CARS, COFFEE AND A PETROLHEAD’S DREAM

If you’re a fan of classic and exotic cars, there’s probably no better way to spend your spare time than a few hours at a car show, a swap meet, a track day, or any sort of event where car enthusiasts can congregate and shoot the breeze about engines, diffs, torque, horsepower and so on.

As it happens, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in such a pastime. Every week, in towns and cities across the country, events both large and small are held that bring car fans together, and one that is particularly popular is the informal-sounding ‘Coffee & Cars’.

Held for just a few hours, and usually starting early on a weekend morning, Coffee & Cars events give owners of classic and exotic vehicles an excuse to not only give their pride and joy a bit of a cruise, but share them and their stories with other like-minded souls and, of course, the public.
And the public do come . . . sometimes in their thousands.

At the Coffee & Cars event held in Brisbane, at the appropriately named Turbo Drive, in early January, many hundreds (surely thousands over the course of the morning) of photo-snapping onlookers took in a tremendous gathering of vehicles, with E-type Jags, Mark I Ford Escorts, Corvettes, Monaros, XB Falcons, Ferraris and a legion of other classic models sitting side-by-side with jaw-dropping examples of modern exotics from Lamborghini, Maserati, Audi and more.

It was a petrolhead’s dream and, for this writer at least, a special treat was to see a Jensen Interceptor – a beautiful, Italian-designed British Grand Tourer that was produced from the mid-‘60s to the mid-‘70s and, in this instance, was represented by the formidable 7-litre Chrysler V8-powered Mark III. Wonderful!

These events are fantastic fun and, frankly, there can’t be enough of them. So, with that in mind, MTA Queensland will, on 25th March, be hosting its first Cars & Coffee get-together at its spacious Freeway Office Park home at Eight Mile Plains.

And everybody is invited. MTA Queensland members, students and apprentices, the public and anyone who wants to take their rare, classic or exotic vehicle for a spin is welcome. Zalis café will be open and ready to supply excellent grub and beverages and we’ll be supporting the excellent work of the charity Youngcare through donations accepted on the day.

So, come along for a bright and early 7:30am start and let’s wile away a few hours talking cars, bikes, V8s, turbos, horsepower and all the rest. We’ll see you there!

13 Feb 2018