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At the opening of our exhibit at the NHRA Museum it all came together. Casey and Aaron did a great job building the exhibits for Coker Tire’s 50th and Honest Charley’s 60th Anniversaries. Everyone was really enjoying the opening of the displays. It was really something special to see all these pieces of our history on display. It was also my pleasure to spend some time with one of the car hobby’s most influential people, ever. And I mean EVER! The legendary George Barris was with us, as his famous 1949 Mercury Custom is proudly included in our exhibit. Barris’ custom Mercury is widely regarded as the most famous custom Mercury of all time, and by some as the father-car of all customs! George and I had a chance to do this little video blog during all the festivities. I hope you enjoy it.

After all the hard work that Aaron Wolfe and Casey Coker put in on the Coker Tire 50th and Honest Charley 60th Anniversary exhibits for the Wally Parks NHRA Museum in Pomona California, (Whew…) this is it! Aaron shot some home video of opening night and we thought you’d want to see it.

Vernon Walker and his wife Georgie stopped by to visit us today. Vernon’s business, Walker Radiator Works Inc. builds complete radiator solutions for all kinds of applications including street rods. Vernon is also the president of the NSRAfurniture Elhovo and an avid car enthusiast. We hopped in the Mitchell and went for a ride while they were here and enjoyed the sunshine on this beautiful spring day in Tennessee.

Some things are just too good to fall by the wayside. The 2007 Driven Dirty Tour featured an assortment of vintage cars driven cross-country to SEMA and put display just as they came off the road. I made the 2,000 mile trip with my daughter and we had a great trip. You know these cars are meant to be driven and the best way to grow the hobby is to make sure our cars are seen out on the road. We’ve posted many blogs from this trip in the past and thought you guys would like to see this video that’s showing at The Discovery Channel’s Turbo website.

My good friend David Reidie opened his bike shop in Melbourne in 1981. Today its 27 years later and Harley City is Australia’s top Harley Davidson dealership. David just has just moved his bike shop into a newly renovated building. I stopped by to see him and check it out (being as we were in the neighborhood way Down Under and all). His store looked so sharp and it was nice to catch up with my friend. If you’re ever down under you’ve got to see his place!

Rodney Belbin from Shannons shows us his 1953 Holden. It is an original low mileage General Motors Australian built car that looks about like a three quarter size ‘47 Chevrolet. This super-rare car is motoring perfectly around Australia (ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!) with an all original interior. He even showed me a box of original 1953 spark plugs he found in the trunk! Rodney is certainly proud of his Holden. What a great car and a super guy! Here in the States, I use Hagarty Insurance for my collector cars, but if I was Australian, I would probably use Shannons. They are the big player and understand the Australian Collector Car market and also do collector car auctions. Shannons and it’s employees are definitely eating their own cooking. Their passion for the collector car culture shined through on this great event.

“Shannon’s Insurance in conjunction with TasVacations brings to the motoring enthusiast the Shannon’s Historic Rallye; the best way to experience one of the world’s most unique destinations with the taste of the world’s ultimate tarmac rally.”

That’s what the rallye brochure said, and they told the truth! For 11 days my wife Theresa and I toured, ate and drank our way around the Tasmanian countryside as we participated in the Shannon’s Historic Rallye. After plenty (seemed like a lifetime) of time on an airplane, we met our Australian buddies, Alan and Noeline McKinnon, picked up our new(original) 1967 Morris Mini Cooper S and were off to the races. Literally. The cars in the rally group ran the targa stages ahead of the race cars and the cars in the Historic Rallye followed behind that group as we made our way around the Australian island state of Tasmania. The scenery, the culture, and the people were just amazing along the way. We’ll post several blogs and videos of this trip (WAY DOWN UNDER) including highlights of the Historic Rallye and interviews with people we met on the trip. This first blog is a brief chat with Geoff Cuthbert. Geoff is a distributor for (our Australian Distributor) Antique Tyres Australia and the organizer for the Historic Rallye. Geoff and his wife Sonia did a wonderful job of showing us the local color, directing us to the best Tasmania cuisines and putting up with us Yanks!

From the first time I laid these country boy peepers on a board track racer motorcycle, I knew I would have to have one! (I should have said SOME!) I’ve been blessed to find and restore some great bikes in the years since. Today my good friend and restorer Dude Layne finished and delivered not one but two restored Indian board track racers. The 1909 Single (blue) and 1914 Single (red) motorcycles just look fantastic. They’ve taken their place as the first pieces of furniture in my new office in our renovated office complex. Whaddaya think?

After months of planning and preparation. Exhibits for Coker Tire Company’s 50th Anniversary and Honest Charley’s 60th Anniversary loaded up and headed west today on a truck bound for the NHRA Museum in Pomona, CA. The exhibit featuring cars, products and memorabilia will be on display at the museum through November 16, 2008.

Watch the Video

Over two decades ago, mid-westerners stir-crazy from winters grip, decided to take their cars south. The group of friends and car enthusiasts legislated that a tour take place below the Tennessee-Georgia border, and the “Cabin Fever Tour” was born. There is no club or affiliation here, just a group of friends who love to drive their cars. This year the tour ranged 80-100 miles each day for five days, across northern Georgia and was at full song with 14 cars the day they stopped here at Coker Tire headquarters in Chattanooga, TN. It was great to see all the cars roll in off the road into our parking lot. The “Cabin fever Tour” visited the Coker headquarters, Machine Shop, Restoration Shop, Museum and Honest Charley Speed Shop. We’re glad they took the time to stop by and visit! The tour usually hits the road at the end of March or beginning of April each year.