CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Aug. 13, 2003) — Vintage whitewall radial tires from Coker Tire Co. outfit the 3,000 “Last Edition” Volkswagen Beetles produced in Mexico last month.
The factory in Puebla, Mexico—the last remaining plant to produce the original style of VW Bugs after the car maker stopped producing them in Germany in 1978—built the special last edition vehicles as it wrapped up its production. The final Beetle rolling off the line July 30 went to a German museum.
Vintage tire marketer Coker Tire supplied the BFGoodrich Silvertown 165R15 tire with a 2 ¼-inch wide whitewall to the Mexican plant. Coker first made the whitewall radial available in 2002.
“Volkswagen of Mexico initially requested a number of sample tires to use at an internal marketing demonstration, and our tires apparently were an immediate hit,” said Joseph “Corky” Coker, president of the Chattanooga-based company. “…It's a real honor for us to be involved with the final production of one of history's major automotive icons.”