No entry fee. No dress code. No trophies. Just a parking lot, a Sunday morning, and whatever people decided to drive that day. That’s the entire format of Cars and Coffee, and it’s exactly why it became one of the most-copied car event formats in the world.
It Started Small, On Purpose
The most commonly cited origin traces back to informal gatherings near Crystal Cove outside Newport Beach, California, starting around 2003, before the event formalized and moved to a shopping center parking lot in Irvine, California by 2006. There was no organizer charging admission and no formal registration, people simply started showing up with their cars, and other people started showing up to look.
That original Irvine meetup grew large enough that it eventually outgrew itself, ending in late 2014, but by then, the format had already spread far beyond Southern California.
The whole appeal was the lack of a gatekeeper. Anyone with a car, old, new, rare, or ordinary, could show up.
Why The Format Spread
Cars and Coffee meets now happen in more than 200 cities across the United States and internationally, almost always following the same unwritten rules: early morning (so it’s over before the day gets going), a public parking lot or open space, no entry fee, and coffee available nearby, sometimes from a food truck, sometimes just from whatever cafe happens to be next door.
It works because it removes every barrier that keeps a casual enthusiast out of car culture. You don’t need a show car, a wallet full of cash, or an invitation, you just need to show up.
Where RunFlat Fits In
We didn’t invent Cars and Coffee, and we’re not trying to own it. But it’s the exact spirit we built this brand around: no pretension, no gatekeeping, just people who love cars, bikes, and a good cup of coffee showing up in the same place. If there’s a Cars and Coffee meet near you this weekend, that’s where we’d tell you to be.