What Coker Group makes

Coker Group is the parent of Coker Tire Company, the collector-vehicle tire and wheel manufacturer founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1958. The company produces period-correct tires for antique, classic, muscle, and hot-rod vehicles: bias-ply and radial whitewalls, redlines, wide-oval radials, and bias-look radials that pair a vintage sidewall with modern radial construction. Coker says it was the first to manufacture a wide whitewall radial tire and the first to build a bias-look radial. It also sells wheels for the same market through its Wheel Vintiques, Roadster Wire Wheels, and Cragar S/S lines.

The model rests on a library the company describes as more than 1,500 tire molds. Coker sources discontinued molds from old factories, refurbishes them to modern standards, and, when an original mold cannot be found, builds new molds from original drawings and blueprints. That lets it reproduce tires that no volume manufacturer still makes. The company sells to collector-vehicle owners, restorers, and the automotive aftermarket, not to vehicle OEMs, so it sits outside the Tier 1 production-supply structure that governs most automotive parts makers.

Ownership and history

Harold Coker started Coker Tire in 1958, first as a tire and service center in Athens, Tennessee, then as the first major BFGoodrich dealership in Chattanooga after a 1960 move. The antique tire division, the business Coker is now known for, started with one employee in 1974 and grew into its own segment of the tire industry. Harold Coker died in November 2014; his son Joseph "Corky" Coker, a 2008 SEMA Hall of Fame inductee, is the figure most associated with the brand's growth.

Ownership changed hands in 2018, when the private equity firm Irving Place Capital purchased Coker Tire. The parent company later operated under the name Legendary Companies for roughly five years, then rebranded back to the Coker Group name at the November 2024 SEMA Show. Coker Group today is the umbrella over Coker Tire and related enthusiast brands, including Wheel Vintiques. Bruce Ronning, who came from senior commercial roles at Tenneco and Johnson Controls, was named Chief Executive Officer in January 2025. Mark Mooberry serves as Commercial Vice President.

Brand licensing and distribution

Coker's product range depends on licensing agreements rather than an OEM order book. The company holds agreements with Firestone, BFGoodrich, and U.S. Royal to manufacture authentically branded reproduction tires, and it is a recommended distributor for Michelin, Vredestein, and the BFGoodrich Radial T/A. At the 2024 SEMA Show, Coker Group announced it had become the exclusive North American distributor for the Avon, Dunlop, and Ensign tire brands, and it introduced a certified-installer drop-ship program. Since 2018 the company has been the exclusive tire and wheel sponsor of Mecum Auctions, attending all of that auction house's events each year, and it has historically taken its inventory to more than 40 car shows a year on a fleet of tractor-trailers.

Sourcing evidence

Coker's US import record fits a licensed vintage-tire producer. US customs bills of lading show 284 sea shipments between January 2015 and September 21, 2026, with the most recent landing in September 2026. Rubber goods dominate the mix at 249 of 284 shipments, ahead of a small tail of automotive parts, plastics, and steel articles. Annual volume has held in a steady band, roughly 20 to 35 shipments a year across the decade, which points to a stable, repeat-order sourcing pattern rather than a business scaling up or winding down.

Eight of the named foreign suppliers are shown. Origin countries span France, Taiwan, India, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and New Zealand, entering mainly through Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. The presence of Michelin as a shipper matches Coker's own statement that it is a Michelin distributor and licensing partner. Customs-derived estimates put cumulative ocean shipping spend at roughly $199,000 over the period, an order-of-magnitude figure rather than an audited one, appropriate for a specialty importer that buys in modest, recurring volumes.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Coker Group make?

Coker Group is the parent of Coker Tire, which manufactures reproduction and period-correct tires and wheels for collector, antique, classic, muscle, and hot-rod vehicles. Products include bias-ply and radial whitewalls, redlines, and wide-oval radials, produced from a library of more than 1,500 tire molds. It also sells vintage-style wheels through brands such as Wheel Vintiques and Cragar S/S.

Who owns Coker Group?

Coker Group has been owned by the private equity firm Irving Place Capital since 2018. The underlying business, Coker Tire, was founded by Harold Coker in 1958 and remains headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The parent company operated as Legendary Companies for several years before rebranding back to the Coker Group name in November 2024.

Where is Coker Group headquartered?

Coker Group and Coker Tire are headquartered at 1317 Chestnut Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee, occupying several buildings in the city's historic Southside district with more than 200,000 square feet of warehouse space. The company also operates a store and warehouse in City of Industry, California.

Who are Coker Group's brand partners?

Coker holds licensing agreements with Firestone, BFGoodrich, and U.S. Royal, and is a recommended distributor for Michelin, Vredestein, and the BFGoodrich Radial T/A. In 2024 it became the exclusive North American distributor for Avon, Dunlop, and Ensign. It has been the exclusive tire and wheel sponsor of Mecum Auctions since 2018.

How does Coker Group source its tires?

Coker reproduces tires using a library of more than 1,500 refurbished and newly built molds, and imports tires and rubber goods from global partners. US customs records show 284 sea shipments since 2015, dominated by rubber goods, from suppliers including Michelin in France, TVS Srichakra in India, and manufacturers in Taiwan, South Korea, and China.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.