Car and Coffee events are becoming increasingly popular both at home and abroad, allowing motorists to showcase all different types of vehicles to the public in a friendly, accessible space.
They tend to be held in easily accessible locations rather than some remote field, and as the name suggests coffee can be found as well as food.
Instead of being limited to one brand or country of origin, they are open to almost anything and everything. At my last visit in Brisbane, I found a Wolesley near a new Ferrari and was across from an old Abarth and a Holden Torana.
Highball Cars and Coffee in Melbourne is even more stunning in its diversity and scale.
It was at one of these events that I saw a scene that took me back many years: two 1980s Mitsubishi Magna wagons, both intact, parked in the Bell Street Mall without seems to have disappeared over time.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to come across modified Skylines and in mint condition Lamborghinis at car shows. What I’m attracted to are the cars that you’re really surprised to see at an exhibition: popular cars have largely disappeared from Australian roads because they were never considered collectibles. Okay.
I’m talking about the kind of car you or your parents might have had 20 or 30 years ago, the kind of car you haven’t seen on the road in years.
It’s probably not surprising that I say this, since I once wrote for a blog called Curbside Classic, which mainly chronicled cars being tracked by the roadside. But I know I’m not the only eccentric who gets excited when I see a Holden Piazza in better condition than a Ferrari Testarossa.
That’s why I’m so happy to hear there’s a show that seems tailor-made for me and my eccentric friends, even though it’s unfortunately a long flight.
Have you ever heard of the Festival of People without exception? Hagerty, best known for providing insurance on classic cars, hosted the event, starting in 2014.
This is a showcase for cars from the 1960s to the 1990s that were considered normal when new, but have become rare over the years. In the UK, we’re talking about modest hatchbacks like the Austin Maestro and Vauxhall Astra, or classic corporate cars like the Ford Granada and Rover 800.
It is not the only program of its kind. Concours d’Lemons – as the name is cute – is a similar event in the US with a focus on more mocked cars.
The Cars and Coffee events seem to attract everyone from hardcore enthusiasts to casual passersby, and I can imagine something like the Festival of Extraordinary Things would do. get the same thing if it is held in Australia.
After all, even those of us who are not enthusiasts are bound to have some connection to a car. Imagine growing up in an old Ford Telstar and seeing a similar one a year later in what appears to be a showroom condition, long after most of it has been scrapped.
But enthusiasts also benefit from having a venue where they can display cars deemed less attractive without being scorned.
I’ve been to many lovely and welcoming car shows – Brisbane’s regular All Japan Day at Banyo is one of them – but others have given me the feeling that some cars car is more welcome than others.
For example, imagine you go to an American auto show filled with ’65 Mustangs in a Chrysler Neon, or a JDM parking lot meets stance Skylines in a Nissan Prairie.
I can only imagine organizing an event like the Festival of the Unexceptional to be a tough job, especially when it comes to finding a suitable venue. But I also think it’s about time we put on a show like this in Australia and I’d love to see that happen.
