Making Your Hobby Your Business #3 Coker Tire

“Corky” Coker – www.cokertire.com — Chattanooga, Tenn. Joseph Coker’s nickname “Corky” hints at how young he was when he first got the old car bug. It came from a character in the old “Gasoline Alley” strip and has been used since his dad, Harold, read the comics to him.
Corky’s mechanic grandfather loved Model A Fords. Rumor has it “Pop” Coker could make an A run better by leaning on its fender! He helped Harold start Coker Tire in 1958. Harold’s brothers Bob and Bill were also old-car lovers.
When Corky started selling tires, less than five percent of Coker’s business involved antique car tires. In, 1974, he took over the fledgling antique tire division, working out of a 500 sq. ft. area of Harold’s Chattanooga, Tenn., BFGoodrich dealership. Today, the antique tire division accounts for 95 percent of the business and is the world’s largest supplier of tires for vintage vehicles.