I moved to the Chattanooga area in 2007 and one of the first places I wanted to go was the Coker Museum. Somehow, my job, family events or dilemmas, house repairs, two more moves and being home on the days that the museum was closed or something else always managed to keep me from getting there. Covid came along and the museum was shut down for a long time. One day last week, my daughter had the day off, I had nothing planned, the museum was open and we took the trip. When we walked in, it was almost like being in church, but with rock and roll playing softly in the background. The cars were spectacular, even those that were still in "as found" condition. I had never been close up to br***-era cars and was surprised to see how large most of them were. There were several that rivaled almost any of the OT 4-wheel drive pickups in height as well as ground clearance. I saw an air-cooled Franklin that looked familiar and it was. I had seen it several years ago on American Pickers. The Marmon Wasp, the car that won the first Indy 500 was sitting there looking like it was ready for another run. There are examples from every type of racing as well as hotrods that could be driven today. I took it all in while telling my daughter about the ones that stood out in my memory. Then, there were the motorcycles. There were examples of every Harley-Davidson that I, and some of the East LA crowd I ran with had owned. In the souvenir section of the store, there was a 1942 WLA 45, but I'm sure that it was much more valuable than the one I paid $65 for back in '63. Knuckleheads, flathead 80 inchers, even a '56 Panhead identical to the one I paid $600 for on Mother's Day, 1976. The seller got drunk, did something stupid and it wouldn't run. I replaced a bent pushrod, stuck in a new battery and rode it for three years before someone wanted to pay me much more than I thought it was worth. There was a '36 VL just like the one Cowboy Gary rode. Gary's leaked so much oil that it would sometimes catch on fire while we were running down the freeway. He would get off on the shoulder, and we'd beat the fire out with whatever we were wearing. Sometimes a cop would show up, if we were lucky, it would be a CHP with an extinguisher, if not, it would be an LA County Sheriff with an at***ude. There are examples of every type of motorcycle you could think of. Excelsiors, Indians, Hendersons, Triumphs, BSA's, Nortons are there, as well as some I've never seen. One that I looked for particularly but didn't find was a Vincent Black Shadow, the first motorcycle to be denied admittance to the United States. The DOT thought anything on two wheels that would do 150 MPH out of the box was too fast to be on American roads. I'd like to think my daughter enjoyed my rambling on about people and times that I'd known before she was born, I hope so. We didn't take many pictures; there are many well done videos pertaining to the Coker Museum, just look them up, and if you're ever in the area, take the time to go look at this amazing collection. There just might be something there that will spark your memory. Would I drive this? Maybe, with the help of a shoe s**** Would I drive this? In a New York minute
I recall you mentioning that you’d been wanting to visit. Glad you made it, sure looks like it was worth the trip!
The Jalopy Journal
