If you’re an automotive enthusiast, and you spent any kind of time in Southern California from 2006 to 2014, then you likely have experienced one of the all-time great automotive gatherings—the famed Cars & Coffee at the Ford Design Center, in Irvine. Arguably, the progenitor of all Cars & Coffee events, the Irvine Cars & Coffee played host every Saturday to the full spectrum of automotive insanity, from Rat Rods and Bugattis to Ferraris and Resto-Mods. But perhaps even more interestingly, it also played host to the great and good of the automotive world, everyone from designers and industry executives, to personalities like Dan Gurney and Jay Leno. It was like a low-key automotive Woodstock. But sadly, when the event started attracting over 1,000 cars a weekend, it became a victim of its own popularity. On December 14, 2014, the organizers held their final event, and thus spawned the creation of literally dozens of smaller, “regional” Cars & Coffees around Southern California… and the world.
Then, a few weeks ago, I was at an Alfa Romeo Owners Club event when a friend told me it was coming back, for a special, one-day, invite only event they were calling “Lattes & Lincolns”. He asked if I’d like to bring my Alfa as one of the 300 invited cars? Ah…yeah!
