MTFCA Forum

When following the Blockley clincher tyre story on a previous thread, some more information has come to light. The assertion was made that Coker has been the target of a private equity buyout. Has anyone any information to corroborate this? I have yet to hear of a good outcome from this kind of capitalist activity. Usually prices are hiked to maintain or increase margins, or the capital in the enterprise is drained as assets are sold off.

Either way, I can't see this being good news.

Allan from down under.

Allan
So suppose the owners want to retire?

Allan

That happened in 2018, as Coker retired. The management team stayed in place, no changing to the company, in fact, it is growing still.

Coker Tire Company is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company that manufactures and sells vintage-style Michelin, Firestone, BF Goodrich and Uniroyal bias-ply and radial whitewall tires for collector automobiles. The company was originally a tire and service center founded in 1958 by Harold Coker. He would later give his son Corky Coker the opportunity to manage the antique division, which was a small percentage of the company's earnings. Corky devoted 40 years to growing the antique division of the business, eventually making it the company's primary focus. Corky retired in 2014, and he appointed Wade Kawasaki as President to oversee the operations of six companies and numerous brands under the Coker Group. In November 2018, Corky sold Coker Tire and its parent company, Coker Group, to Irving Place Capital. Wade Kawasaki and his leadership team, remained with Coker Tire. Wade is the current President and CEO.

My understanding is they did get bought out by an equity firm for other reasons. But do not have facts yet. For what it is worth and not bashing anyone, but about 10 years ago purchased some tires from Corky and they were crap in about 6 months. He would only discount another full set 10% on my next purchase. I wonder if he is still flying his kite or what else I told him.

Just stating facts,

Hank

Coker has been my go-to for tires and tubes for years. They take a big truck to most all regional swap meets and I get delivery there to save shipping costs. Corky has always supported the hobby, and is a big reason for the yearly success of The Great Race.

The family decided to take deserved rewards, and wished to leave the business to employees, so a management buy-out was done.

The company continues to grow and add product lines. Win-win for those involved.

Read detail at this local news outlet in 2019:

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/edg ... ns/487071/

As I suspected. Much about growth by acquisition, buying market share, leveraging etc. Not a word about any improvement in quality of the substandard stuff/ brands for which they are responsible.

Yesterday I received advice that Blockley tyres for T's have landed in Australia. No prices as yet, but at least they may be of merchantable quality, fit for their intended purpose.

Allan from down under.

I just bought and received 4 tires and tubes from Blockley. That was $989.91 on the day I ordered them. Add $150.00 for US Import Duty to the price.

4x 30x3.5 Blockley Tyres @£149.00 each £596.00

4x Inner Tubes @£32.00 each £128.00

1x Delivery Charge £145.00



Total £869.00

Seems to me they are all made in Vietnam and shipped to different vendors. Which tires or “tyres” does Coker actually make? Try Universal or Lucas or that other place if you are in Australia or New Zealand. I bet the tires all come from the same place. I have four recently acquired sets plus a couple of extras purchased at the best price.

Joe Reid wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 30, 2020 10:37 pm

Seems to me they are all made in Vietnam and shipped to different vendors. Which tires or “tyres” does Coker actually make? Try Universal or Lucas or that other place if you are in Australia or New Zealand. I bet the tires all come from the same place. I have four recently acquired sets plus a couple of extras purchased at the best price.

They do all come from the same factory. But the specifications of Blockley are much higher than those of the Firestone or Riverside tires.

If you believe it.

Even though you bought the tires direct from Blockley, couldn't you have saved some money by purchasing the tubes from Coker, Universal or Lucas?

Eric, the tubes available today are the same crapshoot as far as quality goes. Troubles with valve stems which leak, splitting along seams, not holding air etc. The Blockley alternatives are of thicker construction and of different material. They are made to work as a tube should.

When you price up the Blockley tyres imported, with the tubes, and them being delivered directly to the purchaser, the costs are likely quite favourable over what is now available at vendor prices, along with metal stem tubes and then the inevitable delivery costs within USA.

A quick comparison of prices shows you only need the Blockley's to last half as long again as the current rubbish, and you will be way in front. That means the reported 6 months out of a set from Coker's only needs to last 9 months. While this may be an extreme example, the reaction of the supplier reflects very poorly.I am sure many of us will be keenly interested in their performance in service. These could be the most watch set of tyres for many a year.

Allan from down under.

Allan,
Not sure how putting a time line of "6 months out of a set of Coker's" is a valid deduction of their life.
My experience was "Fitted tires in Los Angeles in June, driven to Richmond Indiana in July.
Result: worn out, cracked sidewalls and one 3" split in sidewall in 60 days!!

I'm also sweating on Blockley tires and tubes being available soon.
Getting too old to have to repair flat tires on the side of the road because of blow outs when they are caused by rubbish products.
and one has about 1 in 5 chance the tire is damaged resulting in it not being usable again.

