We mentioned a few weeks ago that Corky Coker’s team of restorers and wrenches were putting the finishing touches on Coker’s replica of the 1911 Indy-winning Marmon Wasp in advance of the centennial celebrations at the Indy 500. It hasn’t had much time to gather dust since then, as Coker has pressed it into publicity duty for the Great Race, which ended here in Bennington last Friday. Seeing it in person confirmed our initial assessment that the Coker team had gone above and beyond in making the racecar replica as authentic as possible – the only things that jumped out at us were the modern ignition coils and the modern ignition wires, presumably added for the sake of safety and reliability.
It also pleased us that Corky didn’t hesitate to jump in it, fire it up, and drive it around. After all, while the real thing is irreplaceable and deserves its place in a museum, the whole point of building a replica is to give it the spurs and thus spare the genuine article, right?
