Another Cars & Coffee post already?  I know but I figured since the Formula Drift Tech Day event was near by I would visit Cars & Coffee first then head over to Source Interlink.  I am very, very glad I decided to do that because the meet was pretty awesome this week.  There were a ton of cars new and old, plenty of exotics, beautiful classics, and as you already saw in a previous post the first BAC Mono in the US!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Find a Cars & Coffee event local to you and go!  It is totally worth waking up early on a Saturday I promise!  For now you can see a few pics below (just click the thumbnails) or you can visit our Facebook page for the full gallery.

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I paid another visit to Cars & Coffee this weekend (more on that in a later post) and as usual there was a great mix of eclectic and exotic cars at the meet.  However, there was not anything particularly mind blowing, or so I thought…  Just as I was preparing to leave I decided to make one more sweep to make sure there wasn’t anything that I had missed.  I am so very glad I did…

Just as I made my way towards the back of the lot I spotted a small crowd gathering around something.  I couldn’t see what it was completely, just bits of it through cracks in the crowd.  The only thing I could tell is that whatever they were looking at was low to the ground, angular, and very white.  As I finally made my way to the donut of people I saw something I had never, ever seen before, not even in pictures.  Parked before me was a genuine BAC Mono!  I had only heard it briefly mentioned on Top Gear UK or in articles but this was my first time laying eyes upon one be it picture or in person.

If you have neither seen nor heard of a BAC Mono before, just imagine a street legal Formula 3 car and there you have it.  It has one seat, center positioned (hence the name “Mono), a crate engine from a formula car, hydraulically actuated sequential transmission, and a full push-rod suspension system.  Wrap all of that in a tube frame chassis shod with carbon fiber body work and you have a 1400lb ticket to happy-land.

I sought out the owner to find out just how this machine managed to make it all the way to California from the UK and I found Mr. Shinoo Mapleton.  Shinoo is the president and CEO of Sector 111.  If “Sector 111″ sounds familiar to you that is because they are one of the biggest Lotus tuners in the country.  They also sell other small go fast cars such as the Ariel Atom.  Mr. Mapleton informed me that Sector 111 was recently chosen by BAC to be the exclusive seller of the Mono in North America and that the car he brought with him is the very first on American soil.  Oh, it is also completely street legal and California registered.

I asked him if there were any major differences between the UK version and what he would be selling here and the answer is virtually none.  It is still powered by a Cosworth built crate engine based on a Ford Duratec unit with all the Cosworth internal goodies and a dry sump system.  It makes 280HP which is equivalent to a bazillion horsepower when you are in a chassis that weighs only 1400lbs.  The transmission is an off-the-shelf Hewland unit and if so desired could probably be built with custom gear ratios.  There are also genuine AP brake calipers behind each wheel.

After hearing all of that I decided that I really, really need to one of these machines.  I asked Shinoo how much it would cost to get a Mono of my own and his response of $175k made my wallet shoot itself.  Jokes aside, the price for what you get is than reasonable.  The only downside is that buyers will have to wait approximately 9 months before they get to drive their street legal race car.  The reason for that is BAC actually sends the car to Sector 111 in pieces to which technicians must build the car by hand which as you might guess, takes a while. 

Despite the time and money it takes to get one, Shinoo informed me that his shop is already in the build process for two more cars and he is actively taking deposits for his 2013 allotment.  While I wish so very much I could be on the waiting list for one of these wonderful toys I was still pretty happy with just being near one and taking pictures.  Although I can’t lay claim to the exclusive as Shinoo says his personal BAC Mono will be seen on Top Gear pretty soon.  Until then enjoy the pics I shot by clicking any of the thumbnails!  If you are interested in putting in an order for your own BAC Mono just go to Sector111.com for all the details.

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St. Patricks day weekend was cause for celebration for many people all over the country but it was also a big weekend for motorsport freaks like us.  In addition to Sebring the past weekend also saw the return of Formula One.  I decided to kick the weekend off by paying a visit to one of my favorite meets: Cars & Coffee in Irvine. 

It was the first time I had been to the meet since the start of the year so I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I was pleasantly surprised to see an even more eclectic mix of cars than I was used to.  There was everything from million-dollar exotics to a few rare classics.  I even saw a crazy turbo-diesel zombie apocalypse truck! (more on that in a later post).

However, I would have to say the meet’s biggest attention getter was a genuine Bugatti Veyron brought by Symbolic Motor Cars of San Diego.  As jaded as I am these days even I am still impressed with a Veyron sighting.  I have only been in the presence of Bugatti’s hyper-car four times and only two of which (counting the weekend) were “wild” sightings.

All in all it was a great trip.  If you haven’t been to Cars & Coffee I would highly recommend checking it out.  If you’re saying to yourself: “Hey jerk, I don’t live in Southern California!” I would say “don’t interrupt me while I’m talking!”  See, the cool thing about Cars & Coffee is that it is something of an organization now so there are meets in several places all across America;  even in Europe!  Just head to CarsAndCoffeeOnline.com to find the closest meet to you.

In the meantime feel free to click the thumbnails for some pics or see the full gallery on the MotorworldHype Facebook page.

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Last Saturday morning I decided to once again torture myself for you by waking up earlier than time itself to make the trek to Mazda North American HQ in Irvine, CA for the weekly Cars & Coffee meet.  OK, so maybe I did not wake up quite as early as I should have but it was still early!  I still managed to get there with enough time to snap some shots of the nicer cars at the show and there were some nice rides indeed.  A Ferrari Enzo made an appearance as well as few Audi R8′s and a nice Lamborghini that I will show you in depth later.  For now you can check out a few pics below and then head to our Facebook gallery to see the full set.

