Didn't Crystal Cove have a similar thing?
At the moment we are discussing all the options(pros and cons) for the future of C&C. We want C&C to have the highest quality, be fun and above all, be safe. It should be a great experience for everyone! We don't want to exclude anyone. Our issues are it gets overpacked on nice days and some really special cars traveling a long way end up going to the spectator parking or worse, leave. Then there's the few who have to show off when they leave. If you know one of them, please talk to them. They are jeopardizing the gathering for everyone. If it continues, John and I will stop C&C period. Most of the people who come are really respectful and a pleasure. We are all volunteers at C&C. It is "your" gathering! Help us with your suggestions on how to make it the best, highest quality, safest gathering. There are no plans to change anything other than to monitor and listen to suggestions. Write them here or come up and introduce yourself to John or I on any Saturday. C&C is a pleasure for us and we want it to be for you as well. We are planning some interesting "Special Featured Marques" in the future. We are always amazed at what shows up! Freeman
If car clubs really are the issue how about having the club for "non exotics" park in the lot at the left of the entrance? That way they can have a special area for the club. While doing that, keep the special interest cars as they have been at the right. Really if more cars come IMO better it is. Maybe keep the parkway that is in front of the coffee stand for the really special cars (it kind has been that way anyway). Clubs, happy, Really special cars, happy, the rest of us be glad there is a C&C, walk around, enjoy what we have, and appreciate our car culture, while it lasts. In the end, if there is a big turn out with lots of club cars, special cars and the usual fine cars we just have to walk around a bit longer. JC
Crystal Cove was killed by the constant attendance of "large" groups of currently available cars seen in most local parking lots that are of interest only to the guys driving them, dealers trying to sell their inventory and individuals who needed to prove they could melt tires when they left. The Newport Beach motorcycle cops loved it! The same thing is happening to C&C. Freeman, John and Ford saved a great event from extinction. They are volunteers, Ford is a voluntary host. If limiting attendance in a reasonable way keeps the event going, we should all be in favor of that. Art
Actually Crystal Cove closed down because of the publicity the event garnered and because the residents above the shopping center couldn't stand being woken up every Saturday before 6. The Irvine Company and some of the Promenade tenants weren't too happy about hosting a free show either. We're grateful that Ford has helped out. The PAG venue is just about perfect but faces some of the same challenges. One of those is the popularity of the show. As news of the show has travelled, more people want to experience it for themselves. Younger gearheads who want to meet up and see some of the pricier dream cars, show up to see the show and take up half the lot with their Mustangs and VeeDubs and Evos. Fun cars and great performers on a budget, but they aren't really show cars unless you're at a HIN event or your local burger joint. While nobody wants to piss people off by saying you're car isn't good enough for the show, you have to have some restrictions or more desirable cars will continue to be turned away every week. At a show like this you can afford to be choosy. There are hundreds of incredible vehicles that show up every week and more that get turned away on nicer days. And that's not even on the weekends where there's a featured marque that brings an extra hundred cars out of the woodwork. An example is this Saturday's NSX gathering. It's cool to see a huge group of the same model all in one place, but that place probably shouldn't be a general show like C&C. It makes a lot more sense to host your own event and have those who truly appreciate that model attend. I like the NSX as much as the next guy, but there's no good reason for those guys to take up perhaps 90 parking spots and turn away much more deserving cars that truly show the eclectic nature of this show. Make it a Honda/Acura day and bring some museum cars, race cars, super rare editions, or extremely well-tuned versions. Like the organizers did on Ferrari Day or Alfa Day. That would really be a testament to the make. The clubs that organize these featured marque days need to use some common sense. If you request the corral, make sure you have a truly spectacular vehicle. Then bring 30 special examples and tell everyone else who's coming from your forum or club to park in the spectator lot. There's a certain amount of pride that follows being named the featured marque and those guys and gals naturally want to show their support with a huge turnout, but be considerate of the regular attendees. I think John and Freeman should deny future corral requests if a particular group can't follow the rules. I'd even start turning away featured cars if they overflow the corral. And don't even get me started about what to do if those featured