I’m not the type of guy who would wake up at 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I prefer to sleep in really late. I don’t eat breakfast either; however, on a recent Saturday, I broke my usual routine and had cars and coffee for breakfast.

A fellow Ford enthusiast, Jared Chavez of Hillbanks Motorsports, invited me to attend a rather unique car show called Cars and Coffee in Irvine, California. This event regularly draws over 500 vehicles; other Cars and Coffee events take place in Dallas, Detroit, Honolulu and even six cities in Europe.

I had heard many storied tales about Cars and Coffee such as celebrity appearances, encounters with rare and vintage classics of the past and the paranormal exhibition of a Formula 1 car. Concept cars have been displayed at previous shows. Ken Block made an appearance last month just to hang out amongst the crowd. There are always plenty of European exotics and there is also a great representation of Ford vehicles. Cars and Coffee is a special blend of rare cars you don’t often see.

I couldn’t miss the Ford section. As matter of Fact, Ford was the only brand with its own designated parking section blocked off by cones and a yellow caution tape. This isn’t too surprising as this meet is on the former Ford Performance Automotive Group campus, and former Ford PR guru, John Clinard, was involved with the start of Cars and Coffee. This small lot was beyond maximum capacity as thirty cars occupied four rows. This was also a primo location, being closest to the main entrance where the caravan of fantastic cars would come through. One row had GT40 and Shelby Daytona Coupe kit cars. I really admired a red Cobra with black stripes, aggressive hood scoop and white-on-black No. 24 racing numbers on the doors. This is what a roadster should be! Throw in a dark green Shelby G.T. 350 with white Le Mans stripes in the parking lot too.

More Fords were mixed in with other brands inside the main parking lot. There were several potent Ford GTs, a Ranchero with classic California yellow and black license plates and what I like to refer to as the odd couple; a 1939 Model A sitting alongside of a brutal 1970s Bronco. I was watching the deep care the owner was giving to his 1939 Model A as he polished the fender and chrome to be spotless; the interior looked amazingly like it just came out of the show room. The lifted Bronco was one of the very few off-road vehicles at the show, and I loved the matte red finish, black grill and top, with big wide tires. The chrome Bronco badge, mirrors and headlamps housing really stood out. It just looked mean!

I really enjoyed Cars and Coffee and hope to attend more of these events.  I look forward to the unexpected, now with a deeper appreciation of this special gathering of rare and fine Fords and other automobiles. Check out www.carsandcoffee.info to see if one of the many locations for Cars and Coffee is near you.

This article was guest written by Tom Fong, a Ford enthusiast, to share his experience from the event. If you are interested in contributing an article to theFordStory, email us at Ford.Stories@teamdetroit.com.