Brand: Honest Charley
Location: 1309 Chestnut Street
Products: Hot rod parts, collectibles, apparel and vintage cars for sale
Claim to fame: Founded in 1948, it is the world’s first mail-order speed shop.
Owner: Corky Coker, owner of Coker Tire
What’s in the name: Charley Card owned a downtown restaurant in the 1940s near the Read House, where he would leave the cash register open and allow customers to make their own change. He was a car enthusiast and leader of the Chattanooga Racing Association, one of the original sponsors of NASCAR, and opened his speed shop called “Honest Charley” on McCallie Avenue.
History: Honest Charley began advertising in Hot Rod Magazine and branched into other cities, before the fuel crisis of the 1970s and death of Card in 1975 sent the Speed Shop into a downward spiral. The shop closed its doors in 1990, but eight years later Coker bought the business to save the brand from extinction.
“This shop, and this name rings a bell with just about every hot rodder and drag racer from the early days, and I couldn’t stand the thoughts of it going away,” Coker says. “Charley Card had the marketing vision to get attention from car guys of all ages, and made it a Chattanooga icon.”