History

Tornatta Tire has been a tire and automotive service staple in Evansville and the Tri-State area for years. Starting March of 1983 in a partnership with Shelby’s Wheel & Tire, Tom and Terri Tornatta took their passions and the Delta and BFGoodrich lines to the community. Tom selected an old Shell station on a busy 2 way street along Morgan Avenue in Evansville and before you know it the road was 4 lane averaging over 35,000 cars a day, so Tom added 3 bays and a 5,000 sq. ft. of warehousing for his increasing business.

One of Tom’s true breaks was meeting a BFGoodrich rep. by the name of Phil Jenkins. Phil not only helped Tom grow the business through buying opportunities but helped mentor the new business owner to new tire lines like Michelin. Tornatta Tire went direct with Michelin, BFGoodrich and Uniroyal and established their company as a premium tire distributor and in 1991 Tom and Terri bought out Shelby’s and changed the name to Tornatta Tire Inc. In July of 1996 Tom’s son Troy opened a new store on a busy 4 lane road on the west side of Evansville to better serve the area. That street soon became a 6 lane expressway that averages about 55,000 cars a day. And with the compliment of Buster Grayson (Tom’s Son-in-Law) and the veteran technicians, Mike Woolston and Anthony Byerson, Tornatta Tire was positioned to move into the next millennium.

In the fall of 2001 Phil Jenkins brought an associate named Tony Comarata Sr. (a former Uniroyal truck rep.) from Tire Centers (TCI) in Cincinnati. TCI was a sister company of Michelin, who at this time owned BFGoodrich, Uniroyal, Riken, Medalist and many other private brands. They offered timely marketing, daily deliveries and more buying power to help in a very competitive market. The partnership to date is still going strong.

Today, we operate our east side shop at 3400 East Morgan Avenue in Evansville IN.