History of Cooper Tires. Carlton Tire. Ultra-High Performance, Passenger, Light Truck, SUV, Motorsport, Motorcycle and Commercial Tires

John F. Schaefer and Claude E. Hart, brothers-in-law, purchased the M and M Manufacturing Company in Akron, Ohio, producing tire patches, tire cement and tire repair kits.

Schaefer and Hart acquire The Giant Tire & Rubber Company of Akron, a tire rebuilding business.

The Giant Tire Company, with C. E. Hart as president, moves to Findlay, Ohio, into buildings vacated by the defunct Toledo Findlay Tire Company. Total employment is 29. I. J. Cooper of Cincinnati, owner of several wholesale auto accessory stores, becomes a director of the company and contributes to its growth until his death in 1941. There are 134 U.S. tire manufacturers in business, 40 in Ohio alone.

Fire destroys the main building of the Giant plant. Reconstruction begins immediately on a new single story plant.

Ira J. Cooper forms the Cooper Corporation for the production of new tires. He distributes Cooper brand tires through his wholesale business. The two companies, Cooper and Giant, operate

The Giant Tire Company and the Cooper Corporation merge with the Falls Rubber Company of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, to form the Master Tire & Rubber Company.

Total production numbers 2,850 tires per day. Brand names marketed by the company at this time include Cooper, Falls, Giant, Sterchi, Hoover, Savage, Linco, Williams, Swinehart, Tigerfoot and Englert.

All tire operations, including Falls, are now centered in Findlay.

Cooper closes the acquisition of Siebe Automotive in January, and adds $400 million in sales and 16 locations. With headquarters in Southfield, Michigan, Siebe specializes in manufacturing fluid handling automotive components, modules and sub-systems. Siebe combines with Cooper's existing hose manufacturing facilities to form the Fluid Systems Division.

It's the end of an era in leadership and tire production, as Pat Rooney retires in June and the last bias light truck tire is produced in Findlay in July. Tom Dattilo succeeds Rooney as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

A 30-year veteran of the automotive industry, Jim McElya is named president of Cooper-Standard Automotive.

August, 2000 is dubbed by the tire group as the "best sales month ever," beating the old record by 3.6%

Reorganization announced, effective January, 2001, dividing Cooper Tire group into the North American Tire Division, Commercial Products Division and the International Division.

Pat Rooney retired Chairman and CEO, is inducted into the Tire Industry Hall of Fame.

At year's end, Cooper has expanded to 60 facilities in 13 countries, with more than 20,000 employees worldwide. It remains one of only two American-owned tire companies.

Cooper finalized the acquisition of the tread rubber operations from Hercules in July, adding sales and production volumes to Oliver Rubber.

D. Richard Stephens was named Cooper Tire president, succeeding 45-year veteran John Fahl, who retired in April.

Cooper Tire became the Official Tire of the Southeastern (SEC), Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Mountain West and Pacific-10 (PAC-10) athletic conferences during 2001.

A 10-year supply agreement extends the current relationship of manufacturing many of TBC's Multi Mile, Cordovan and Sigma private label tires.

Cooper earned "sole tire supplier" status from Pep Boys.

At year-end, Cooper owns more than 55 manufacturing and technical facilities in 13 countries and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide.

Cooper Tire formed a partnership with the National Safety Council (NSC) to educate consumers on tire safety. The three-year education program will help consumers understand how simple steps can help keep their tires in peak condition for miles and miles of safe driving.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company earned Rubber Manufacturers Association's Safety and Health Improvement Program (SHIP) Awards for 13 of its manufacturing facilities.

In April, the Pirelli alliance agreement was restructured with Pirelli managing their sales and marketing in the U.S while Cooper continuing to handle logistics.

One of the most significant highlights of the year occurred in the second quarter when Cooper announced earnings of 52 cents per share, which was an all-time company record.

The J.D. Power and Associates 2002 Replacement Tire Customer Satisfaction Study SM ranked Cooper the highest light truck replacement tire in a tie.