Cars and Coffee: The Return of the King?

August 24, 2015
Story By
Albert Roxas

It’s been nearly eight months since the “final” Cars and Coffee Irvine, the original Orange County spot that brought automotive enthusiasts together early on Saturday mornings. In the interim, a few other locations have popped up in an attempt to take over, most notably those in Aliso Viejo and San Clemente, but none were able to capture the aura and volume of the original event. A couple weeks ago, I heard through the grapevine that a new location had finally been locked in for the return of Cars and Coffee. There wasn’t much advertisement and couldn’t find anything on social media, but soon found myself a flyer with more official info and a debut kickoff: August 22, 2015 at the Orange County Fairgrounds. I posted the flyer on Instagram right away, especially since I hadn't seen it on any social media outlets up until that point, which surprised me. Given the new location, I thought social media would be oversaturated immediately.

Billed as “Cars & Coffee: The Next Generation” (in a font that looks oddly familiar to Road & Track's logo), everything about it appeared to be put on by the same people that did Cars and Coffee Irvine. Of particular note is the now infamous display guidelines list: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cars we emphasize — price/value is NOT a consideration Preference is given to

Cars 1975 and older – older cars will take precedence over newer cars
Sports Cars, Classics, Exotics, Hot Rods
Nostalgic/unusual – cars that draw a crowd! Cars you want to photograph!
Cars that are not regularly seen on the roads of Southern California
Cars that are not daily drivers

Lowest preference is given to

4-door cars 1975 and newer – most will be asked to park in spectator parking
Electric/hybrid cars of any make
Trucks, vans, wagons, SUVs

1975 and newer – only the following cars: As space allows, the following 1975 and newer cars are accepted individually, but not in groups unless prearranged with OC Cars and Coffee Acura – NSX only Ariel Atom Aston Martin Audi – R8 only Bentley BMW – Z8 only Bugatti Callaway Chevrolet – Corvette and limited production ZL1 and Z28 Camaro only Concept Cars – as prearranged with manufacturers Dodge – Viper and limited production SRT8 Challenger only De Tomaso Ferrari Ford – Ford GT and limited production SVT Boss + Shelby Mustangs only Jaguar – 2 door cars only Koenigsegg Lamborghini Lexus – LFA only Maserati – 2 door cars only McLaren Mercedes Benz – 2 seat cars only Morgan Nissan – GT-R only Noble Pagani Porsche – 2 door cars only Replicas/Special Construction cars – on a case by case basis Rolls Royce Ruf Saleen – 2 door cars only Spyker Shelby --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the original “rules” list was posted, it caused quite a stir, so much that I wrote about it. Ironically, the first quote came true...as far as the future location of Cars and Coffee. Once again, the guideline of which cars were acceptable for the show hurt a lot of feelings. As hype for the show grew, so did the discussion of whether or not actual enthusiasts approved of such a list. I read numerous comments on both sides as to whether their car should be let in and why/why not. It actually generated a lot of buzz for the show, which wasn't there originally. People were going to attend just to see if they could get in and some were going to just continue to "stir the pot", so to speak. I was even sent an invite to a fake Facebook page that appeared to mock the new Cars and Coffee:

As you can see, this was a direct shot to the display guidelines. I can't lie, they had me until I saw the rev contest and safe burnout portion. But to everyone else invited, this is confusing...and fueled the fire for those opposed. As buzz continued to grow I had a feeling there was going to be a lot of confusion, especially when you consider the amount of cars and people attending, particularly for an inaugural show, at this type of venue, with ONLY volunteers. My suspicions were correct when I reached out to some friends that were already at the show as I was gathering my group of friends together to head over. Me: "Hey, how's the turnout? Are you guys in?" (Knowing that his car fit the guidelines, a two-door Porsche.) Friend: "I was turned away, the rest of the guys are." Well, that wasn't a good start. I personally knew we weren't getting in because we were running behind, despite assembling a random collection of cars that included an '89 BMW Alpina C1 2.5 (Google that) and a 2016 McLaren 650S. We've never been 'park in the middle' guys, but were able to take on guest parking, located directly adjacent to the display section.