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Every now and then I torture myself and wake up at the dawn of time on a Saturday so I can make the trip out to the OC (Orange County for you non-California folk) so I can visit one of the best car meets in Southern California, “Cars & Coffee” at the Mazda Corporate campus in Irvine.  If this is the first Cars & Coffee post you’ve read from me and are not sure exactly what it is then allow me to explain.  Every Saturday morning (emphasis on the “morning”) car enthusiasts from all walks of life and cultures from millionaires with Lamborghinis to your average joe with a classic car to teenagers with modded imports come together to hang out.  They check out each others cars, talk shop, take pictures, and as the name suggests consume coffee (there are also donuts if you show up early enough).

Sometimes the variety of cars at this meet can be hit or miss but this weekend was exceptionally good!  There were not one but two Ferrari Enzos showed up as well as a classic Porsche LeMans race car (seen above), an all electric powered Lola prototype race car, and a whole section of Shelby Cobras (in honor of Carroll Shelby).  There are a few teaser shots below but you can check out the full gallery on our Facebook page.  If you have never been to a Cars & Coffee meet you should definitely check one out.  I know the thought of waking up at 6am on a Saturday is enough to give you a headache but trust me, it will be worth it!  Also don’t worry if you aren’t from Southern California.  There are Cars & Coffee meets all over the country and even in different parts of the world!  Just go to CarsAndCoffeeOnline.com to find one near you or find out how to start one of your own if there isn’t one near you.

Click: Facebook Gallery

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Despite the way things are going with their F1 team right now, I still love Lotus.  I’m a fan of their past road cars and I look forward to the new line up.  So I was “stoked” as they say when I saw this Lotus Evora at Cars & Coffee last weekend from Sector 111.  In case you haven’t heard of them Sector 111 is a shop here in California that specializes in all things Lotus but they are also tinker with Tesla’s and are registered Ariel Atom dealers as well.  This particular Evora has the new Sector 111 rear diffuser as well as Monza forged wheels.  Combined with the red and white paint scheme this car really stood out, even with other high dollar supercars parked around it.  I would drive the wheels off this thing…

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I decided to visit Cars & Coffee again over the weekend just because I felt like if I showed up earlier there would be even better cars than I saw the last time.  Boy was I right!  It just so happend that McLaren Automotive also decided to visit Cars & Coffee over the weekend and with them they brought the new McLaren MP4-12C which you can see in depth in the previous post.  Also, as usual there was a slew of awesome current and past super cars in attendance.  Check out a few pics below and look at the rest in our facebook gallery.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  If you live in so-cal and haven’t been to Cars & Coffee then you need to go!  It’s worth the early morning trust me!

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To help launch the future Newport Beach McLaren dealership, McLaren Automotive brought one production spec MP4-12C as well as a stripped down chassis to the popular Cars & Coffee event at the Mazda Corporate Campus in Irvine, CA.  This car was easily the center piece of the show.  There was a substantial crowd around it from the time it showed up all the way until the time it was loaded on to the trailer and driven away.  We managed to work our way through the massive crowd to speak with McLaren Automotive North American Marketing & Communications Manager Lynne Arciero who was on hand to give the details on the car, the new dealership in Newport Beach, and why they chose Cars & Coffee to make their debut.  Scroll down to check out the interview, pics, and a bonus video!

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BONUS VIDEO:

As I said before, the MP4-12C on hand at cars and coffee is the only one in the country right now but it still needs to make a national publicity tour.  As such, you could probably assume that loading and unloading the car is a delicate process.  Once all the other super cars and luxury sedans took off for the day I decided to stick around and film the McLaren team loading the extremely rare and expensive car into the trailer.  Check that out below.

Long ago in a land far, far away called Newport Beach a group of successful, wealthy men decided to hang out on Saturday mornings at a shopping center.  They brought their Ferrari’s, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and rare classic cars.  They chatted with each other about everything from politics to cars over cheap coffee.  Occasionally a few others would come by to observe this weekly meeting and check out the cool cars.  Fast forward a few years later and the event now dubbed “Cars & Coffee” has gotten so big that the event had to be moved to Mazda’s corporate campus in Irvine and on a given Saturday you can over 100 cars on display and enough spectators to fill up the Taco Bell office corporate parking structure next door.  It is quite a thing to see and a few OEM’s have even used the event as a PR stunt to debut performance cars and other new models.

You would think that since I live in So Cal that I would have been to this event several times right? Wrong! Believe it or not after all these years I have never been to a Cars & Coffee meet.  Until last Saturday that is.  Yes that’s right on Saturday I woke up at 5:30am, hit the snooze, woke up again at 6am, hit the snooze again, then finally got out of bed at 6:30am and made the trek out to Irvine to visit my first Cars & Coffee meet!  It was quite the sight to behold.  Nearly every type of supercar from the last decade or so was there including plenty of classics.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find who was selling the coffee but I think I’ll figure that out when I go back next week.  If you live in the So Cal area I highly suggest forcing yourself to wake up early one Saturday morning and making the trip out to Irvine to visit the event yourself.  Rumor has it that the earlier you show up the rarer cars you’ll see in the lot.  That means if I hadn’t hit the snooze button twice I might have seen a Veyron or Enzo!  Oh, well there is always next Saturday. 

If you need more convincing to wake up that early check out some pics from the event below and view the rest in our facebook gallery.  Trust me, this is worth the early morning drive!

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