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Driver for Life
Written By: Deena Bouknight | Issue: April 2023
The legendary Corky Coker is lending his deep reservoir of automotive knowledge and one of his equally famous roadsters to the Highlands Motoring Festival.
Corky Coker, of Chattanooga, Tenn., became involved in the Highland Motoring Festival last year after hearing about the event for several years. He literally grew up surrounded by vintage automobiles due to the family business of Coker Tire Company, which was started in 1958. Coker Tire Company met the niche opportunity of manufacturing tires for all types of vintage cars throughout the United States and internationally – even for countless historic-themed movies, such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and recently Jungle Cruise, and Yellowstone 1923. Coker’s father, Harold Coker, handed over the vintage segment of the family tire business and “told me to make a go of it.” The business became the largest supplier of collector vehicle tires worldwide. Coker also acquired Honest Charley Speed Shop, which he molded into a garage that restores vintage cars for collectors. Since Coker’s entire life has been immersed in many aspects of the automobile industry, he was naturally interested in becoming involved in the annual Highlands Motoring Festival, June 8-11. The fundraiser provides a packed schedule of motoring and exhibition events, and Coker will be participating with a few friends staying at his Lake Glenville home. Although Coker owns a number of vintage cars, and his family in Chattanoga maintains The Coker Museum, he said he cannot pinpoint a favorite car. “The car that I consider my favorite is the one I’m driving that day,” he said. Some of the autos in his family’s collection include a 1914 Stutz Bearcat, a 1909 Thomas Flyer, a 1912 Alco, and a 1957 300 SL Mercedes Roadster, among many other cars, motorcycles, and vintage trucks and buses. He said he is not certain which car he will enter in the festival, but believes it will probably be the 1909 Thomas Flyer, which is “a very rare car; its sister car won the Great Race from New York to Paris in 1908, and a 1961 movie was made about that race starring Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood.” Coker pointed out that the June festival educates spectators regarding various makes and models of cars. “Each car has a story,” he said, adding that he tries to glean as much information about an automobile’s history each time he has purchased one. For more information about the festival and a schedule of events, visit highlandsmotoringfestival.com.
by Deena Bouknight
