New!!--Exotics At Redmond Town Center

this sounds great! it seems like a good location and a place that allows for growth too

 

Well done Vic! I don't know if any of you followed what happened at Cars and Coffee in Irvine but they have now limited access to the event. This is because everyone would show up with just about anything with wheels and they decided they had to draw the line. We want this to grow and not get out of hand so we're encouraging exotics, discouraging tuners. As someone put it, this is not for cars you could count in any average parking lot, but for it to catch on, it will need your support.

What makes RTC a really nice spot is because all the coffee shops, including Ruby's, are open early! This means you don't have to stand around in the cold if you get there too early. It's also an ideal location to do some drives up to the falls, etc., without too many lights on our way out of town. When we considered every option we could think of, this looked like the best spot and we have RTC's support.

 

Good Job GUYS!!

Will be there..

 

WAY TO GO...............THAT IS AWESOME

can not wait to show up.

 

Vic and Tom are you going in the morning to EOM?

I plan on being there, i even washed my car while it was raining. LOL

 

Great job Vic and Tom! Thanks for taking the time to make it happen. I look forward to meeting everyone there.

 

Excellent! RTC will be a great venue, and I think you guys can grow it well. Plus it's close to home

I would post on the two Lamborghini boards as well. You also might see if the NW Ferrari club would run it in an online newsletter (talk to the Porsche and Lotus clubs as well).

Would it be worth having a small website promoting it? Also a place some of the photos that are taken could be uploaded by an admin to show off the gear that shows up each week. Create the "brand" for up here and get people excited.

Also, a small flyer that could be downloaded and printed out would be great for the Microsoft guys--there's a few exotics in my building's parking garage and in the garage I visit on a regular basis. I wouldn't mind leaving a note or a flyer on their windows for the upcoming week in case they miss it on one of the forums.

 

We have to proceed with caution. While we're not as big as LA, look at the giant mess they now have at Cars and Coffee in Irvine. Nobody can decide who can and can't get in and what kind of car should be a part of the show and the rare cars are now getting turned away. They are now trying to generally use the rule that if you drive it every day it probably shouldn't be in the show after a bit uproar over using a 30 year rule. We need to figure out how to grow this so that rare and exotics show up and not every car with a new set of wheels and a boom box.

 

Tom makes a good point--I think if it's promoted and driven as a higher-end image gathering from the beginning, and made to look like that, then you'll have an easier time than if you have to make that correction down the road. That balance is going to be key though--what's the cutoff line? Is it Foreign only, or is the guy with the rare Yenko Camaro going to be welcome? I understand wanting to keep the event pristine, however you also need to hit a critical mass in terms of numbers. Not an easy task I know.

I would be happy to help on the web front, and I'm sure we could get Tom's old neighbor to contribute some design work on it. I was out with MG tonight in fact, at RTC. I don't mind contacting the Cars & Coffee website owner to talk about a "franchise" or at least put them in touch with you and Tom. I can find out who runs it, or we can do our own.

~Chris

 

At first I thought becoming a part of C&C would be a good thing, but they don't have an identity yet and everyone is now fighting over the right to show up. Lets keep calling it "Exotics at Redmond Town Center" for a while. I think if we keep the criteria rare cars, non daily drivers, I think that will work well enough and "rare" only in the general sense. We also don't want to chase out the classics like Bernie and his cars, but I don't see this as the right venue for the Lexus club. That being said, it's really going to depend on how this grows and how we manage it. I'm really sorry to see Cars and Coffee become such a disaster because of their own success, and everyone seems to have a different opinion about who should get in that show because they never defined the show in the first place. It's a real shame.

 

I can post something on my site too (apexrally.com) if you'd like. I've done web development in the past too if you need help with setting up a site. have a good one.

 

I'll be there on dry sunny days.

But, I want to see if you can prevent Roy and others from making their patented grand entrances and exits.

 

I would agree, I poked around their site last night for quite awhile and I'm not impressed with how they are promoting it.

 

How about keeping it simple, section off an area for a designated number of cars and it's first come first served. I know they ran into problems with Crystal Cove doing this because people were lining up on the side of the road to be there in time to get their car in. Would that be a problem here though? Just a thought.

 

Nice work Vic -- it's great to have the management of RTC on-board.

I would suggest the upper-deck of the parking structure next to REI.
There are TONS of spaces there (even during busy hours) and lots of room for expansion. The parking lot next to Desert Fire is extremely busy, small spaces and only accomodates a few cars.

 

Does this mean that people with something like my Infiniti G37 aren't welcome anymore?

 

While I appreciate the reason behind this suggestion, we should wait a few weeks and see if space is an issue. Personally, I don't anticipate that problem (although it would be nice).
I agree that we should avoid the typical BMW, etc. But, let's not restrict it to the point that some Ferrari owners are afraid to bring their cars.
My 2 bits.

 

Actually I only made the comment based on what had been in a couple posts above mine pondering what would happen if things grew too quickly. I think "avoiding"" any car will result in problems that will make it not so fun for everyone.

I'll butt back out and show up once or twice a year when I feel like getting up that early on a weekend.

 

Don't weird out on us. It was nothing personal.
Stay active!

 

Not "weirding out", and I'm not that active living so far away. I'm just a realist. It has already started........

 

Two answer's, first Paul's question. We didn't want to be in a parking structure because that would invite more noise and if we're going to get kicked out, that's the likely reason. My car at idle in that garage can be heard on every level. There is the nearby hotel and we don't want to draw complaints. Second, we can take up as much of the parking lot as we want. RTC will cone off what we need. We told them we'd see how it goes and ask for help as we see the event grow. Right now there are only about ten semi-regulars, and if we're lucky we may see 50 cars as we did at Southcenter and the lot will easily hold that without too much work.

Second answer- Unless we define the event, EVERYTHING will show up and we will get kicked out. This is the problem with Cars and Coffee. Just the name alone didn't define anything and now everyone is claiming the right to be there, regardless of type, age, condition or value of car. I encourage everyone to read that Cars and Coffee website thread and while we're not likely to draw 700 cars, I think we'd be toast with half that number. We decided to call it EXOTICS at Redmond Town Center because we wanted some reference point in case we have to chase away someone in a Honda to make room for something more interesting. To me if the car took less time to make than a ham sandwich, it probably shouldn't be in the event, regardless of how nice it looks. We don't want to see the same thing we saw at Southcenter where the tuners came in with the police right behind. That was the very reason we were reluctant to drive down in the first place. We went back the following week just to see a more normal turnout and it was about six Corvettes of various age and one other Ferrari in addition to Vic and me. We also don't want to exclude some of the classics like Bernie's cars, however I don't see this as an event for that pristine 74 Nova or Chrysler K car, as they have their own shows.