Crazy how things work out sometimes….Originally, we had made a late night decision to go to the Cars and Coffee event on just on a whim. Der and I found out that some friends had decided to bring the Rocket Bunny NSX out for a drive down to the meet so we wanted to check it out. I hadn’t seen the car since the 2014 SEMA Show and we wanted to catch a glimpse of the car outside for once. Little did we know that this might actually be the last Cars and Coffee in Irvine. Not just the last one of 2014, this might be forever. Just like that, it’s over and done with. For those that aren’t aware or aren’t from California, Irvine is a pretty nice area. Like, not just “nice” as in it’s a quiet there and the grass is always green. I mean, it’s “nice” like “rich nice”, as in, people who have a good amount of money call that place home and its like the epitome of a upper middle class (and up) area. A couple years ago, when we first found out about the Cars and Coffee event, it almost sounded strange that it would be held in Irvine. We dug a little deeper and found out that it wasn’t your typical car meet; it’s one of those “nice” car meets. Yeah, the same kinda “nice” that I was talking about earlier. The event started out as an event for older car enthusiasts with super cars, rare cars, anything you can think of that we import car enthusiasts aren’t. I still recall the time when imports first started showing up there and the Cars and Coffee organizers were anything less than welcoming. They did their best to keep it an upscale event but over time, everyone started attending and they became a little more lenient about the types of cars that showed up. In 2014, you’d often find imports there and cars that you’d regularly see at car shows. There is still a little bit of unwelcoming stares when your average import car guy shows up but the crowd is definitely more diverse now. Still, if you go to Cars and Coffee in Irvine, it isn’t to look at cars you’d see at any other meet. You go to check out the oddball, incredibly rare vehicles that you wouldn’t otherwise see anywhere else. There is a certain amount of prestige that comes with this event and people know what they want to see. There are expectations and if you try to show up and some basic ass car, you’re likely to get shunned. Even major vehicle manufacturers will bring out some concept car or other rarity to display at Cars and Coffee, it is what makes that event cool….

I for one have never regularly attended. I’m not going to lie, it’s hard for me to get up that early to do basically anything. Sometimes I have to go pee and I’m too fucking lazy to get up to do it because I’d rather sleep. So trying to get my ass up at 5 am to drive 30 minutes down to Irvine is a bit of a task for me that I’m just not regularly down to take on. If we have a big group going and we plan ahead, I’d go, but most of the time, it was a bit random and you won’t find me there. A little part of me still feels like I don’t fit in with that crowd anyway but that isn’t what prevented me from going. Basically, it is just far and way too early. Cars and Coffee isn’t like a car show that we usually go to that lasts hours and hours either. If you didn’t get there by at least 6 AM, you’d probably miss out on a lot of cool shit. You have to remember that the people that attend this event are older and some are the types of guys that eat supper at Cocos at 4:30 PM and are in bed by 8 PM, you know what I mean? These people just wake up early because that is what they do every day. I don’t even sleep until 6 AM normally so if I was to go, I’d be better off just staying awake and going to the meet but that would just ruin my entire weekend because I’d be sleeping the entire fucking day. Anyways, sorry for the long tangent but Cars and Coffee is apparently DEAD. We didn’t find out until afterward but there was an article that was published the next day that said that Cars and Coffee was being shut down because people that lived in Irvine were complaining about the noise that all the cars were making. Noise is a big deal in Irvine because they have nothing else to worry about. You can’t throw money at noise and expect it to go away so the next best thing to do is to complain about it…

Rumor has it that there were noise complaints from the owners of a hotel and apartments that are under construction next door. The organizers of C&C Irvine have been asking car owners to “keep their revs low” this entire year and there has been as consistent police presence outside the event to discourage burnouts. The event is held in a lot that is adjacent to office buildings occupied by Taco Bell, Mazda, and Ford. There is speculation that the Irvine Company, which owns the nearby residential construction project is behind the complaints of noise.

To summarize, the people complaining about the noise, apparently, are from the company that is DOING CONSTRUCTION nearby the lot. You can read more about it HERE. (Original article that they are referencing is HERE) Take it for what it’s worth since it is on Jalopnik.com and that site kinda just posts up shit that doesn’t always make sense but this seems pretty legitimate. There are some guys who live in Irvine who are a little more informed who have posted in the comments section on that post but again, take it for what it is worth. We decided to go that day not knowing any of this was going on so it was just a regular weekend for us. Another reason why we went was because the Targa Trophy Holiday Cruise was happening later in the afternoon so it was convenient to just hit up both events since they coincided with one another. I had never been to a Targa Trophy event before so I was interested in seeing what that was about….

The weather wasn’t the greatest and it had just rained pretty hard to night prior, so I think it contributed to the lack of cars and people that morning. It picked up later on in the morning but I’ve been to other Cars and Coffee events before and this was more dead than any time prior. Maybe if people knew that this would potentially be the last one that they would have made a better effort to come out. Of all the times I had gone in the past, I’d never had my camera with me either. The only reason I brought it along this time was because I wanted to get some more photos of the Rocket Bunny NSX. I wanted to see how it photographed outside so I brought my gear with me. I guess it worked out because I walked around that morning and grabbed a lot of photos of what might actually be the last Cars and Coffee event in Irvine, CA. I’m sure they will be able to find a location that will be more than happy to host them elsewhere but this lot was special. I just don’t know if it would have the same feel at another location but I guess we will have to wait and see how it all plays out. For now, lets pretend that this is indeed the last Cars and Coffee event ever. That’ll make the photos seem that much more important, haha… Enjoy.

