Corvette Expo was the “brainchild” of Byron C Cooper, along with his brother Ronny, of Cooper’s Corvette Center of Knoxville TN. Byron opened Cooper’s in 1967 on Broadway in the North end of Knoxville in a rented 4-car garage. Byron remembers the rent was $45 per month and was sometimes hard to come by. The focus of Cooper’s was repairing damaged Corvettes for the individual and as well the insurance companies. Jobs included painting, customizing and mechanical repair. It was more work than Byron could handle. He asked Ronny to join the business and a partnership formed, which continues until today. In 1969, the brothers bought a larger building that not only allowed for more repairs and but the ability to also sell Corvettes. They still operate out of this location, 5611 N Broadway.
Early 1976, Byron came up with the idea to have a Corvette Show and open house at their business location. The idea was to invite several vendors they had met through the Corvette business. They approached several of the surrounding business to gain enough space to do a Show and Swap Meet. However, they soon found out there was not enough space to promote such an event. The idea was then shelved for a while, but it was never far from his mind. Several months later, Byron rented The Jacob Building in Knoxville’s Chilhowee Park. The date was set. Calls were made, flyers mailed out, ads and posters went up, and CORVETTE EXPO was born.
On the first weekend in March 1977, Corvette Expo opened it gates to a full house. A huge crowd of Corvette enthusiast paying, $2 general admission. As they say, the rest is history.
In 2012, Corvette Expo was inducted into the Bloomington Gold Corvette “Great Hall”.
Corvette Expo celebrated their 45 anniversary in 2022. This makes Corvette Expo the longest running Corvette event in the nation continuously operated by the same owners.
2023 marked the passing of the torch for Corvette Expo. Under the guidance and direction from Byron and Ronny, H&J Promotions took over the day-to-day operations of Corvette Expo. H&J Promotions owned and operated by Greg Harris and Steve Jenkins, two very familiar faces in the car show arena. They have worked with Byron and Ronny at Corvette Expo and MCS Promotions events for the last 30 years. There is nothing like learning the business from best and you will see them continue being advisors around at the events. Greg and Steve will take these years of experience, their love of all things cars and motorsports and manage Corvette Expo with same passion and enthusiasm as their predecessors. We look forward to continuing the great Corvette Expo tradition.
Thank you,
Greg & Steve
SEE YOU AT OUR NEXT EVENT