players are disrespectful entering or leaving. This isn't a dragstrip. There are idiots who continue to ignore the warnings and sit on the street every week to take pictures and shoot video. The world sees this show within minutes thanks to the internet. We definitely don't want people showing up thinking that they will see burnouts and donuts every week. Drive like you're leaving church on Sunday. Leaving at any speed above idle is just criminally dangerous. The other issue with non-featured groups taking up whole rows is a little trickier, but the same rules should apply. I love my little Mazda and wouldn't mind seeing a dozen or more of them get together for a Saturday meeting, but there's no way in hell I'd suggest showing up at C&C together. You have to respect the nature of the show and not thump your chest and say, "We like our cars and we don't care if anybody else does." If you notice that everyone seems to walk right past your car, or heck your whole row every week, chances are you're not the right kind of car for this venue. Sure you might have kids at your college or someone at the gas station complimenting your ride all the time, but at C&C you're stepping into the big leagues. That makes you the smallest fish in a really big pond. Nobody who runs this show wants to be a prick and exclude certain cars from the show, but the groups need to regulate themselves. I'll help with some guidelines because everyone seems to be asking me. * If you see at least two other cars just like yours at school or work every day, park in the spectator lot at C&C. * If the only thing that makes your car "show-worthy" is a set of 22-inch rims, a 10-inch lift kit, 20 vinyl decals, a body kit or Lambo doors, don't bring it here. * If you have a brand new hotly anticipated vehicle that you think everyone wants to see but isn't a supercar, park in the show lot for a couple of weeks and then take it out back. * That means cars like the EVO X, BMW 335i, Mustang GT, Mazdaspeed3, VW R32, Subaru WRX/STi, Dodge Charger/Challenger/Magnum, Chrysler 300, smart, MINI, et al. Cool cars, but I see hundreds of them all over the place now. What I don't see every day are Ferraris, Lambos, Aston Martins, Porsches, hot rods, muscle cars, classics, choppers, superbikes and race cars. That's what I come to the show to see and I think the vast majority of the other attendees would agree. If not they're just stupid.
WTF Frank? I'm putting Lambo doors on my 456 this weekend, and the decals are going on the hood - I'm not welcome ?!?!?!?!!
Frank makes some very good points. I hope somehow the organizers hear this and know, we are interested in the general good, not personal interest since I'd dare say a good 75% of this board do not own Ferraris.
well said Frank and I hope Dusty is reading this thread to improve the declining standards of Supercar Sundays at VCR as well.
I've only been to SCS a couple of times but I think that show is much different than C&C in that its a traditional parking lot show. At C&C there are people at the entrance to direct cars so its much easier to turn cars away. Plus being that SCS is a in a public parking lot you cant really tell someone to go park somewhere else, C&C is different because its privatly owned. SCS is a great show but I really dont think theres much you can do about run of the mill cars besides talking to forums and getting them to lower their car count. Just my .02
You have a point there, and I guess , because of the lot size,most cars get accomodated albeit not always at the prime spots for rare motors. Adil.
Thanks for the facts, I suspected that the OP was talking out his @ss. What happened to the cops? That slows down the show offs exiting the place real quick.
This may come as a great shock to you, but many of the Musclecar crowd consider a row of 360s and 430s to be "common", especially here in car crazy so cal. And, yes, we see them all the time in our local malls. Not so much for some of the odd ball stuff that routinely pulls into C&C. No worries. I treasure my Fcars, but lets be honest here, many that attend this show really don't give a darn about looking over a stock 308, when a JDM Skyline or AAR 'Cuda is parked on either side of it. I would agree with you if every week the local Mustang club staked out three rows of the show. I usually make an appearance every few weeks and have not observed this to be the case(could be mistaken as I don't attend every week). Try and look at it objectively. While I've noticed a lot of interest in my 60s Fcar when I drive it to the show, I've had an equal amount of attention when I drive the dumb, Omni based Shelby GLHS. I'm just saying... I agree completely with your comments regarding the behaviour at the event. I also agree that completely stock rows of new BMWs, Mercedes and Mustangs do not make for an exciting show. That said, who will be the self-appointed "exclusion police"? I don't believe it currently to be much of a problem. If you have a truly special car(not a stock, couple year old 360, 911, etc) IMO, than by all means make arraingements to park in the prime spots. Otherwise, get your behinds out of bed and arrive early if you think your 456 deserves a spot more than the hot rodded Beetle.
