Since I was just a pup I have been going to Hershey, Pennsylvania every year the first week of October. Hershey is one of those one word descriptions used by car guys to describe the annual National AACA (Antique Automobile Club of America) National meet in Hershey, Pennslyvania. Sure,.. there is a world class car show competition on Saturday but the big deal attraction is the HUGE swap meet which probably is the largest in the world. People come from all over the world to buy antique car parts! I remember being taken (as a young pup) to “the mecca of old car parts” all the way back in the 1960’s. It seems like the trip took days on the two lane Highway 11! Now a days the swap meet is mostly on asphalt pavement or “macadam” as the yankees of PA call it. Most old timers swap stories about how much mud they trekked thru to find that thingamajig or whirlybatoot they needed. Most of those stories are true though. I can testify. I literally have seen portajohns float in the monsoons of Hershey.

One time my good friend Fred Hoch of New Jersey took me for a ride in his Mercer Raceabout when the Hershey mud was so deep you could hardly walk. His Mercer was throwing rooster tails of mud thirty feet into the air sliding around corners while Fred was driving like a “Barney Oldfield Wannabe”. I thought it was fantastic and will remember that ride in that original Mercer the rest of my life!

Two years ago during Hershey week, my grandfather died. You might feel sorry or something but you shouldn’t. His name was Hardy Coker, but we all just called him Pop. Pop Coker lived a fruitful Model A filled life of 97 years. He was also pretty dang healthy his whole life. Sharp as a tack too. He was the first Coker to mess with Old cars. He got us all involved in old cars. He knew a lot about Model A Fords too. Some folks said he could make one run better by only leaning against the fender! He loved to go to Hershey. You know my uncles, Dad and me are still kind a sore at him though. He knew better than to die during Hershey week. Maybe he planned it that way. Now I REALLY remember him every year during Hershey.

If you need something for your old car, you can find it at Hershey. I heard one of the AACA guys say that if you walk every single aisle of the whole swap meet, you will have walked 27 miles. That’s a bunch of car parts. All the companies like Coker Tire, and Honest Charley Speed Shop have displays and most do pretty well. Some companies only rely on the magazines, television or the internet to distribute their product. Smart ones do those things and the big swaps like Hershey too. One can never forget who brung ya to the dance.

This year we brought about three tractor trailer loads of vintage tires, ten or twelve guys and a bunch of order pads to Hershey. Well, that is not exactly correct. This year, we brought a woman to work Hershey with us guys. My daughter, Casey did her first Hershey this year. She came to work for the company this summer after doing a stint in management for Target after college. It was fun watching her take care of customers and answer car guy questions with authority. You done good Case, I’m proud of you!

Many people use the two giant inflatable 30ft BFGoodrich tires sitting on top of our tractor trailers as landmarks to find others in the “sea of antique car parts”! You can see them from everywhere!

This was the first Hershey with computers too. It used to be a nightmare for the office staff back home to enter all the tickets after we get back home. Now we are online with our mainframe so the vintage tire specialist can use all the resources we have to process an order immediately. If we have to ship your order you place at the swap meet, it might even beat you home because the order is transmitted electronically and shipped same day! Kinda cool huh?

This year was the first year for our Michelin Memorabilia display. Senior Product Manager, Kendall Kaylor did a great job with our great array of Michelin collectibles. Daughter Casey helped out tremendously with her expert degree in Retailing! We have really cool stuff from original style resin Bibendum (Michelin Man) statues to apparel, clocks and posters. NOT to worry though if you did not make it by our Michelin collectibles tent at Hershey, you can buy it ALL now online at our online Michelin Collectibles Store .

Hershey 2006 Coker Tire staff included Steve Jackson, Andy Morrow, Chris Knecht, Ricky Howell, Jared Cooley, JR Millican, JD Scott, Ricky Howell, Kendall Kaylor, and Casey Coker. They all worked hard, did a great job and sold a lot of “hoops”!!!! A special congrats goes to Steve Jackson, show daddy for Carlisle and Hershey. You done good bud!