My First Cars and Coffee at Irvine!

"atomic8778" (atomic8778) 10/05/2013 at 18:06 • Filed to: Cars and Coffee

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Today was my first Cars and Coffee ever and in Irvine! I can absolutely see why all of you people wake up at ungodly hours to drink a cupa' joe and gawk at petrol (...and diesel!). Was anyone out there today? If anyone was there, you might have seen me walking around as I was the lone Petersen Auto Museum Intern!

It was a really fantastic event, though people were telling me it wasn't as big as showing as other days. If that was a small event, I can't wait to see a big event! I hope to definitely get to know more people as I come out. Before I do anything wrong though, is there any unwritten rules I should know about? Of course I always know never to touch another man/woman's car without permission. And I saw some people just putting flyers into other people's car. I always thought that's a huge no-no, as I would assume people don't want to see random stuff in their cars. Also, can you just drop into people's conversations? I often see people talking at great lengths, but I definitely don't mean to be rude as I loved hearing everyone little stories and adventures about their cars. One last thing: what's a good time to arrive at C&C Irvine? I got there about 6, and there was a decent amount of people already there.

Anyway, it was really great to meet people and their cars! If I talked to you today, don't be a stranger and say hello! I hope you'll excuse me if I forget your name as I met a great deal of great folks out there today. I'll probably remember you if you remind me what car you had. If you have any tips for a newbie C&C'er or questions for myself about the Petersen Auto Museum events, please let me know!

Ferrero1911 > atomic8778 10/05/2013 at 18:10

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Seems like you have C&C rules covered, but you have broken rule #1 of the internet: pics or it didn't happen! (Aka the SR20 rule)

atomic8778 > Ferrero1911 10/05/2013 at 18:17

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haha darn I knew I should've took more pictures. I only took about three! One of which is the only one decent. Please do excuse the phone camera! I was too busy discovering and definitely forgot to take more pictures.

If it counts, I took mental pictures!

desertdog5051 > atomic8778 10/05/2013 at 18:17

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The only unwritten law I can think of, that you have not brought up is No dragoning, and If you think you may have an orgasm, wear Depends.

Seriously, when I go to car shows and want to take a full 3/4 profile pic of the car, I see if the owner is nearby. If not, tell any of the adjoining car owners you are taking pictures for a blog and do you think the owner would mind if I closed the door? Most of the time they say no problem. Do not close until it latches, just enough so you can get a picture then reopen it.

atomic8778 > desertdog5051 10/05/2013 at 18:20

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Oh wow thanks for that tip! I should definitely pick up some Depends... haha!

I don't have a nice camera but it can be nice at times (I personally like my profile pic), but I'll definitely keep that tip in mind if I take pictures! I find it difficult to find the owner sometimes. Not that they can't walk around, but I love getting to go up to the car and talking to the owner, but sometimes I can never find them.

Ferrero1911 > atomic8778 10/05/2013 at 18:22

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Haha. Now that you're over the initial shock of how great C&C is, I'm sure you'll take more next time. Make sure to go Columbus Day weekend. Holiday weekends are always the busiest.

desertdog5051 > atomic8778 10/05/2013 at 18:24

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I use a point and shoot, but it takes good enough pics to post. I always take two or more of each car just in case.

MentalJuggernot > atomic8778 10/05/2013 at 18:25

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C&C is an awesome event, and you pretty much nailed the rules. Have a respect for everyone there, every car there, and you'll be fine.

But I can't help but tell the story of CC and how it formed. About a decade ago, a few hypercar owners (enzo, murci, etc) met at 4 am in a coffee shop on PCH in Newport. This slowly started growing until eventually it was moved to Crystal Cove, a mile from my house. Crystal Cove was the perfect location as it's located centrally between Newport and Laguna Beach, both of which are affluent towns (for instance, Kobe Bryant lives down the street).

Crystal Cove puts any other informal car gathering to shame - one weekend in 2006 I went and saw the following (and I do have pics somewhere to back it up):

2 Enzos

3F50

3F40

1288GTO

2 959

7 Murcielagos

11F430

1McLaren F1 XP5

2Noble

2Vector W12 (convertible)

2Saleen S7

2SLR

1Diablo

And those are the highlights from one day - there were a few GT40s and a bunch of other assorted Ferraris/Gallardos as well (out of ~200 cars).

Eventually, this gathering became so big that the amount of noise generated from the cars that the homeowners nearby complained and it had to be moved. All enthusiasts looked desperately for a new place, until it was moved to Cars and Coffee at the Mazda HQ where it is now.

Unfortunately, since this is so much farther than Crystal Cove, a lot of the hypercar owners have not shown up as much. It's farther, and includes highways instead of just a coast down PCH, so they no longer show. Of course, it's still an awesome show, but imagine it in it's heyday.

