No matter what you call it, Cars & Coffee, Coffee & Cars or Caffeine & Octane, the movement of early Saturday morning car shows across the world has brought great light to automotive culture. Depending on which city you’re in, the gatherings either run weekly or once a month. While these pilgrimages play host to hundreds of automobiles of all makes and models, it isn’t uncommon to see some of the rarest, fastest and most unique cars crammed into packed parking lots.
Cars & Coffee originated back in the early 2000s, when a couple of guys who used to attend “Donut Derelicts” decided they wanted something a little different. “Donut Derelicts”, ever since its beginning in the mid 1980s, has been one of the largest and most well-known casual hot rod cruise-ins in the world. What started as a gathering of a few friends to talk about politics, turned into a booming hot rod gathering which attracted some of the biggest names in the industry including Art Chrisman, Little John Butera and Chip Foose.
Fast forward to the early 2000s, when the two former “Donut Derelicts” that didn’t really feel they were a part of the hot rod gathering decided to start meeting at the Crystal Cove shopping center located on the Pacific Coast Highway in California. This is where the birth of the original “Cars & Coffee” took place with what started as a just small gathering of high-end gearheads grabbing a cup of coffee. As time went on, word of the gathering spread quickly among enthusiasts and the event started to outgrow the size of the lot.
Of course, with any large gathering of people and loud automobiles, issues tend to arise. The residents of the high-end condos over looking the plaza didn’t appreciate the sound of performance cars rumbling through the area around at 7 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Eventually, the shopping center security started blocking parking on-site before 7 a.m., forcing the early morning Cars & Coffee event to come to a halt. In 2006, John Clinard of Ford Motor Company stepped in and provided a new location for the Cars & Coffee gathering at their nearby headquarters in Irvine, California.
Late in 2016, Cars & Coffee gatherings have spread to numerous cities across the globe. Although, Irvine remains both the original and arguably the greatest weekly automotive gathering to date, cities all across the U.S. have been starting their own version of the event to bring the tradition a little closer to home and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
For those of us here at STREET/RACE Magazine, this trend of gear head gatherings is precisely what the automotive industry needed – low barrier to entry events that allow cars and car people from all walks of life and varying interests to feel part of something special. No matter where your project is in its life cycle; no matter the make, model or vintage; every car and car guy or gal has a place at your local Cars & Coffee.
We’re determined to seek out and celebrate every Cars & Coffee event on the planet, so please let us know about yours! Shoot an email with details, dates and pictures to info@streetracemag.com to see your local event featured on the pages of STREET/RACE Magazine and/or STREETRACEMag.com.
Check out the gallery below from different Cars & Coffee we have attended from around the U.S. thus far in 2016.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Aliso Viejo, California
Kirksville, Missouri
Omaha, Nebraska
