Woke up early Saturday morning, and made a pilgrimage to Donut Derelicts in Huntington Beach. If you have an early morning Cars and Coffee meetup near you, this is the gathering that started them all. These guys have been coming to this strip mall parking lot on the corner of Magnolia and Adams for decades. The donut shop opens early to feed and caffinate everyone, giving the show its name. Everyone vacates the lot by around 8am when the shops start to open, starting the concept of the early Saturday morning meetup.
I've been coming here since the early 90s, when I had an old Cadillac. The pecking order is simple. Motorcycles gather around the donut shop itself, and the cars take up whatever space they can find. By the time I arrived, there were too many bikes clustered around the shop, but I found a space to share with a Ducati across the aisle. I found myself in the company of a grouping of old Fords, including a '34 and two '32s
After getting my customary chocolate bar and black coffee, I checked out the bikes and chatted with a few of the owners. the CB1100 is rare enough that I always get two or three guys asking about it. Most comments are: "I've heard about these but never saw one." "What year is that... it looks sort of old, but sort of not." "I've been looking for one of these, but haven't had much luck."
Venturing out from the cluster of '30s Fords after my donut, I walked the show, which covers the spectrum of cool, old cars. Rat rods, full classics, customs, low riders, you name it. My favorite car of the morning was an exquisitely finished restomod Charger.
Nice!
What was the yellow thing is the Kaw triple pic?
Getting back to the CB, I had another Ducati neighbor in my parking space, and a light blue Cobra had parked next to us.
I feel like I know enough about Cobras to be semi-dangerous, and I have a ton of sweat equity in a Factory Five replica Cobra build with a friend. Looking over a Cobra, there's always that "could it be real?" feeling, but in reality, who would be driving an authentic Cobra in city traffic?
Looking over this car, I saw a lot of elements that just didn't look right. Wide fenders like a 427, but tapered body lines like a 289, and a small block under the hood. I dismissed it as a very nice replica with some vintage elements under the hood for effect. The yellow stikes across the front were also a nice touch, Dan Gurney's personal livery.
The owner, an older gentleman wearing a COBRA hat walked up. I asked about the car. "I know it's not a Factory Five, doesn't look like a Superformance... what is it?"
The answer was staggering: "This was a Shelby mule from 1963. They were trying to homologate the Cobras for FIA international racing, but they knew the little 260 and 289 cars weren't going to get the job done. So, they stroked the engine to a 302, which was the FIA maximum displacement for its class. To make it handle better, they tried out a coilover suspension, which they ended up using on the big 427 cars. They knew it needed wider tires, so they tried stretching the ass-end, and flaring the front fenders. Too much tire in my opinion, but it worked. Then, they gave it to Dan Gurney (you probably never heard of him) and he took it out and flogged the crap out of it. I found it about 30 years ago and it was pretty used up, but we got it put back together."
This began an hour-long conversation where I learned more about Cobras than I though I'd ever learn. There was one element about the car that might strike a chord with anyone who saw "Ford vs Ferrari."
Early on in the movie, Ken Miles is in the pits at Willow Springs, hammering out the inside of the trunk lid on his white Cobra. He was furious about a new FIA rule that designated that a specific size box fit in the storage area of the car, and it would not fit in the standard Cobra trunk.
His fit of anger and taking a hammer to the car seemed like a throw-away scene to show how furious Miles could get, but there was an element of reality. Looking at the trunk lid on this "Mule" Cobra, I noticed a raised ridge along its rear edge. That was a modification so that the box referenced in the movie would fit in the trunk of the Cobra.
Sometimes, you never know what you'll see at a car show!
Ferret, that little yellow bike is a Whizzer. A few of them always show up here.
Great story, Gone. Thanks. Long ago, sometime between 1961 and 1963, I went to a great road-race at Laguna Seca and I think Dan Gurney may have been driving in it, but it was long ago and that part of my memory is long faded.
I never was a fan of Whizzers - always thought the name sounded like something connected to emptying your bladder.
Along with the Whizzers, some guys bring their beach cruisers with 2-cycle engines, usually the $150 Ebay kits. I have a hankering to build one of those...
Continuing the "birth of Cars and Coffee" story, sometime in the early 2000s, guys with newer Ferraris and Lambos started showing up at Donut Derelicts, but were not made welcome by the oldsters and their GTOs and Tri-5 Chevys. So, the exotic guys started their own early Saturday show at Crystal Cove, further down the coast near Laguna Beach, in a very high-zoot shopping center. Show up in a Mustang? You'd be shown the parking lot. However, these guys made too much noise revving their Italian V-12s for guys standing along Pacific Coast Highway with cameras when the cars left, angering the residents in their zillion-dollar ocean-view homes surrounding the shopping center.
Someone who worked at Ford's PAG (Premier Automotive Group, the headquarters for Land Rover, Aston Martin, Volvo and Jaguar) in Irvine stepped up and said "Look, we've got a huge parking lot in Irvine that's empty on Saturday mornings. Everyone is welcome, no matter what kind of special car you have. Just behave and don't do anything stupid." Soon, over 500 cars and at least 100 motorcycles were showing up, and the PAG building's giant parking garage could be used for spectators. They started offering coffee and donuts, and the first Cars and Coffee was born.
It was an awesome gathering. Dan Gurney was a regular participant, as his shop was nearby in Santa Ana. He had sold his original run of 36 Honda-powered Alligator motorcyles, and was working on the prototype of the second-generation Alligator which was powered by an S&S V-twin. It was not uncommon to see him arrive on the prototype and park it among the other bikes, showing off whatever new fairing piece or fender they had just rendered in carbon fiber. Here was a very distinguished, very tall older gentleman showing off a custom motorcycle. People thought "Is that.... Dan Gurney? Nah, can't be."
Love it Gone.
What was in the white bag, man?
My donut, of course! My cup of coffee was sitting on the top box.
(07-10-2023, 08:49 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote: [ -> ]My donut, of course! My cup of coffee was sitting on the top box.
...
wanted to see the donut. (*sigh*)
Mrs. G uses my phone periodically. Best that she not see the donut.
