The first Cars and Coffee of the new year was a doozy. Huge turnout, both in terms of spectators and cars. A decent crew of Hooniverse readers showed up as well, huddled together for warmth in the brutal SoCal winter. Hit the jump for a few highlights. A minor note: it’s a friggin’ pain to embed and format pictures 4-at-a-time, interspersed with text, so you’re getting one or two pictures of what I’m talking about, with the rest in the gallery at the bottom. If for some reason my sleep and caffeine deprived photography strikes you as incredibly beautiful, full-res versions of anything are available upon request. As always, there were more Porsches than you’ll find at a Porsche dealer. It’s worth noting that the vast majority of these are not run of the mill 911 Carreras, but Turbos, tuner-cars and GT2 or 3s. Still, they blend together after a while. Such is the callousness that comes from Cars and Coffee. 
Let’s talk Generationalism for a second. A sect of our crew was amazed to come across this AMX. In fact, it’s the first one I’ve ever seen in person. Both my father-in-law and one of our own could only go “huh, really?”. Anyway, truncated AMC for the win: 
This racy looking e12 BMW 5 series looked intriguing. 45 seconds of googling’s failed to explain what a 3.8 BSL might be; anyone got any backstory? 
This Chrysler 300 better captures the optimism of 50s capitalism better than any car I’ve ever seen. A coupe the size of a ’90s Chevy Suburban, powered by a dual-quad hemi V8. This thing screams “top of the world” like nothing else. 
Keeping it Mopar for a bit, this Coronet drag monster was sporting a hemi with Hilborn injection. With the gnarly gasser stance, the velocity stacks came up to about mouth-level. Luckily they were plugged with racquetballs. 
A second red hemi-powered Dodge dragster, this Hemi Dart sported a sign explaining all about the very few “LO23” Super Stock Hemi Darts that Dodge made in the late 60s. Stripped factory lightweights with a ~600hp hemi, these things could run mid 10s at the strip. Alas, the sign concludes that this car a is a “tribute” to those. Sad trombone… 
30 Hooniverse Points™ if you can ID this car: 
Ah, the somewhat forgotten Fairlane. This one’s pretty unforgettable, sporting a 390 + 4-speed over it’s red-on-red color scheme. 
This Mini’s all vintage rallied out, and looks great for it. 
It pains me to realize just how long ago the 90s were, but when I see this custom Rambler wagon, it’s clear just how dated some styles become. It’s for sale, if anyone’s interested. If you are, I’ve also got some Offspring CDs and cargo pants to sell you. 
This rotary-powered race car looked like it’d be a hoot to drive. Alas, it failed to start for its owners when they tried. How wankel. 
There are a ton of Cobras at Cars and Coffee: real ones, replicas, actual race cars, etc. I have no idea of the provenance of this example, but the knockoffs, engine and taped headlights gave it a great aesthetic. I’d go with a shade other than red, personally. 
Despite my earlier complaints about too many 911s, a pair of v8-swapped examples made for interesting gawking. The orange one’s got an LS2 or 3, while the red one’s got a carbed smallblock of sorts. As a lover orange cars and a lover of potentially riot-inducing cars, I’m intrigued. 
Ok, here’s where it gets really crazy. Like, stopped me in my tracks crazy: a Porsche 917. A 917 with real California plates, no less. We have no idea if this is a kit, a replica, or what. The livery matches the car that won LeMans in 1970. Anyone know the story here? 
Lastly, some guys just feel the need to bring their bitch along to the show. 
[nggallery id=40] Our apologies on the lag in getting these posted…been a weird week in the real world. As always, be sure to hit up CnCPics.com for more competent photography and some e-commerce.
Kamil Kaluski