Written by FINN O’DEA

Graphics by ELEA GJALLAN

Vol. 73, Issue 5

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If you are a car enthusiast, you have certainly heard about cars and coffee. Cars and Coffee, is a more recent idea created by Barry Meguir in the early 2000s. The origin of Cars and Coffee can be traced back to the 1950s when car enthusiasts brought their cars to drive-ins and diners to show off their rare hotrods and exotic cars. But, the idea of hosting early morning drives to meet up with other car enthusiasts has more recently taken place in the early 2000s in Crystal Cove, Southern California. The idea behind Cars and Coffee is to host a free car show event where car enthusiasts can showcase, appreciate and discuss cars over coffee in the morning. While Some of these car events are organized informally through word of mouth, many are meticulously planned by a dedicated group. The organizers coordinate the participants, parking arrangements and even incorporate booths for car enthusiasts to go visit during the show. 

 Since the 2000s, Cars and Coffee has evolved into a global phenomenon, with thousands of events held each day. The most famous area for Cars and Coffee events being Southern California. A lot of the time, Cars and Coffee shows have themes or genres set for the cars that will be attending the car show. Some genres include: Hotrods, JDM (Japanese Domestic Market), Hyper Cars and many more. With the internet and social media platforms, the idea of cars and coffee has exponentially grown. You can see upcoming events on social media and see car meets from all over the world. 

This year, two seniors in advanced automotive engineering, Danyaal Husain and Andrii Malyk, have coordinated with Las Lomas principal Mrs. Thorner in order to organize the school’s very own Cars and Coffee. This not only engages with the students at las lomas but also families and friends to come see the progress and work their peers have done on their own cars. Most of the cars that you will see at the event have been worked on in Las Lomas’s Auto shop class. Students from this class are given the opportunity to learn how to self diagnose their own cars with an array of different tools and techniques. Along with self diagnosing, the class teaches you how to replace and upgrade parts on your own car to make it run better and stronger.  

In order to gain insights on the car show, I spoke with Danyaal Husain. I asked Husain if there were any themes for the car show and he said, “No, all cars are included, everybody’s welcome.” He also said, “Especially because it’s the first one, we don’t want any restrictions or pay to enter.” Diving deeper into our conversation I asked Husain what he and his Co-host Andrii Malyk’s motivations were for setting up a cars and coffee. This is what he said, “It was actually Mrs. Thorner who initially suggested the idea.” So Husain and Malyk started creating posters and communicating with administration and they all ultimately decided to do it in the Las Lomas Senior parking lot.

As the interview concluded, I asked Husain what his most memorable Cars and Coffee experience is and he said that, “I was driving home early in the morning and as I got to my apartment I saw a bright orange GT3RS and I pulled up next to him and asked if there was a car meet and he had me follow him all the way to a cars and coffee outside a trader joes.” This narrative catches the spontaneous and community driven spirit that defines the car community.