Erik Johnson wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 31, 2020 1:39 am

Even though you bought the tires direct from Blockley, couldn't you have saved some money by purchasing the tubes from Coker, Universal or Lucas?

They only carry the thin tubes. Only Blockley has the thick tubes with the correct type valve stem.

Luxford wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 31, 2020 6:59 pm

Allan,
I'm also sweating on Blockley tires and tubes being available soon.
Getting too old to have to repair flat tires on the side of the road because of blow outs when they are caused by rubbish products.
and one has about 1 in 5 chance the tire is damaged resulting in it not being usable again.

They are available now. I got mine a couple weeks ago. Order them directly from Blockley. Lucas and Coker won't carry them because they are competition to their brands.

I have been using heavy duty motorcycle tubes with metal valve stems for years with excellent results. They are available in an extra size 21” and extra puncture resistance at about $28.00 each.

Just Sayin’

Hank

Hank, motor cycle 23" tubes top out at 2.75", and the valve stems require extensions to make them long enough to clear the felloes on wooden wheels. One tightwad here went that route, and even put up with taking the rim/tyre off the car to save having to buy a valve extension.

Allan from down under.

Chris, it seems a fellow enthusiast is involved in making the Blockley tyres available to us in Australia. Your direct route would work, but bulk shipments to Australia should mean cheaper freight, which may well be chewed up with internal freight within Australia. However, he deserves our patronage for his efforts. Anything we can do to break the monopoly of the rubbish suppliers is worth doing.

Allan from down under.

I wrote Blockley to find out if they were going to be making other sizes, and was pleasantly surprised that Julian wrote me a direct reply. Part of his reply to me is reposted below...

Last year we produced a 30x3 1/2 with a Diamond tread pattern, and we are currently advanced with the 30x3 size you ask about, also with the diamond pattern. I believe some early Model T Fords use the 30x3 size on the front wheels. The link below to the 30x3 1/2 tyre we make shows the diamond tread pattern which the 30x3 will also have..

Further Clincher sizes are a 26x3 which should be completed in the next few months. As soon as this is finished we will be making 2 more sizes with similar tread pattern in 28x3 and a smaller 26x2 1/2 (for a 2 1/4 rim width) - both these tyres being needed for a 1900 Darracq I have. . .. The tyre will have the twin stud pattern of the period as per the attached picture. So assuming you can wait for all this, we will be able to supply you a perfect quality 28x3.There are tyres with this similar tread pattern available, for example Ensign, but these tyres are not round and have all sorts of issues - ours will be perfect and because we sell direct will also cost less.

While a little on the "hype-y" side, to me, this is excellent news... Not just for the earlier cars, but for those of us with motorcycles as well. I put a set of new production "Non-Skids" on the bike (which I like, as they were a good riding tire), only to have them sidewall crack, check and start to fail within 6 months... not a happy result at all. My rear tires on the T, while not made of permacrack rubber, ride like my wheels are off-center. As such, a choice where we get a decent tire will be a huge improvement!

Years ago I asked about the Dunlop tires out of the UK.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/11 ... 1285353434


Are those still out there? They were a bit on the pricey side back then.

Sadly, Dunlop Birmingham no longer makes bias-ply or beaded tires... I was thinking the same solution, but found this out the hard way...

Dunlop closed its remaining UK plant about four years ago and subsequently no longer manufactures tires for early automobiles.

However, the Dunlop chevron tread tires are now branded "Ensign Chevron Cord" but I have no idea who manufactures them or whether or not 30 x 3 and 30 x 3.5 tires are available.

Universal is the U.S. distributor for Ensign tires or "Ensign Tyres."

https://www.google.com/search?q=chevron ... e&ie=UTF-8

https://www.universaltire.com/dunlop-ti ... tires.html

Here is a tip. If you order from Coker get the part number and then get on the Summit Racing WEB page. Type in the part number and get free shipping to your door. I did this with a set for my Imperial.

Robert, that sounds the best way to save a few dollars. However, I get the distinct impression most of us would rather have the choice of a quality product at an increased price than a cheap price on more rubbish which is not fit for purpose.

Allan from down under.

[/quote]

They are available now. I got mine a couple weeks ago. Order them directly from Blockley. Lucas and Coker won't carry them because they are competition to their brands.
[/quote]

Hi Chris,
Would you, by any chance, have photos of these on the car yet? Kinda been dying to see them since you said you received yours - haven’t yet ordered mine.
Posting photos on this site is a real PITA. On the old forum I figured out a way then they changed that and I couldn’t. On this one I figured out how to post them with an iPhone - which usually means I take a screenshot of an emailed photo and post that....
Thanks,
Ben P.

Benp wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 05, 2020 2:49 pm

[/quote
Hi Chris,
Would you, by any chance, have photos of these on the car yet? Kinda been dying to see them since you said you received yours - haven’t yet ordered mine.
Posting photos on this site is a real PITA.

I used to be able to post photos here. Now that they changed things my photos, which are JPG, will no longer appear here.