Accelerate Mpls

Ford GT

Another month of spring has come upon us and that means another Cars & Café gathering on a Saturday morning.  The coffee was flowing and everyone seemed very happy to see Kylee from Imola Motorsports pull in with the doughnut holes in the backseat of Kevin’s M5.  This month, rain was not in the forecast and the cars started flowing in early and fast.  By 8:30 the lot was full and people were already parking cars up on the hill.

My Father & My 300ZX

Some of the notable cars from last month made repeat appearances including the VW Bus and the Scion XB with the LED lights.  In fact, the XB parked next to our 300ZX.  On Friday night I saw a Subaru WRX that looked like it was on its way to a rally but, in fact, it was being pulled out of where it is kept for Cars and Café.  The WRX was literally kitted out and looked rally ready.  Two really nice last generation Toyota Supra’s were in attendance along with two Ford GT’s that seem to be regulars at the event.  Two Audi R8 V10′s pulled in along with two 4.2 V8 models.  Of course the myriad of Porsches, Audi’s and Mercedes were lined up.  Two BMW 8 Series made it out along with an M Coupe.  A custom 1978 Porsche 924 was revealed at the show and I must say it looked terrific.

Audi R8 V10

Custom 1978 Porsche 924

The AutoMotorPlex has been hard at work on newest build out of new buildings.  They are in the process of building out new garages currently.  As you can see in the picture, it looks like the heated floors are being laid out now (that is just a guess).

This month the organizers had something special in store. Many left the AutoMotorPlex for the first annual drag day immediately after the event.  The group traveled to Eau Claire, WI to Rock Falls Raceway.  Sadly, I could not attend due to a prior commitment though I heard it was a blast.

With more cars than last month and terrific weather, we are already off to a great start to the season.  Next month promises to be even better as the weather warms up more.

Once a month a magical event called Cars & Café where car guys gather to gawk at cars and drink coffee.  On the first Saturday of the month from early spring to late fall this event is held at the Auto MotorPlex in Chanhassen, MN.  Normally 400 to 500 cars show up with some being on site already stored in garages.  There are set parking assignments based on the cars origin.  This month’s event happened to be a mere 49 degrees and drizzling rain.  This is not the opportune weather for such a event and because of that the turn out was closer to 100 cars then 500.  I heard people calling the turn out everything from “weak” to “terrible”.  I personally was happy even with 100 cars though obviously would have preferred 500.

Parking Assignment Diagram

Ford Mustang with the BMW identity crisis

There are a good variety of cars that show up to this event and this month’s was no different.  Everything from the Ford Mustang with the BMW identity crisis to the Porsche with the Chevrolet small block V8 with supercharger as the engine.  Nothing truly seemed out of the ordinary here.  Coffee and doughnuts were provided by the sponsors.  I even caught Kevin Tan, pulling in.  Kevin owns the new European automotive shop in town called Imola Motorsports.  Also of note, Imola Motorsports is one of the various sponsors of Cars & Café.  Many of the garages at the complex are dreamy to say the least.  With car lifts, full kitchens in some, not to mention they are fully customizable to suit the owner.  The Auto Motorplex is one sweet place to be.  My buddy brought his Honda S2000 and I took our 1990 Nissan 300zx.  Of course the cold drizzle and sloppy roads made all the cars quite a mess once at the event.

Porsche with Chevrolet small block engine and supercharger

Blue on Blue Ferrari

Free and open to the public you do not even need to own a car worthy of being shown.  Many people come to be around car guys and look at the cars.  Parking is available right outside the gates.  The people that come whether with a car to show or not, are everything from the true car enthusiasts to people that just like to look at cool cars not to mention kids.  The first Saturday of November will be the last one for the 2009 season weather depending.  Between the coffee and the cars you should definitely check out Cars & Café.  My guess is with the weather the way it was today I will be done for this season.  Until next years Cars & Café……

My father and my 300zx with my buddies S2000

My buddy in his S2000 with his 1 ticket and 4 warnings on the way home...priceless

Pantera

DeLoreans

Note- For all the pictures check out my Flickr stream. My Flickr Stream