September 29, 2014We love events that involved DRIVING your collector vehicle, and that's why we support events such as the Somernites Power Cruise. It's an annual event that is the crown jewel of the monthly Somernites Cruise events that span from April to October. The Power Cruise is always the fourth Saturday of September, and it brings in hot rodders from all over the place! Our involvement in the Somernites Power Cruise includes being one of the starting points was Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as a Friday night kickoff party and cruise in. For Friday night's event, we offered FREE food, compliments of Coker video guy Jason White, and then Saturday, we joined the fun and headed north on Highway 27 with a destination of downtown Somerset, Kentucky. Keep reading to check out our favorite photos from a fun day on the road!
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September 17, 2014Groups of gear heads visit our place on a regular basis, and do so by the hundreds during our Chattanooga Cruise In events. But we also cater to smaller groups and car clubs for special tours of our facility. We love opening the doors to our place and showing off our collection of cool stuff. In this case, the Rat Rod Tour, a group of rodders assembled by the folks at Rat Rod Magazine, visited our place on their way to the Redneck Rumble in Lebanon, Tennessee. Part of the tour involved the Rat Hard Build-Off, which involves a $3,000 budget and 30 days to build it--otherwise, there are no rules. There is no doubt that this was the most diverse group of cars, trucks and motorcycles to visit Coker Tire in quite some time, so we shot a bunch of pictures and video to cover the visit. Check it out here and enjoy lots of photos of some of the wildest rat rods on the planet!
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September 09, 2014Four years ago, we were introduced to the Motorcycle Cannonball, as it made a pitstop here at Coker Tire in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. At the time, the endurance race was intended for motorcycles built in 1916 or earlier. It was a grueling event that saw participants rebuilding engines, transmissions and more on a regular basis. Although the rules have changed since that original event in 2010, the event is still a torture test for the riders and support crews. The 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball required riders to start in Daytona Beach, Florida, and man-handle their vintage bikes all the way to Tacoma, Washington. Along the way, they stopped here at Coker for an evening of thrashing to get their machines ready for the next day of riding.
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August 25, 2014You know it's a special day in the office when the front parking lot is filled with Chevy Corvairs! These little cars offered a lot of "firsts" for American auto manufacturing, with production starting in 1960, and lasting through 1969. Corvairs feature an aluminum, air cooled engine, which is placed in the rear of the vehicle, and it features a lightweight unibody chassis, which helped provide great fuel economy and performance. These cars are certainly not your average classic car, so having more than 20 of them stuffed into our parking lot was beyond cool! We had convertibles, coupes, station wagons, and even had a couple of Corviar trucks on hand for a tour. There was even a Corvair with a small block Chevy crammed in the back seat! The group is part of the Choo Choo Corvairs, a local club that holds an annual show at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. We're glad they decided to stop by and tour our facility...and we hope they saw that we carry a wide variety of tire to fit their distinct classics!
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August 08, 2014Can you believe it's time for the kids to go back to school? It's also time for the fall season, which means car shows, cruise ins and of course football. One of our favorite fall events is the Coker Tire Challenge, which is a vintage car rally, held on September 18-21. It's sort of a downsized, more relaxed version of the Great Race. It's based right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and travels through North Alabama, North Georgia and Southeastern Tennessee, returning back to home base in Chattanooga at the end of each day's route. If you're interested in participating in the 2014 Coker Tire Challenge, please contact Event Coordinator, Jennifer Andrews at 423-648-8528 or email her at jennifera@coker.com.
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July 30, 2014The Ross Kiwi Tomas Memorial Kickstart Classic is a vintage motorcycle ride, organized by Buzz Kanter, the publisher of American Iron Magazine. He's an avid motorcyclist who has a thing for vintage American motorcycles, and he's a long time friend of Corky Coker and the entire Coker Tire crew. The Kickstart Classic started in Maggie Valley, North Carolina at the awesome Wheels Through Time Museum, and then visited Coker Tire for an overnight stop. Then, the crew left the next morning to eventually arrive at Cyclemos Motorcycle Museum in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee. We're glad Buzz and the guys (including our buddy Bryan Fuller) stopped by our place and hung out for a while! Check out our pictures from the Coker Tire stop!
