Nashville Pickers

There are many reasons people from all over the world visit Nashville, Tennessee. For example, there is the Grand Ole Opry House, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Johnny Cash Museum, and the historic Ryman Auditorium. There are also more than 180 live music venues as well as bars and restaurants to keep your senses sated.

For car people there is the Lane Motor Museum but fast climbing the list of must-sees is the Marathon Motor Works that houses, among many other stores and eateries, a branch of Antique Archaeology, the namesake of the hit TV show American Pickers.

Built of beautiful red brick in 1881, the Marathon Motor Village, as it is now known, was originally the home of the Marathon Automobiles, at the time one of the largest producers of automobiles in the world assembling as many as 10,000 cars a year in 1912. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons the Marathon was over by 1916. The complex, which is an on-going restoration project by owner Barry Walker, covers well over 150,00 square feet that is now divided into a four-block complex of artists’ and photographers’ studios, offices, a radio station, salons, cafés, bars, a distillery, event spaces and, of course, Antique Archaeology.

For those of you who watch the show on the History Channel, you’ll know that Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz pick their way across America and some other countries in search of that rare nugget. The show has been on since 2010, has an audience of more than five million viewers a week and is seen in 63 countries. Mike, you can tell, is a car and motorcycle guy and he invited us down to Nashville to check out the store.

The store is not big enough to house any cars but they do have on display the Volkswagen-powered motorcycle that was built by lowbrow artist and father of modern pinstriping Von Dutch. Scattered around the store floor to ceiling and among the piles of Antique Archaeology clothing and knick-knacks are more rare motorcycle engines and parts. Unfortunately, most are not for sale including one of Evil Knievel’s star-spangled, white leather ‘jump’ suits.

American Pickers, a brand owned by the History Channel, has logoed merchandise for sale at the History Store. In addition to that, you can purchase Mike’s own line called Two Lanes.

Entrance to the village and, of course, the stores are free but unless you can find free street parking the cost to park in the Village lot is $10. Other than that, it’s a great place for a family to visit where you can spend several hours drinking, dining and checking out the building, the restored machinery, some original Marathon cars that are displayed and, of course, Antique Archaeology. For more information contact www.antiquearchaeology.com/locations.php or www.marathonvillage.net

Coker Museum

If you’ve ever looked at or purchased a specialist tire, especially a vintage-style tire, chances are you’ve looked at offerings from Coker Tire. Based in Chattanooga, TN, Coker was founded 70 years ago on January 30, 1958, by Harold Coker whose parents sold their home to help him start the business. Originally just a tire and service center, Harold grew the business to handle all the big names including BFGoodrich, Firestone, Michelin, and Uniroyal. A small part of Coker’s business was vintage tires and in 1974 Harold handed that division to his son Corky who devoted the next 50 years to build the brand into one of the most recognized tires and wheel manufacturers and distributors in the world. Indeed, if you are in the vintage car or motorcycle business be it hot rods, restorations, racing cars, or motorcycles, you know Coker.

Like all good sons, Corky worked hard at building the business eventually developing it into a multi-level, international brand. The Coker Group consists of the Coker Tire, Wheel Vintiques, Universal Vintage Tire, Phoenix Race Tires, Specialty Wheel, and Roadster Wire Wheel brands. 

Like his father before him, Corky is first and foremost an enthusiast and so he couldn’t help putting a few vehicles aside into a private collection that is open to the public. During a recent trip to Chattanooga, we got the personal tour from Corky. Corky likes brass-era cars, that is to say, cars that have brass radiators which they had until the late 19-teens and in particular, he likes old racecars such as Simplex and Mercer. That said the collection is a great mix of Americana, British sports cars, classic American cars and trucks, and even a few customs and hot rods. There are even a couple airplanes one of which Corky recalled driving down the street when it first arrived to be hung in the museum.

Besides all the four wheelers, Corky is into motorcycles and the complete back wall is stacked three high with one of the most impressive collections of rare vintage bikes we have ever seen.

Although nobody was working there at the time of our visit, Coker still builds wooden wheels and rims using both original and modern equipment and skilled craftsmen. Heck, we even saw a young man doing vintage-style wood graining. It’s traditional crafts like this that Corky has been keen to perpetuate.

The collection is housed in a cool brick building in the old part of Chattanooga at 1309 Chestnut Street next door to HonestCharley.com. At the time of our visit, the museum was undergoing some renovation so before you visit we strongly recommend you call 1-888-795-7077 to confirm opening times. Typically, Coker hosts a huge car show the first weekend of April but again, check with Coker Tire before heading there: 1-866-516-3215 or check their website at www.cokertire.com

A Trip to Lane Motor Museum

Over the past few years, Nashville has become an international destination with tourists flying in from all over the world to what is known as Music City and the Music Capital of the World. For music lovers, there are more than 180 live music venues as well as the Grand Ole Opry House, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the historic Ryman Auditorium and the Johnny Cash Museum where they have an original Johnny Cash machine. For car lovers though, there is the Lane Motor Museum.

Founded by Jeff and Susan Lane, Lane Motor Museum regularly displays some 150 vehicles but according to the docent I spoke with there are another 500 cars in storage—some of which are in the basement and can be viewed on special tours at a small additional cost.

Lane Motor Museum is unique in that rather than row upon row of classic American cars the vehicles displayed are primarily oddball European contraptions with often less than a full set of four wheels and quite often a propeller for propulsion.  This was not my first visit to Lane because I find the eclectic collection to be fascinating and not as cookie-cutter boring as so many museums. What’s also nice is that there are no ropes to prevent you from taking unobstructed photographs. You can get up close and personal but obviously, you can’t touch. However, there is a French Citroën that you and kids can climb into for a photo op.

Being from England I can certainly remember seeing some of the vehicles on the road when I was growing up. Cars such as the British fiberglass-bodied Berkeley sports car that was powered by a variety of motorcycle engines or the three-wheeled German Messerschmitt that looked like, well, the cockpit of a World War II Messerschmitt airplane. There was also the three-wheeled BMW Isetta with its front-opening door and perhaps the coolest of all, Alex Tremulis’ Subaru X-100 that achieved 100 MPG in 1980 at the long-gone Ontario Motor Speedway, CA.

Of the various propeller-propelled cars on display perhaps my favorite was the sporty 1930 French L’Eclair. Powered by a 1200cc American Indian Motorcycle V-Twin, the three-wheeler was capable of 60 MPH and according to its builder, Jean Legeay, was rather noisy, scared people and would chop up chickens if they got in the way. 

Winner winner, chicken dinner and that’s my opinion of the Lane Motor Museum—well worth the visit if you happen to be in Nashville. The Lane Motor Museum is open Thursday through Monday (closed Tuesday and Wednesday) and costs just $12 for adults. Seniors are $8, those age 6 to 17 are $3 and those under 5 are free, as is parking, making a very affordable day out for the family. For more information go to www.lanemotormuseum.org