Cars & Coffee

I first started going to Cars and Coffee (C&C) in 2006 at the Crystal Cove location in Orange County.  We were hosting a young student from Italy for a short time during the summer and I thought he might be interested in seeing some of Southern California car culture as he was from Turin where many Italian cars are designed. Needless to say he was astounded by the variety of cars present, not only the Italian supercars like Ferrari and Lamborghini, but the American muscle cars and hot rods that abound in SoCal.  Renato was one of maybe a dozen high school aged students that were in the US for about 3 weeks, and we had him stay with us for 2 weeks.  He was a bit of a celebrity with his fellow students when we dropped him off at the first meeting site in our Alfa 164. At that time the 164 was one of the top-of-the-line Alfa Romeos in Italy and the EU.

When the Cars and Coffee group was forced to leave the Crystal Cove location by the locals complaints, John Clinard stepped up and hosted the group at the then western headquarters for Ford Motoring Corp. in Irvine. The parking lot was usually filled early to overflowing. Often the organizers would have a reserved space for specific car clubs or marques of distinction. It was a fun time gathering with other car enthusiasts most of whom didn’t care what car you brought.  One of the best things about all Cars and Coffee events is that one never knows what is going to show up.  On any day there could be a million-dollar Ferrari or concept car sitting in a space next to a custom hot rod or a daily driver VW.  Chip Foose would often bring some of his cars, I saw his concept car Hemi-sphere, what a great surprise. 

Unhappily, all good things come to an end.  Irvine Cars and Coffee was forced to shut down due to complaints from the surrounding developments. But the seeds were sown, and one can find a cars and coffee gathering worldwide on any Saturday or Sunday morning. Just a bunch of car enthusiasts gathering to look and appreciate all cars and owners and have a cup of coffee from a local coffee shop.

Check out the photos from Irvine and more recent from Rancho Santa Fe and Secret Car Club in the gallery.