Walking into the display section, I expected to see a few of the local "regulars", from both the Aliso Viejo and Irvine Cars and Coffee, like this Motorex-imported R33 Skyline GT-R.

The overall randomness and variety of cars was exponential: an old school Benzo drop-top parked next to a Camaro Z28 and Audi R8.

The hypebeast car of the moment: this clean, air-cooled Porsche 911T on Fuchs.

A nice, unexpected surprise was this Ferrari LaFerrari in tri-color heritage livery. You may recognize it from a matching 599 GTO that frequented the original Cars and Coffee.

Doors open and available for all to view. No cones or chains!

Funny note: the VIN actually states "Hybrid Vehicle" below the numbers.

Amazing leatherwork; I believe this is a Cuoio interior.

Cars and Coffee swag was available for purchase, like t-shirts and coffee mugs. Can't hate on the opportunity to make a buck, though I'm sure this had a few people up in arms.

Coffee and pastries were available by Ruby's, the main sponsor and brainchild behind the new Cars and Coffee.

One hell of a taxi ride: here's a Porsche GT4 in full analog, which I'm starting to see more of these days on the road, and is an amazing value for the performance. Hi Andy!

Here's another GT4 next to one of its air-cooled brethren. Two-door Porsches were allowed in per the guidelines.

A staple of Southern California car culture, more than a few Cobras were in attendance.

Check out that super sweet Geo Storm! It wasn't on the list per se and made it in, so it really was up to the organizer's discretion. Just odd to see it parked directly alongside a Murcielago and LaFerrari!

Obligatory side shot of the Geo Storm and a random hot rod. I saw a lot of this, and it's these instances where the organization could've been a bit better.

The confusion as to what would be let in and what wasn't was very apparent in guest parking. There were a good amount of cars, for whatever reason, that were turned away and sent to that section. Here are a trio of Mercedes' two-door classics: the McLaren SLR roadster, SLS roadster and AMG GTS.

It's a rough world out there fellas...even this RWB Porsche was denied entrance.

Do you know who this guy is?!? Long-time industry influencer RJ DeVera had to park his Mercedes SLS in guest parking even though he arrived early. Technically he fit the two-seat requirement as well.

Walking through the entire lot, it was clear that the selection of cars on this first time event was seriously, as Forrest Gump said, "like a box of chocolates"; we weren't sure what we'd get, and even swap meet attendees weren't sure if they were in the right lot. Growing pains are to be expected at this new location, and I had a lot of people asking my opinion on the event as an attendee of the Crystal Cove days, so needless to say, this event was...well, interesting. The Orange County Fairgrounds provides for a nice, spacious parking lot, as well as true perimeter parking (unlike the Aliso Viejo event, which is held in a shopping center) - but you're also sharing the lot with the Orange Country Swap Meet, which is a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. The swap meet attracts lots of people, but many of them aren't car enthusiasts, so they're less privy to the etiquette one should take when being around display cars (such as not touching them or opening the doors). The general parking for the swap meet is also the same lot as the Cars and Coffee guest parking, so it's a little awkward seeing a family squeezing all their shopping bags into a minivan that's parked next to a RWB 993 Porsche that has a lot of money put into it. After the show, a flurry of #denied hashtags hit social media hard along with pictures of cars that were placed in guest parking. Were they really denied? Sure, some were (like us) but that's because they were late. I actually thought it was funny people hashtagged our cars as 'denied' when really it was us simply being late. I think the biggest beef people had was cars being in the display area that didn't meet the "pre-reqs", so why were those cars different? Then again, it's important to remember the rules, and if you're not volunteering then you don't really have the right to complain. Sure, I personally like seeing different subsets of cars, but it's not my show. I attend because I'm a car guy, and I'm thankful that Orange County now has another venue that enthusiasts can come and congregate again on Saturday mornings. To answer my question: Is this the return of the king? Not quite, but then again, nothing can stay the same and it's too early to say, in my opinion. While not the best start, let's give it a chance despite these early slip-ups. Source: occarsandcoffee.com

Cars and Coffee: The Return of the King?

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