COKER CORNER CLASSIC CORVETTES WADE KAWASAKI Wade is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Legendary Companies (formerly known as Coker Group). In his executive role, Wade oversees the 12 brands and six operating companies under the Legendary Companies umbrella. He is based out of Legendary Companies’ corporate headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and also has an office in City of Industry, California. In addition to his role at Legendary Companies, Wade is the SEMA Immediate Past Chairman of the Board, where he continues to lead the Board of Directors in making important decisions to benefit the $41 billion automotive aftermarket. There is no doubt that classic Corvettes get a lot of attention on the auction block. These cars have a high degree of collectability, even if they are not particularly rare combinations. I watch Corvettes roll across the block at Mecum Auctions events across the country, and I’m always blown away that these cars that I could’ve bought for $3,500 in the 1980s are bringing so much money today. The fact of the matter is that these cars are iconic American sports cars, and one would be hard pressed to find another American car that gives off the same visceral feeling that an old school Corvette can provide. When it comes to buying a classic Corvette, there are plenty of options. One could buy a project car, but those are becoming difficult to source. Most Corvettes have already been restored, so finding a crusty old car that’s been sitting in someone’s garage is more of a fantasy than a realistic expectation. The most affordable way to get into the Corvette world is by purchasing an older build—perhaps something that is a little worn and outdated. From there, one can restore or upgrade the car to one’s liking and enjoy a considerably quicker path to getting it on the road. Of course, buyers can also purchase a complete car that’s already restored, and that would get them to the finish line much quicker and easier. Once in possession of an older Corvette, there are usually items that need to be addressed. When dealing with an older restoration, chances are pretty likely that it has an old set of tires on it. If a car has been sitting for more than 10 years, pay close attention to the tires. Even if they’re not showing signs of cracking, they could cause catastrophic problems as they build up heat on the highway. At Coker Tire, we offer authentic tires for Corvettes built from 1953 through 1982, including bias-ply whitewalls for the early cars, redlines and gold lines for the second generation and, of course, raised white letter tires for the third generation. Authentic sizing is very important for Corvettes, as tire clearance issues on a fiberglass body can be quite a costly repair. For the early cars, 670-15 is the correct bias-ply size, and we often see customers upgrade to wide whitewall radial tires, either in our American Classic bias-look product line (670R15) or in our standard radials, which comes out to 205/75R15. As the sizes changed over to the 775-15 in the 1960s, we offer several bias- ply options in our Firestone and BF Goodrich brands, and several upgrade options in 205/75R15 radial sizing. Moving onto third-generation cars, the 1972 and earlier cars had F70-15 bias-ply tires, which we offer in the Firestone Wide Oval product line. These tires are offered in original bias-ply construction, as well as radial construction. Later cars from the third generation featured 225/70R15 tires, which are available in our BF Goodrich Radial T/A product line. That brings us to wheels. When nearly all of American production cars stepped down to 14-inch wheels in 1957, the Corvette remained at 15 inches and stayed there until the 1984 Corvette came out with 16-inch rollers. Originally in 5-inch width, the steel wheels were most often dressed with full wheel covers, which required special bumps on the rim to hold it in place. Coker Tire offers reproductions of these wheels with the proper bumps and correct backspacing. 116 // MECUM.COM
