Reply to "Coker tire"

Yu guys DO know that Pirelli already has a new small plant making limited-run tires in Turkey? And that since about 2002, Pirelli's made limited runs (about 200 tires at a time) of 275-55x 15 and 295-50x 15 V and W-rated tires? But the production is very spotty. Larry Stock at PPC-Reno orders a dozen such tires; he gets one or two. He re-orders and gets one.... They sell so fast, you need to get on the 'call' list and none are cheap- even to the vendors. 4 years ago, I successfully ordered four 275-55x 15 Pirelli W-rated tires thru the Swedish DeTomaso Club. They called Pirelli and ordered a minimum amount which they split with the British Lamborghimni clubs; they were $355 each and it took nearly 9 months to get them in my hands in the U.S. Getting an international money order from the Nevada State Bank in Kroner was interesting....
I've talked many times with tire reps at the Monterey Italian Concours. Coker Tires owns the molds for many such 'vintage' tires from many manufacturers; all that they need is an order for enough to make it worth their while to dust them off. The fact remains that they are uninterested in tooling up for tiny amounts, and the legal climate in California at least is hostile at best for parts that are for all intents & purposes guaranteed to NOT fail at multiples of the speed limit, in the hands of amateur drivers in 30-to-40 year old street cars. The owner, Corkey Coker, is completely unresponsive to e-mails and phone calls; I think the company filters annoying messages to him like this. At leat none of mine ever got thru.