[twobjshelbys]

I had a very good marketing guy that explained to me that commodity volumes are driven by TAM (Total Available Market, ie, the number of Cobras) factored with market penetration. It is going to be extremely difficult to acquire enough long term volume to justify the tooling expense for a complete new line of low volume tires. A Johnny-come-lately brand will not fare well, and to get someone like Michelin to tool for the sizes will cost a lot of money and the tires would be priced accordingly. Then you have the long term issue of storage (tires, like milk and eggs, have an expiration date). The second part of TAM for a commodity like a tire is that the demand is fixed and a new supplier can only get volume by taking it from someone else. So if a new Cobra tire appeared it would have to be compelling.

On the other hand, manufacturers do still make tires for things like vintage Rolls Royces. I'd start by locating and talking with those low volume manufacturers. Or is that Coker and noone else? Hearing they have no interest and specialize in that market is not a good sign.

Why not go to SEMA and visit the tire barn? They have acres of wheels and tire displays.