Last Cars Reviews Blog: Cars, Coffee, Crazy to get up this early…but it’s worth it!

Cars, Coffee, Crazy to get up this early…but it’s worth it!

Cars and Coffee June 09 (1)

The early-morning car show is likely not a phenomenon unique to Southern California, but it’s surely been tuned to perfection here. Or maybe it is unique to that corner of the country: in Los Angeles on weekends, traffic doesn’t get stupid until 10 a.m., and then it’s ruined for the rest of the day. Anyone who wants to drive their cool old car around is well advised to do it in the dawn hours, with cooler air temps and minimal traffic to inflict suffering upon mechanicals and driver.

Why not gather for a car show in the early morning too? For years, coastal residents gathered at the Crystal Cove strip-mall. You name it, it showed up, from true Classics to musclecars to late-model high-end sports cars to who knows what in between. Well, a couple of years ago, Crystal Cove management had enough, and kicked the show off their property. It migrated to Irvine, where the west coast PR office of Ford (formerly the home of the Premiere Auto Group, incorporating Jag, Aston, Land Rover and Lincoln) embraced the show with open arms. And lots of cars are still rolling in by 7 a.m., and the parking lot is half-empty again by 9 a.m.. Free to drive in, free to walk around, first come first serve, coffee is indeed available on site (as is spectator parking), and it’s never the same show twice. You never know what’ll turn up there. With any luck, it’ll remain here until Ford sells the rest of its building to Taco Bell. On a recent weekend, here’s just a smattering of what we saw.