I haven't read ALL of the background about this story, but it appears to be pretty strange: http://www.hotrodders.com/corky-coker.html
Corky isn't the jerk. He had no association with the project where somebody falsely stated his involvement in any manner, then handled the BS and fallout very well. http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/gas-monkey-garage-giving-away-hot-rod-need-your-help-96191-11.html#post682189
I disagree with your assessment that Corky "handled the BS and fallout very well," unless by that you mean that Corky tried his best to ignore it. The whole thing started with what appears to have been a guerilla marketing strategy used by Coker Tire to subvert and control, in some sense, the hotrodders.com forum. In part, gas-monkey-garage set up a questionable charity deal to generate attention for Coker Tire and to manipulate the forum. The administrator of the hotrodders.com forum published Corky Coker's general denials, and also exposed several planted responses and postings that came directly from Coker Tire's IP address. Corky offered some general denials (two, I believe), and tried to distance himself (and Coker Tire) from the debacle. Ultimately, Corky never addressed the issue of whether Coker Tire had funded the whole affair, and the issue was never resolved. The posts go on for about 20 pages, until the administrator finally shut it down himself, because he believed that Corky would never finally admit to Coker Tire's involvement, and the administrator realized he was beating a dead horse.
Wowzers. Opening post of *this* thread suggested little was known by OP, so I only read his 2 posts & pages of *that* thread they were on. Seemed reasonable at the time. But, your followup to this tale of woe is quite illuminating. If it Looks like a PR disaster, Smells like . . .
Coker tire charges 2k for a set of 4 390 tsx tires,,,,,, never liked them much anyway..... Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
Why bring this up now? And here? This is an old story---with 2 sides. I can say from experience that Coker has the best customer service of ANY company I've dealt with.
What's the big deal? Just some dudes in thongs. People love those tires for their old cars from the '40s and '50s.
1. The story clearly started about 4 or 5 years ago, but that doesn't mean that it isn't potentially of at least passing interest to those on FCHAT with older Ferraris that need to source tires from Coker. At the same time, however, it is new to probably most of FCHATTERS, since this thread is apparently the first to mention it. Now with respect to Coker's customer service, that is in doubt, as many of the reports in the Vintage, 206/246, and 308/328 sections of FCHAT can attest to, at least with respect to consistent explanations from Coker (and from Michelin via Coker). In my case, Coker gave me repeated assurances that my set of Michelin XWX 205/70VR14s would arrive "within the next two months." They in fact arrived about 19 months later. And, as I pointed out elsewhere, it appears impossible to confirm when the speed rating tests were last done on the Michelin XWXs used on 206/246s, 308/328s, and many, if not most, most older Ferraris also relied upon Michein. Believe me, Coker does not (or cannot) answer the question, and Michelin is likewise silent on the matter. 2. I don't care whether anyone is in thongs or not - the real issue remains: Was Coker involved in subverting hottrodder.com's forums while Coker tire engaged in a disruptive marketing campaign.
