rcollum

We had been getting dire predictions of a big snow all week. That changed late this week to a snow/rain mix. The reality was, a very sparse, slight mist. While the turnout at Katie's was a bit light, we had some interesting stuff... I was the first car there! --Bob Collum

The guy who owns this Kaiser Darrin is the guy who created this cars & coffee event. He used to have two nearly-identical Kaiser Darrins, but sold the second one over a year ago. --Bob Collum

Today was the last Saturday in March, it wasn't too cold, and FINALLY, the salt on the roads has been washed away! A good turnout of Lotus! Michael D is dealing with Seven withdrawal, and had his BMW there today. --Bob Collum

A couple of regulars were out of town, but we still had an interesting group of people (and cars). Bob Scates is a semi-regular with his Esprit. Come on out at 8:00AM on a Sunday! --Bob Collum

This event, which is held every Sunday at the parking lot on 29, near Fairfax Circle, has turned out to be a nice event. It's not big, but everyone is friendly, and the variety of cars is very good. Today, we had two Lotus, two Jaguars, two Porsches, a Corvette, a '32 Ford Roadster and a Fiero replicar. Bob Scates and his Esprit S1 are pretty regularly there. --Bob Collum

A special day at Katies; first, it's St. Patrick's Day, and that really means something at a place called The Old Brogue. Second, the many regulars who missed last week because they were at the Amelia Island Concours in Florida returned, with great stories of cars and car people. Of course, there are ALWAYS great cars at Katie's. My favorites this week - the beautiful Mercedes Gullwing replica, built on a newer MB chassis, with a modern AMG engine. Bob Morris' unbelievable, fresh-from-restoration Allard. As beautiful a new car as there is: the Aston Martin DB11. Another all-time favorite of mine: the Alfa Montreal. --Bob Collum

A small turnout at Cameron's today, but it's always good to get together with friends, and make new ones. (Several of our regulars are at the Amelia Island car show this weekend.) --Bob Collum

Every year, the Philadelphia Areas Lotus Society (PALS) has an end-of-winter get together. Debbie and I have been members of that group (along with NoVA Lotus) since the mid-90's. Kyle Kaulback holds the event at the 'barn' he built to house his Lotus collection. We go up to see old friends, and see what they are doing for the upcoming year. Here are some vehicles of interest we saw there... The red S4 Seven was one built under license in Argentina. --Bob Collum

After being at Katie's early last week, but finding it closed because of the power outage, we (and a LOT of other people) decided today was the day for a drive to Katie's. I had to leave early, to drive up to Pennsylvania for another Lotus club's winter meeting. We had our first look at the 840hp Dodge Challenger Demon. --Bob Collum

My friend found that car a couple of years ago - absolutely original, with only a couple thousand miles on it - he's really enjoying it. He has an interesting ownership history - he's had a Lancia Beta Monte Carlo, an AMG Mercedes, and a Noble, among others. --Bob Collum

Not a huge turnout, because it was foggy out - but, it was mid-forties this morning, even really early! A friend just bought a Ferrari 599, and brought it out for the first time... A huge number of Porsches there, as there always seems to be when there's iffy weather... Ed drove his X 1/9. --Bob Collum

Dammit! I got up early, and checked outside. It was 29F, no breeze, and dry. I really wanted to drive the Seven, but I jumped in the Elise, and drove towards Katie's, as I normally do every Saturday morning. 3 blocks from my house, I see that Fairfax County has, again, sprayed massive amounts of brine solution on the roads.... Grrr..... I was already out, so I continued on to meet friends for breakfast. Turnout was decent, and, at least it wasn't ridiculously cold! I had the only Lotus there, but saw some 'Lotus friends' - including Michael D, who sold his Seven last year. --Bob Collum

...more from today... --Bob Collum

A late-ish arrival to Katie's this morning. A year from now, this might not make sense to most people. (It took me a couple of seconds for this to register with me...) --Bob Collum

Well, we've made it to February, though Punxutawney Phil says we have 6 more weeks of winter. It was 15F when I got to Katie's this morning, but at least there was no wind. A reasonable amount of cars showed up. No Lotus there, save mine. --Bob Collum

I drove my Elise to Katie's today, to make sure my new battery is working, and that there are no issues with the charging system. All is OK! A lot of nice cars today; a big turnout, after several weeks of salt and cold and a little precipitation. Everybody was ready to get out of the house. (I was disappointed to have the only Lotus there, though...) Three of my breakfast friends in front of the McLaren. A Ferrari Daytona. 'SpeedyCop' brought what looks like an old Dodge, but is a diesel Mercedes underneath; this is a LeMons car. My friend Pete's beautiful 550 replica. --Bob Collum

I missed last Sunday, stuck at home with a cold. I missed a good time - among a few others, Paul came out in the 7-degree weather in his '32 Ford Roadster; very manly! We had a bigger turnout this week, and great variety - my Seven, Dino's custom Chevy truck, Chuck's 911, Paul's roadster. Later arrivals had everything from a slammed Caddy, a jeep, a Cayenne, a Jag XK-R, and a couple of newer 'Vettes. --Bob Collum

Thanks! I'm glad to be of service, doing something I love. --Bob Collum

I planned to drive the Elise to Katie's this morning... the Elise planned differently. I had a problem starting the car, several weeks ago, and discovered that I needed to use my CTEK charger on a different setting (the cold weather setting), since it is an 'AGM' type battery. It seems that the battery was at the end of its life, since that strategy worked, but only for a few more weeks. Now, I need to buy a new one. Oh, well. A decent crowd at Katie's, even including a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. Oh, and my Subaru. Well, it turns out the Seven WILL start, so I'll drive that to Fairfax Circle tomorrow! --Bob Collum

Here is a link to the 2018 Katie's Cars & Coffee thread: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?11840-2018-Katie-s-Cars-amp-Coffee-Thread-Great-Falls-VA

The Northern VA Sunday Cars & Coffee thread continues into 2018 with a new thread - http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?11839-2018-Northern-VA-Sunday-C-amp-C-Thread

Why, you must be 'of a certain age'! I did, in fact, nearly freeze my Slauson off - it was 2F (actual) when I left my house at 7:45AM today. I decided to hold off on driving the Seven.

For reference, here is a link to the 2017 Katie's Cars & Coffee thread: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?11439-2017-Katie-s-Cars-amp-Coffee-Thread-Great-Falls-VA

People of a certain age might remember, when Johnny Carson hosted the Tonight Show, he arranged with the network to have Fridays off work. In order to keep his audience, the network would broadcast a rerun of an earlier show, and it was billed as 'Best of Carson'. In the bad-weather months, Cars & Coffee events are more sparsely-attended, and farther between. Today, 4 of us showed up at Fairfax Circle (Cameron's), and we were driving our 'winter rides'. For that reason, I am attaching some pictures from a Cars & Coffee from this weekend, back in 2012, at Kohl's, a late-lamented local Cars & Coffee. I'm calling this 'Best of Cars & Coffee', to tide us over until we actually have interesting cars to show. --Bob Collum

For reference purposes, here is a link to the local 2017 Cars & Coffee events thread: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?11616-2017-Northern-VA-Sunday-C-amp-C