+1 I went to C n C 2 weeks ago. It was so packed at 7:10AM that I found my Dino the last parking spot at the far end of the dog leg deadend. As I walked around I noticed a VW Westfalia and a second minivan, plus many other common daily drivers. Haven't been back since. Things have changed
I saw your Dino tucked back in the corner, beautiful car. I know it probably annoyed you but I think that kind of stuff is what makes C&C unique. Theres all types of cars that show up and you have to survey every inch of the lot because you never know what you'll find but I'll agree the daily drivers in the display lot can be annoying on a busy beautiful day like that one.
The "Featured Marque" area is one of the key points of discussion. In the future(after tomorrow's NSX) we will work closer with the car clubs and groups to make it more special with cars of interest and and not just rows of the same cars. We will supply the car clubs and groups a map of the featured marque area so they can plan their display, we will pencil out a Saturday on the calender, John and I will meet with the car club/group representatives to make it a successful "Featured Marque" not just for the car club but for the people who come a long way to experience C&C. This will assure a higher quality and make C&C special. I will work with my design team to make signs for the "Featured Marque" to make it a signature gathering. Scott, I had a beautiful "L" Series Dino. We love Dinos! Next time, see me and I will get your Dino into a special place. We have to work together as car enthusiasts to make C&C the best and most important, special!. It "your" gathering! We're very open to your suggestions.
It may have been the last spot, but it was noticed and appreciated: http://www.autoworksphoto.com/keyword/ferrari#456526234_TPyLy For me, part of the magic of the show is that it ISN'T policed, and anything of any specialty can show up and amaze you. There's TONS of car shows that I'd never set foot in, just because they aren't my thing. But quite often, something of an entirely different genre connects with me at C&C. That being said, I do believe that individuals need to do better self-policing. I know everyone loves their baby.... but I think that some are just too damn lazy to walk from the far lot. And of course, there's no place for stunts on the way out.
Wow if only this could be shown to everyone that comes to Cars and Coffee to show the devotion that is put into the show each and every week. I think a lot of people take that for granted and just come to show off. Cars & Coffee is a big reason why I am the car guy I have become and its also one of the reason why I am in college for my Bachelors in Automotive. It would really be unfortunate if one day it was all gone, I'm sure there would a lot of people on here that would not know what to do with their Saturday mornings. Its an amazing show, thank you for all the time you volunteer to put it together every week.
C&C wouldn't happen without the week after week selfless work, coordination and planning done by John's wife, Linda, Alyne Timmes and Tom Shaughnessy. Lots of coordination and cooperation with the City of Irvine. This is why everyone who comes needs to play it cool and help make it fun, special and safe. Jay and Frank capture C&C with their amazing photos and share them with the rest of the world. Jay and Frank, Thank You! Freeman
I appreciate the kind words, but all of my shots would be of an empty lot if it weren't for the efforts of all you guys, along with those who bring their cars out. You all keep it to where it amazes me from week to week. I still say that even with the issues here and there, there's no better way to spend a Saturday morning than being at the show....and I hope it stays that way.
Like Jay said, we just appreciate being able to see these great cars and meet their wonderful owners every week. Thanks to everyone who makes this show happen, and that definitely includes the owners. I'm just hoping we can figure out a good way to rein it in a bit so everyone can continue to enjoy the show safely.
