There are a multitude of different car events that someone can attend these days. There are Friday night meets, big car shows such as SEMA or GoodGuys, and even manufacturer hosted events. But in recent years it seems as though Cars and Coffee outshines the rest. Cars and Coffee is a meet where as the name implies there are cars, and most people get coffee. It has swept across the U.S. for the past decade or so, and from the standpoint of someone who has not only attended but has also helped host car events, Cars and Coffee is automotive nirvana. So here are the reasons to attend your local Cars and Coffee if you don’t already.

5. There is more variety.

When attending a late night car meet you are usually going to see either muscle cars or imports. Now depending on location and which car club is hosting the meet, the numbers of each will vary. It is easy for someone to get bored when seeing the same five Hondas or Mustangs every Friday night. This isn’t usually a problem for Cars and Coffee though. There is always different people coming with different cars, and yes, there will be people who are regulars, but you also get to see the cars people don’t bring out as often. There will be a plethora of different vehicles like muscle cars, Asian cars, Euro cars and even Supercars! And they all attend Cars and Coffee, creating a good variety of different conversations to have and different builds to look at. For example at my local Cars and Coffee there was an old Ford pickup that had a single turbo 2JZ swapped engine.

4. Less Competition

At Cars and Coffee no one is there to win any awards or prove that they have the fastest or cleanest car. The setting is more relaxed, which allows people coming for the first time to be more comfortable, because there is no pressure to be the best. Also there aren’t as many people trying to show off either. Now at any event there will be that one guy that thinks has to prove he knows more than everyone, or wants to show off by doing a burnout. But this doesn’t plague Cars and Coffee like it does with late night car meets, because people just aren’t as apt to get themselves into trouble in the morning like they are at night. Which leads us to the next point.

3. Cops Don’t Break up Cars and Coffee 

I have been to countless late night meets, and one thing that seems to always happen with bigger meets is, people start to get excited and start doing burnouts, or donuts. Which inevitably ends with cops showing up and telling people to go home. Or the cops will start writing tickets and in some scenarios people get their cars impounded. With Cars and Coffee though, I am yet to see the cops show up and end the meet. Now yes there are cases of people causing chaos, such as all the videos of Mustangs crashing while leaving (sorry Mustang guys), but this does not happen nearly as much.

2. It’s Easier to go to

For most people that have a nine to five, Monday through Friday job, it can be difficult going to a car meet and staying up until all hours of the night. Cars and Coffee usually falls on a weekend and is in the morning. Which means you can have rested after working all week and if you have a family, they can come too. Although everyone’s schedule is different, for most people having something that is less frequent, makes it easier to make the commitment to go. And you don’t have to register or pay to be there like a car show.

1. More Welcoming

This last point kind of ties into the “less competition” category. But with the nature of Cars and Coffee being that everyone and every car is welcomed, it makes for a great place to be. The guys that attend are always happy to talk about what they have done to their car, or answer questions if they’ve done something that you want to do to your car. There is no excluding cars or builds, just an appreciation of automotive enthusiasts and what they drive. Walking around a local Cars and Coffee there will be a sense of community because when it comes down to it, that’s what Cars and Coffee is all about. The community, and all the variety that the modern car scene has to offer. To reiterate, whether it is American muscle, Euro, Asian or Supercar, all are welcomed to come, talk, observe, and while you are there have some coffee.

Please enjoy the pictures below of my local Cars and Coffee and the guys/cars that inspired this article.