Keith’s Blog: If SCM Were King of Cars and Coffee

As we emerge from the pandemic, weekend morning car gatherings are beginning to be held again.

While I believe that these gatherings represent an important part of our hobby, they are not without their issues. I have addressed this in part before, however here I will go into more detail.

There are often long lines to enter, with cars starting to line up before dawn. Events are usually dependent upon volunteers for staffing, which can lead to problems with execution. Upon exiting, the usual village idiots frequently demonstrate that they can’t control their daddy’s cars and go fishtailing down the street, sometimes smacking into parked cars.

If SCM were king of cars and coffee and could make all the rules, there would be more admissions, more order, better safety, and fundraising for charities all tied together. Let me explain how it would work. Some of these ideas are already being implemented by events across the country. I have just gathered together those which appealed to me as a package.

First you would find a parking lot that could hold 500-600 cars. Pre-registration, online only, would open one week before the event. The cost would be $20 per car (where we will spend that is below). Each car would get a specific, unique QR code that would allow only that car to enter.

With your entry, you could select which section you would like to be placed in. You could be placed with Corvettes like yours, Porsches, Hot Rods, Ferraris and more. You would upload a photo of your car with your payment, and your contact info if you wished.

If your car was for sale, you could tag it so that those browsing the event could note that your car could be bought.

On the morning of the event, paid workers would put out traffic cones at each parking row or slot with numbers on them. The number of the space would correspond to the admission QR ticket each driver received.

The show would be divided into 90-minute segments, and you could choose the one you want (until it is full). I suggest 7:00–8:30 am, 8:30–10:00 am and 10:00–11:30 am. At the end of each segment owners would be asked to leave to make way for the next group.

I would hire an off-duty motorcycle policemen to sit at the exit of the event, and perhaps another team with a radar gun. They would aggressively ticket anyone who misbehaved. We would again use the admission money to pay for them.

After all, it only takes one jerk to screw things up for everyone.

Every participant would get a souvenir cling for their window with the name and the date of the event.

After the last car leaves, a crew would clean up the parking lot and leave it in better shape than it was at the beginning. Perhaps these workers could be sourced from local car clubs. I suggest they be paid $15/hour; an admission fee makes this possible.

The organizers should be paid as well, as putting something like this together takes time. The creation of the software, the purchase of the clings and the traffic cones and storage, and the rental of the parking lot and the acquiring of insurance carries a cost as well.

The money that is left over would go to a charitable cause, such as a children’s hospital or a local vocational program.

There you have it: The SCM Plan for Cars and Coffee. No more long lines, a chance to park with other like vehicles, a way to market your car, an extra layer of safety and, finally, more cars and more people getting to show off their pride and joy.

These are my thoughts for how to create better Cars and Coffee-type meetups. What are yours?