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July 12th is officially Collector Car Appreciation Day! This is the 10th year that the folks at SEMA Action Network have celebrated America's passion for all things automotive with a day designated just for car crazy folks like us! Car events all during the month of July will celebrate cars and raise awareness of the vital role automotive restoration and collection plays in American society! Want to join in on the fun and show your love for cool cars and hot rods? Join us as we get together for another awesome morning of hot coffee and cool cars at Riverside Cars and Coffee on Sunday, July 21st! #CCAD Learn more here: http://semasan.com/collector-car-appreciation-day
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Early in the morning on Saturday, June 22nd the streets of downtown Riverside were alive with the sights, sounds and smells of automobilia! Our man on the scene Mike theCarGuy was there for the kick off of the @HemmingsNews #GreatRace and caught some amazing pics of the way cool rides entered in this years classic car rally that started in front of the historic Mission Inn and will head all the way up north to Tacoma Washington!! Sooooo many incredible machines ready to set out, best of luck to all! Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines! It all started with a conversation between two car guys…
Mike theCarGuy Correra Over my thirty years managing car dealerships I have always been a car guy, always keeping one eye open for a cool car and when I catch a glimpse of one you will usually find me chasing after it to take a picture! While working at an Audi dealer in Riverside, CA I saw a flash of bright orange drive past the showroom window headed toward the service drive one afternoon and sprang from my chair at the sales desk to go investigate. Sure enough there it was, an awesome Audi R8 brightly covered with the MOMO logo and sporting a seriously large pair of turbos from under the rear bumper. I struck up a conversation with its owner while grabbing my phone to start snapping away for my ole Instagram account and soon we were both complaining about the lack of good car meets in the Inland Empire area. As we spoke an idea formed in the back of my mind and soon became a burning desire, ‘why not hold a cars and coffee type of meet here at the dealership?’ I quickly asked my new friend how many of his friends with equally cool rides he could gather if I was to open the lot at the dealership on a Sunday when our service department was closed for a car guy morning, I would provide coffee and donuts! He stated confidently he could recruit at least 15 cool car owners and it was on! We had 12 cars show up that first day and I decided it was worth doing again, on a monthly basis. As it happens often in the car biz a new opportunity opened up, literally right across the street when the local Chevrolet dealership was bought out and the new management asked me to join the store and build a sales team. As I accepted the offer one of the things I did first was tell all my car peeps that I had moved but would still open the lot, at my new store, for our cars and coffee meet. February of 2017 we had 6 cars brave the light rain to come to our first official Riverside Cars and Coffee meet. It was a small gathering but enough to solidify my desire to continue giving local cool car owners a place to hang out and show off their cars! I soon bought the website URL and started an Instagram and Facebook page for the event. By December of that first year, we had over 60 cars regularly coming out. On the business side our dealership sold eleven new vehicles to show attendees and at least seven to folks referred by attendees, two of which were very high-end Corvettes along with some big-ticket lifted trucks as well and the word of mouth exposure was unbelievable not to mention the increased social media visibility all at no cost other than a few dozen donuts! When I decided to leave the retail side of the car business one of my biggest concerns was what was going to happen to my precious monthly car meet?!! I walked across the street to see my friend at the legendary J&M Speed Center where I have bought performance parts for many years and asked if there was a chance they would let me use the parking lot at the shop… Park some hot rods in their parking lot and have car fans walking around a performance parts shop? It was a win-win idea and so it continued, our first meet totaled right at 80 cars and now we see nearly 200 rides regularly rolling in each month! Along the way I have had assistance from some really amazing folks, the manager at the Starbucks in Corona was the first to jump in with support and we continue to get our coffee there, 10 gallons each month! A local artist created some awesome designs for the show that we have put on tee shirts to raise funds for our donuts and they have taken off big, check our Alley Cat for some kick-ass apparel items! All my efforts would be for nothing if it weren’t for the amazing car folks that show up every month! Each month we have a group of dedicated regulars that always come out and in addition, there is always something new that rolls in and its crazy fun to see what comes out every time we get together! Riverside Cars and Coffee meets on the third Sunday of every month from 8 am until 10 am right in the heart of the Historic Riverside Auto Center, if you are a fan of hot rods and cool cars you should join us for some hot Starbucks coffee, fresh donuts and awesome car folks camaraderie! See you soon 😉 Huge Thanks To Those Who Make Riverside Cars and Coffee Possible: Host J&M Speed Center Coffee Sponsor: Starbucks Corona Apparel Design: Alley Cat So Cal What an awesome way to celebrate Father’s Day! Huge thanks to all that came out to join us this morning, over 160 way cool cars and wicked hot rods! It’s truly amazing how out gathering has grown, we are so blessed to be able to have such incredible support, thank you everyone! We can’t wait to see you again on July 21st! Huge Thanks To Those Who Make Our Meet Possible! Host - J & M Speed Center Coffee Generously Provided by the awesome crew at Starbucks Corona , on Ontario Ave off the 15 Freeway! Facilities Sponsor - Rightway Site Services Official Apparel Designed by - The Alley Cat The hot rods and cool cars of Riverside Cars & Coffee! This was our biggest meet yet and it is growing fast! What an awesome morning of rad rides and really cool car people! Join us for our next meet Sept 16th! Huge thanks to our sponsors: Host: J & M Speed Center Facilities Sponsor: Rightway Site Services Posters and Graphics: Christopher Trimble
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