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June 12, 2014When you're around old cars 24/7, you start to become immune to the cool factor that old cars provide. And while we appreciate each and every old car out there, sometimes we just glaze over because it's "just another day in the office". A couple weeks ago, we had a group of visitors that shook us out of our day-to-day routine and made us think about the major cool factor of our jobs. Twelve, count 'em, REAL Shelby Cobras came to the Coker Tire headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee to hang out for the evening. This is once in a lifetime stuff for a car nut, and we took lots of pictures to capture the evening.
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November 13, 2013Remember last month when we told you about the magnificent Model T World Tour? We gladly sponsored this epic car journey, and so far, Dirk Regter has traveled 30,000 miles on a set of our Firestone 30x3-1/2 tires! Dirk and his wife Trudy have around 30,000 more miles to go, and we're wishing them the best of luck. Earlier this week, they stopped by our headquarters here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, so we snapped a few pictures and gave them a warm welcome.
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October 15, 2013[caption id="attachment_4138" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The "Lucky Riders" pose with the Honest Charley Garage crew before heading out.[/caption] We see some pretty cool stuff around here. So much cool stuff, that sometimes we might forget just how cool it is, and then a group of guys on a backroad adventure roll into the shop for food, sleep and a visit and it all come rushing back to us.
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October 09, 2013It'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!
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September 11, 2013We 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!
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September 11, 2013The 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!
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September 05, 2013The 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!
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November 05, 2012[embedplusvideo height="388" width="640" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/xRroOOSi2lw?fs=1" vars="ytid=xRroOOSi2lw&width=640&height=388&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=0&chapters=¬es=" id="ep7698" /]
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November 05, 2012[embedplusvideo height="388" width="640" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/_mZFCwcwRpw?fs=1" vars="ytid=_mZFCwcwRpw&width=640&height=388&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=0&chapters=¬es=" id="ep6469" /]
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August 06, 2012In 2010, a few fanatical antique motorcyclists made news riding their old bikes across the country in the Motorcycle Cannonball. We were lucky to have them stop overnight in Chattanooga after leaving Maggie Valley on their epic journey. Maybe they were lucky to stop here too, since as soon as the hospitality dinner was complete, one hundred classic iron horses rolled into our restoration shop for service at the SAME TIME. It really was a sight to behold.
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May 09, 2012This past weekend, Corky and son-in-law Greg Cunningham signed up to compete in a rally in Rogers, Arkansas. Also on the trip from Chattanooga was Great Race Director, Jeff Stumb and his wife Karen. So they packed up the whole gang and drove 13 hours to spend a few days in Arkansas. Greg and his crew at Honest Charley Garage built a '32 Ford pickup specifically for rallying, so it was the perfect vehicle for Corky and Greg. By the way, all the parts were purchased through Honest Charley Speed Shop or Coker Tire Company. Jeff and Karen piloted a cute
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April 30, 2012The Honest Charley Garage guys are getting my Honest '54 Buick ready for the Hot Rod Power Tour. Coker Tire Company is the official host and Cruise Night sponsor for the stop in Muskegon, Michigan. The folks at Coker are really looking forward to it! And...I have a big treat for those who come to Muskegon. You see, I love Bluegrass Music. So...I have secured my buddy Audie Blaylock and Redline to come to Muskegon to put on a show. Check his music out on youtube! They are awesome! They are car guys too! --Corky
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March 28, 2012
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
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4:00pm until 9:00pm
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Honest Charley Speed Shop, 1309 Chestnut Street
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Join us for a huge gathering of collector vehicles in downtown Chattanooga. Coker Tire and Honest Charley will provide an open house, and access to the Coker Tire Museum. Hundreds of hot rods, muscle cars and other vintage vehicles will cover the surrounding streets of Coker Tire. Live entertainment, great food and lots of fun will make this cruise in a blast!
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May 13, 2011...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!