Below is some quick video we got from Cars and Coffee that day. It is pretty short and just covers some bits and pieces from the meet. Check it out….

Here are the photos that I captured that day…

It was great to finally get a glimpse of the Rocket Bunny NSX outside for a change. The car has been sitting at Autofashion USA since it got back from the SEMA Show in Las Vegas and the car hasn’t seen a whole lot of sunlight. The blue chrome and aggressive appearance of the car really got a lot of peoples’ attention. It seemed like the most common question being asked that morning was “what kind of car is that?” We even overheard people calling it a Corvette, an MR-S, a kit car, etc…

Another rare sight that morning was Ryan Der’s E30 M3 on bronze Volk TE37s. He decided that he wasn’t going to drive it the rest of the year but the temptation of bringing the E30 out to Cars and Coffee was just too strong….

As mentioned, you’ll see all kinds of rare, cool stuff at Cars and Coffee from Land Rovers, Camaros, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, even customized Ford Model A hot rods like this one above….

There’s nothing like waking up extremely early in the morning to stare at cars that I may potentially never afford like this 991 Porsche GT3…

Brand new BMW i8 hybrid. Car wasn’t around very long since I think it had another event to attend that early Saturday morning….That or the owner had to take this car back to the future where it came from…

Pristine Mach.1 Mustang on display…

Sean Lee’s R35 GTR on Advan Racing GT wheels…

One of the other reasons why were were attending Cars and Coffee that weekend was to check out the brand new RWB Porsche build…

The world got to see this Rauh Welt 993 Porsche at the 2014 SEMA Show…

The Porsche we wanted to see was this Rauh Welt 964 Targa, which is the first RWB Targa in the U.S. Nakai from RWB was even in attendance that morning at Cars and Coffee because they had literally just finished this car the night before. Nakai flew out to help with its completion as well as work on another RWB build out here…

The RWB 964 Targa even featured brand new RWB wheels that I hadn’t seen before…

This elderly gentleman was so thoroughly enthralled with the 964 that he even bent down to check out the RWB wheels and was reading the tire specs to whoever was on the phone with him that morning….

One of the most interesting stories from that morning was this 1956 Mercedes Benz 300SC Coupe. To sum it up, this 300SC was originally purchased back in 1972 by the owner’s father. He had always wanted one since he first saw the car but was not able to afford or acquire one until the early 70s. The car had about 100k on the odometer and needed some restoration work. Father and son teamed-up to completely restore the car back then and the car was even an award-winner at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The father eventually passed-on but his son now holds onto the car and brings it out to events like Cars and Coffee. Just the sentimental value alone and the memories that this car holds is worth more than any price tag. Glad to see that the son continues to keep and maintain the car so he can share it with the world….

Incredibly-rare (at least here in the U.S.) JDM right-hand drive 1983 Toyota Carina GT-TR sedan on SSR MKIII wheels. Very cool car to see here in North America but the question begs, “who would import an 80’s Carina to the States and why?”….

This JZA80 Supra from Driftmotion doesn’t seem like much on the outside, but under the hood was a very interesting heart…

…this Supra actually features a “1.2JZ” which is a 2.5 liter 1JZ-GTE engine block mated to a newer 2JZ VVTi head….

The ass-end of the 6666Customs Rocket Bunny NSX and the rare GruppeM supercharger….

It’s not every day when you wake up and get to see a Porsche 356 Speedster out and about….

A pair of well-kept Porsche 912 coupes…

Really liked this hot rod pick-up truck….

We decided to take a group photo with the chromed wheel cap on the truck. I don’t know the three old people in the photo, if you were wondering….

Pretty wild seeing a fully-electric Porsche 914. It sounds sick too, just wish we had the GoPro on while the car was running….

British Racing Green Jaguar D-Type race car which was so immaculate that it looked like it was plucked right out of time and placed here in brand new form in 2014….

Original, real deal, Ford GT40 MK II…

Loved this small window on the GT40….

Lufthansa 1970 Porsche 914-6 GT….

Another brand new car at the Cars and Coffee event was this Porsche 991 911 GT3 complete with graphics and center-locking wheels…

Since the sun was rising and casting some pretty awesome light rays at the cars, I knew I had to get more photos. Above is Der’s E30 M3….

More Rocket Bunny NSX. The blue vinyl is crazy in the sunlight and the car is just a constant magnet for onlookers….

FLOSS EDITION Enkei 6666 wheels with a matte black face and gloss black lip…..

SR20DET-swapped Datsun 520 pick-up that was once Mark Arcenal’s from Illest/Fatlace…

Clean FD3S RX-7 with updated JDM front bumper and lip kit on Volk Racing TE37SL wheels….

Widebody BMW M5 sedan…

Audi S5 coupe with an interesting blue/teal color scheme, bagged on air suspension and Rotiform wheels….

600HP Shelby Cobra bearing the traditional blue/white colorway complete with stripes and all…

And another Shelby Cobra, this one with a more modern motif with the larger wheels and visible accessories….

I can’t recall if I’ve ever seen an 80’s Ferrari 400 in person before. This thing looks very unassuming compared to other more stylish Ferraris but this 400 actually has a V12 engine in it…..

One more photo of the trio that I hung out with that day. Awesome to finally see the Rocket Bunny NSX outside and also getting to ride around in Der’s M3 that morning….

We eventually took off because we had to go to Ferrari of Newport to attend the Targa Trophy Holiday Cruise. It wasn’t too far and since I had my gear with me already, I decided to get some rolling shots of the car. I got a ton more that I’ll share in the next post along with some coverage of the Targa Trophy event. Stay tuned!!…