Coker Group adds modern focus to vintage business

LAS VEGAS—Coker Group, known as Legendary Companies for the past five years, returned this year to the SEMA Show under the Coker moniker after a few years absent to make it clear to the aftermarket that the vintage parts, wheels and tires company is very much a "modern" operation.

"We are committed to keeping vintage cars, restoration cars on the road; that is our business," Coker Group President Bruce Ronning said at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas on Nov. 6. "Today, the message for you is: 'We're back.'"

Along with announcing a return to its former name at the show, Coker Group showed off several new products—from wheels to whitewalls with a lot of Corvette parts in-between. On the service side, Coker has launched a certified installer program. It also has become the exclusive North American distributor of Avon-brand tires along and some Dunlop and Ensign vintage tires.

Additionally, Coker is the organizer of the Hemmings Great Race, an annual classic-car rally that will travel in 2025 from Minnesota to South Carolina.

Known as Legendary Companies since 2019, Coker Group comprises Coker Tires, Wheel Vintiques, The Great Race, Zip Corvette and Corvette Central, as well as 14 other vintage brands in the U.S. and Europe.

Ronning said the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based business decided to reclaim the Coker name, because "Legendary" didn't necessarily resonate any more with how the businesses have evolved.

"We wanted to make sure we tie the businesses together, so there's synergies," he said.

Coker Group CEO Mike Kealey said an important aspect of the rebranding process was "an intense focus" on improving customer service, inventory control and new product development.

"It's more than just a name change," Kealey said. "We wanted to bring the group back to its roots, with respect to the products and, more importantly, the people that got us here. The Coker brand has a strong connection to family-owned businesses, and that resonates with our core customer groups."

Headquartered in Chattanooga, Coker Group operates manufacturing facilities in Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia and Germany.

Earlier this year, Coker Tire rolled out the Coker Classic Star Series, a whitewall tire line that includes both narrow and wide whitewalls.

The line is available in 28 sizes covering rim diameters of 13- to 17-inches. Most of the sizes are 14- and 15-inch rim diameters for fitment on 1940s-'70s classic cars and trucks, but the line also allows for staggered sizing for hot rods and custom builds, Coker said.

The tire is built in the U.S. and engineered with new molds and compounds for ride comfort and safety, Coker said.

Coker also revived its whitewall tire cleaner "Wide White," a product popular years ago for Coker, which has been in business since 1958. Coker said the product is safe for the rubber, the environment and the best way to condition and keep whitewalls bright. The product will be available in many local shops, Coker said, adding that it plans to release Wide White tire wipes in the future.

Coker added sizes to its most popular muscle car tire line, the Firestone-branded Wide Oval Radial. Originally, the line covered OE fitments for muscle cars from 1967-74. Eleven more options have been added for non-OE fitments—five with raised "redline" lettering and six sizes with classic white lettering.

"The expansion puts more focus on period-correct muscle car sizes for those who want a little extra rubber on the road," Coker said.

New sizes include ER60-15, FR60-15, GR60-15, HR60-15, LR60-15 and NR50-15. These tires carry the alphanumeric sizing structure of the original series, but crossover to popular P-metric sizes like 225/60R15, 235/60R15, 245/60R15, 255/60R15, 275/60R15 and 295/50R15, Coker said.

Coker Tire redesigned the molds for its classic lowrider tire, the Premium Sport. Coker said the aim was to build "a more stylish and period correct" tire.

Coker Tire offers Premium Sport tires in select sizes and whitewall configurations. The 5.20-13 and 5.20-14 sizing are staples in the lowrider community, Coker said, and most customers opt for the narrow whitewall option.

During the show, Coker Tire announced a certified installer program for tires and wheels.

The group said the new program is aimed to both send more work to tire shops around the country and add convenience for their customers.

Details of the program can be found at cokertire.com/certified-installer.

On the wheel side, the group has added products to its Maxilite brand portfolio, including new styles of aluminum wheels for classic Euro cars. New styles and sizes will also be added to the portfolio.

Mark Mooberry, commercial vice president of Coker Group, said the additions in the wheels portfolio has grown "dramatically," and is part of larger plan to grow business by offering compete packages (tires, wheels and accessories) to customers looking to outfit their classic car.

"Go to Coker tire.com. … You'll be able to pick with one click, the wheels, tires and accessories, trim ring, bolt, everything that goes with it, and drop it in your cart," Mooberry said, adding that Coker mounts and balances the tires.

Then, he said, a customer can locate a nearby "certified installer" and have the tires shipped directly to the tire shop.

Coker announced the availability of new Heavy-Duty tubes for cars built from 1900-30. The tubes, marketed under the Universal brand, are designed to be durable and handle the load stresses of an early automobile, "whether the vehicle spends its time sitting in a museum or driving the roads on antique car tours," the company said.

Universal Heavy-Duty tubes are available in sizes to fit the Ford Model T, Model A and other popular Fords, as well as many other makes and models from 1900-30. Larger cars, such as Packard and Hudson, are covered in the list of applications as well. Popular tubes include 30x3-1/2, 450-20/21 and 500/550-19. There are 16 sizes of tubes in the line for 17- to 28-inch rim diameters.

Coker Group's vintage Corvette parts and accessories companies—Zip, Corvette Central and Paragon Corvette—have served the restoration industry for 50 years. At the SEMA Show in November, the groups showed off a number of products.

"We brought out some new products that we've been working on over the years, along with some items that have been out of stock for some time that we've been able to bring back into the marketplace, which is a focus of what we're doing across both the Corvette brands," said Tony Genty, general manager of the Corvette hard parts business for the Coker Group.

In Michigan, Corvette Central produces nearly 4,000 exclusive Corvette restoration parts.

"They have an extreme focus on die-cast products, emblems, moldings, etc.," he said. "We also are producing American-made bumpers that are done all in Michigan on GM tooling, just to name a few of the products that we're working on."

In Virginia at Zip, he said they are focused on building items that have gone obsolete from classic car maker portfolios.

"In addition to that, they offer a rebuild service, which we're really excited about," Genty said. "If you're working on a car and your desire is to continue to keep that car's original numbers matching, or maybe that product is not available, we have a complete rebuild service. You can send a product in, and we can rebuild that and send it back to you for your install."

Coker Group will present the 2025 Great Race, a week-long vintage car ride, June 21-29. The 2025 event will start in St. Paul, Minn., and end in Lake Murray, S.C., with stops in 17 cities along the way.

The 2,300-mile route will feature a range of classic vehicles from 1911-74, as well as $160,000 in prize money. Coker noted that the race last year included 40 rookies, as well as 11 X-Class teams made up of high school and college students, and they anticipate more in 2025.