(Words and photos by Tommy Lee Byrd) – Back in 2011, the guys at Coker Tire Company experimented with the idea of an open house and cruise in, with the intention of spreading brand awareness and having a good ol’ time. After a few years of steady growth, the event exploded into an all out cruise in frenzy, and the event organizers found themselves saying, “there’s no way it could get any bigger”. They were wrong because on Saturday, April 2^nd, the Chattanooga Cruise In brought in record crowds, and basically shut down the southside of Chattanooga, Tennessee for the day.

Despite traffic jams and insufficient space for parking, the event was an absolute blast, with approximately 2,000 cars, trucks and motorcycles in attendance. An estimated 15,000 spectators lined the streets and parking lots, making for a packed house all day. In addition to the amazing cruise in cars, the event featured numerous vendors, including Matt and the gang at American Powertrain. Another attraction was the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow engine building competition, which was actually a national qualifying event for this awesome organization of high school teams. By the way, the fastest engine rebuild of the day was 20 minutes and 33 seconds.

Coker Tire and Honest Charley Speed Shop open the doors to its impressive compound, offering an open house, and of course, an opportunity to buy hot rod parts, tires, wheels and apparel. Additionally, Coker Tire cleaned out its closet with an outrageous “blemished tire sale”, which drew quite a crowd.

So, out of the 2,000ish cars that rolled into the Chattanooga Cruise In, what were our favorites? Well, let’s start with Boosted Bela, the ’56 Chevy Bel Air that rocked the social media universe when it debuted at the SEMA Show last year. The patina, the whitewalls, the supercharged LS3…yeah, it’s super bad. Then you have the mini monster truck, complete with funny car style body and rear steering, which drove into the show towing a vintage front engine dragster. We also liked the remote control Volkswagen bus baby stroller. Oh, and check out that Pontiac station wagon with a shaker hood…all good stuff.

Click the images below to expand them and see all of Tommy Lee Byrd’s awesome photos!