Car shows are always a great way to meet new friends, see old ones, sell your product and rub elbows with customers. When I was kid, I remember my Dad constantly traveling to shows to meet the prospective customers, see their company’s and factories. When I say travel, I don’t just mean a couple hours across the state to set up a booth, I mean, he was a “Get-R-Dun” kind of traveler. He would go all over the globe to meet with people from Australia, Germany, England and Brazil and many more. I didn’t quite understand why he wasn’t home all the time when I was growing up, but now since I have been in the business here at Coker Tire for 2 years now, I get to see first hand what those important travels accomplish.

(more…)

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.”
(more…)