The end of the original Cars & Coffee.

[Rick Meredith]

The original Cars & Coffee is coming to an end. Dec. 27th will be the last meet.
Apparently it was a victim of it's own success.

I drove by there last week and noticed a large residential complex going in across the street and said to my wife, "I wonder how long Cars & Coffee is going to last with their new neighbors." I got my answer a few days later.

I first started going at it's original location at Crystal Cove on PCH.

http://jalopnik.com/legendary-cars-and-coffee-irvine-reportedly-shut-down-1671490655

[Bill Schwimmer]

Bummer... the only place around where you could see a Merc 300sl parked next to a Cal Look bug... Or a real 904 drive thru the lot.

[johnl]

I got started at Crystal Cove and never missed.  Even went a few times in the rain just to see the cars and friends.  When that ended I figured it was all over but then Cars & Coffee in Irvine came to be. 

In the eight years of it's existence I rarely missed.  A lot of my friends, I made many over the Cove and C&C days, use to kid me about being there and parked in "my" spot prior to 05:30.  There were some instances if I didn't go my phone would ring with a "where are you and is everything okay?"

Like all who attended I'm sad to see it end but understand why.  The Irvine Company got bad press and was blamed for shutting it down but the folks that run the event have assured me that is not the case.  It just became to large for them to deal with and they had very little help.  More than once I was there at the end walking the grounds picking up trash that others had left.  I felt I needed to give something back as a thank you.   Some people just don't have good manners or common sense when it comes to stuff like putting your trash in the proper spot.

There were those few who had to act like High School kids and do a burn out or in a couple of cases have accidents.  Once again, a few ruin it for many.

I'm sure that it will continue on elsewhere possibly in a smaller group or maybe more smaller groups through out Orange County.  At any rate I will continue to do something with one of the cars every Saturday I can.  It is the best morning of my week and I always look forward to a new adventure and sharing times with great friends.  For those of you that had the opportunity to attend and wouldn't get up and out of bed it is your loss. 

I've said it before and here it comes again.  Life is short and precious AND we only get one chance at it so get out there and do something with your ride and you will reap the reward.