It's still known as CC from Crystal Cove. Now, C&C has spread worldwide and is the predominant informal gathering of automotive enthusiasts.

atomic8778 > desertdog5051 10/05/2013 at 18:26

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I've been meaning to get a decent point and shoot. I'm no pro so I don't need a (D)SLR for sure! Thanks for the tip though! I'll take more pictures next time I go.

atomic8778 > Ferrero1911 10/05/2013 at 18:28

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Haha I've heard all the stories about C&C but couldn't figure out why anyone would wake up at that hour to do so. I learned my lesson in the best way possible, that's for sure. I'll definitely try to make it a point to frequent C&C. Do you go often? From the conversations I've had, it seems most people do it twice or once a month. Only one or two go every weekend.

atomic8778 > MentalJuggernot 10/05/2013 at 18:36

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That's definitely a great story. Hits harder for me since I've been a SoCal-er all my life. Working at a museum is definitely awesome, no denying that, but there's nothing quite like seeing such beautiful machines rolling on the street. I did my best to stay near the end to see each car fire up and blast out and I'm glad I did! It's a shame not much hypers come anymore! I'm so sorry to have missed it. I know how much of an issue it is to put historic cars out on the road, so I definitely understand why wouldn't show up anymore.

The Mazda HQ's lot is definitely quaint. It's not the biggest lot, but I mean how appropriate is it to be at a manufacturer's location! How did it even get there from Crystal Cove though? Did Mazda just show up to one of the Crystal Cove events and say "hey folks come down here instead!" ?

One of the guys I was talking to mentioned that I should meet to one of the people who originally started the whole C&C craze. I couldn't find them today but I surely should thank them for such a great event one day. A PCH cruse down sounds extremely fitting to the end of each C&C! As I understand, most people just go off on their own afterwards. I don't know if people meet up to do cruises or anything of that sort.

MentalJuggernot > atomic8778 10/05/2013 at 19:28

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So you work at Peterson! That's cool man. I almost worked there a few years ago, but instead ended up at some other dealerships (Ferrari I think at that time). I'd love to come by and see that underground vault someday...

Basically what happened is that there was a lull of somewhere around 2 months where the OGs were trying to figure out where to move it - the police had gotten involved and because the event had gotten so big we would have needed permits and such to continue. We were looking for someone who owned a private lot to help us out, but no one would pony up and eventually talks began with Mazda to allow us to use their facility on Saturday mornings - which as you can see succeeded. (I'm using we in the sense of a CC attendee, not organizer)

Sun-Tzubaru - With Zoom-Zoom > atomic8778 10/05/2013 at 20:39

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I don't get it, why is there bacon coming out of this half-mug? #pushbuttonreceivebacon

Ferrero1911 > MentalJuggernot 10/05/2013 at 20:43

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The vault tour is well worth your time and money. They don't allow photos, but I think it's mostly because it would take too long. They talk about every single car and answer questions too!

Ferrero1911 > atomic8778 10/05/2013 at 20:44

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We go about once a month. It's too far to go every week, but we try not to miss holidays. Even Mother's and Father's day weekends have higher turn outs.

NoahthePorscheGuy > atomic8778 10/05/2013 at 22:54

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kit? Also how early was the start, looks real dark.

atomic8778 > MentalJuggernot 10/06/2013 at 02:54

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The Petersen is definitely a humble place to work at! Wow though, Ferrari dealership eh? That's definitely a step above. How'd you like it there? The vault is a great place to get a tour. There's no photos allowed but it's a really nice intimate tour group around some of the most interesting cars of history.

Ah I see about C&C. Well it sucks people wanted it to move, but I'm glad it's at a pretty neat location. I'd definitely agree that it's basically in the middle of nowhere - an industrial park - but I guess that's one of the reasons why it's a better place to be at. How often do you go to C&C?

atomic8778 > Ferrero1911 10/06/2013 at 02:57

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That's probably one of the reasons! They don't actually tell me exactly why it's not allowed so anything's up to speculation, though I'm sure you can ask one of the tour guides.

atomic8778 > Ferrero1911 10/06/2013 at 03:00

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Yeah once a month sounds like the general thing to do. I can definitely understand why father's day tends to be busy - father and son, and I'm going to assume the same for mother's day haha. Well one of these days, I hope to run into people from Oppo! I don't quite go to oppo often, but it's definitely fun to talk to someone from the internet in real life haha! What do you (and/or your group) happen to roll up in?

atomic8778 > NoahthePorscheGuy 10/06/2013 at 03:02

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Call it cynicism, but I assume most of the rarer cars are kits. I didn't get a chance to ask the owner as I didn't see anyone around. This was about 610? 20? in the morning. Definitely dark haha. For someone was by himself and new to C&C, roaming around in the dark, not really knowing where to go or what to do, was a different experience.

atomic8778 > Sun-Tzubaru - With Zoom-Zoom 10/06/2013 at 03:04

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yeeeyuhhhhhhhhhh

MentalJuggernot > atomic8778 10/07/2013 at 03:28

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Ferrari was fun, it's eye-opening to see the opulence that some wallow in. The stories go for days lol....

And yeah you know, old rich fogies like their Saturday sleep. I'm not there nearly enough, but will be ramping up my attendance in the near future. We should have a Jalop meet out there!

MentalJuggernot > Ferrero1911 10/07/2013 at 03:29

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Will definitely need to check it out soon - probably the best place to be humbled in one's automotive knowledge!

atomic8778 > MentalJuggernot 10/07/2013 at 20:19

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I can only imagine how it was to work at a Ferrari Dealership! I'm going to assume they were very stringent in rules and what not. What did you happen to do at the dealership? Salesman?

Well I plan on going to more C&C Irvine and I hope to run into you or any other internet peoples out there!

MentalJuggernot > atomic8778 10/08/2013 at 22:43

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One of these days we should organize a legitimate one. I have to get my cars ready to show first though!

I ran the F&I office, sales positions require many many years of experience which I didn't have at the time. Still had pretty much all of the perks though.