Cars & Coffee: It’s Back!

by Joe Farace | Apr 13, 2021

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

Last Saturday’s Cars & Coffee at the Vehicle Vault was the biggest and best attended so far in the history of the Parker-based event. And in case you’re wondering, everyone behaved in a responsible and respectful manner. The fact that the Parker Police Department headquarters is in close proximity may have something to do with that but I think the event just attracts nice people as I have discovered over the years.

In fact, the event was so crowded with cars and people that there was a constant parade of cars (looking for a place to park) creating a mini cruise-in that added to the festive atmosphere. It was so crowded (how crowded was it?) that I heard some people commenting that they might need to find a new venue. I think it would be difficult to find any local venue that would be as hospitable, roomy enough and available as The Vehicle Vault but we’ll see if the crowd shows up again next month.

I won’t say there probably wasn’t any marque or model that was not represented at this show but there were a few personal highlights: Five—in a row—Nissan Skylines in various colors, including a silver Skyline GTS that was resplendent in its mostly stock form, excepting the wheels (maybe) and a somewhat loud exhaust. Then there was a gaggle of mid-engined C8 Corvettes, probably more than you would find in any Chevy dealer in the country, given their relative scarcity. This phenomenon is something I noticed here before locally when the C7’s were launched; lots of people bought them. Does this mean there might be some good deals on a C7 to be found? I personally like this previous model better than the C8 and so I hope so. Similarly, there were more Supras than you would find in any Toyota dealer in the country, again given their relative scarcity.

Other interesting cars at the show were the purple C6 (I think) Corvette and a purple Subaru—the spirit of Prince was in the house. Haven’t seen too many Dodge hot rods, but there was one at this show. And then there was a Popsicle green Tesla Roadster—I haven’t seen any of those in a while either. It didn’t appear to be stock because the extremely nice way it was fitted and finished that seemed far better than contemporary Tesla models. Maybe these Roadsters were that good? It was parked in front of a wrapped, custom Model S Tesla too.

How I Made These Shots: I decided to bring my Lumix G9 to the event, without the battery grip as I alluded to when I wrote Photographing Cars & Coffee with the Lumix G9. The lens was the used Panasonic Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 Asph. Mega OIS lens that I wrote about in Used Gear: Giving You More Bang for Your Buck. Now, 45mm on a Micro Four-thirds format (90mm equivalent) is a bit long for shooting at a car show because of the crowds and typical lack of space to shoot but I have always liked using longer focal lengths for photographing cars, so I decided to bring it along and, you know, see what happens.

Hope to see you at next month’s event.