Hot rods to swarm city for Hot Rod Power Tour (June 6)

Hundreds of hot rods like some of those in the Coker Tire Co. collection will thunder into town today.

Cars buffs may swoon at the sight and sound of hundreds of hot rods streaming down Amnicola Highway today, June 6.

But they should hold out long enough to get an up close and personal look at the vehicles at Chattanooga State Community College when the caravan pulls in for the Chattanooga stop on the 2013 Hot Rod Power Tour.

This is the city's second time to host a stop on the tour. It also stopped here with 3,000 cars (and some 10,000 to 15,000 spectators) in 2010.

"All kinds of cars [will arrive]," according to Marla Moore, marketing director for Coker Tire Co., the event host. "There will be everything from classic hot rods to muscle cars to modern-day hot rods."

The number of cars is staggering, she says.

"That's what's cool about watching the Power Tour come in," Moore says. "It's hundreds of really cool cars, one right after another. It's a parade of incredible vehicles."

The cars will be on display from about noon to 7 p.m., and admirers will be able to check out the vehicles -- at no charge -- and ask questions of their owners, she says.

Hungry drivers and onlookers will be able to purchase items from several food trucks expected to be on hand.

But the Chattanooga State gathering is only a prelude for the Coker Tire Cruise-in from 5 to 9 p.m.

The party will offer another opportunity to see the cars, but there also will be live music from Southern rockers The Other Guys, food (for purchase from Taste of Argentina, Famous Nater's World Famous, Local Slice, Missing Link, Southern Burger, Tikiz Shaved Ice & Ice Cream, Southside Bistro and T-Bone's) and tours of the Coker museum and other facilities.

Indeed, among activities at other facilities, nearby Honest Charley Garage will unveil the 2013 Street Rodder Tour Car it built from a 1951 Ford Sedan.

Local car lovers are invited to bring their hot rods or classic cars, too.

The tour itself, in its 19th year, began in Arlington, Texas, and will cover 1,400 miles through five states in seven days. By the time it concludes in Concord, N.C., it also will have stopped in Texarkana, Texas, Little Rock, Ark., Memphis, and Birmingham, Ala.

Contact Clint Cooper at ccooper@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6497. Subscribe to his posts at Facebook.com/ClintCooperCTFP.