rcollum

This has developed into a really nice, small but mellow get-together. Always several nice cars, and the people are great! We meet at 8:00AM, and have a light breakfast at Cameron's, then go out and talk cars. --Bob Collum

A cool, clear morning. While the parking lots were not packed, we had plenty of cars and people, as well as a good variety of both. --Bob Collum

We had a good turnout today. A large part of Sunday turnouts has to do with following a bad-weather Saturday. It rained Saturday morning, so Katie's was pretty quiet yesterday. Whatever the reason, we had a (relative) lot of people and cars. --Bob Collum

It warmed up for the weekend, but we had fairly heavy rain this morning. That meant a small crowd at Katie's. Chuck showed off the new 'bling' on his Macan - the blanking plug for his tow hitch. Of course, it has the Porsche crest. I'm guessing the official option name is 'PTHC' - (Porsche Tow Hitch Cover) --Bob Collum P.S.: I had a 5+ mile detour on the way home from Katie's, because of a flood on Hunter Mill Road, near the bike trail crossing.

It was wet and cold out, but that didn't keep the diehards from showing up. We seemed to have separate parking for the 2 wheel drive cars, and the all-wheel or 4 wheel drives today. --Bob Collum

A common question I get is, 'when does the season for Katie's Cars & Coffee begin and end?' The answer is, there is no season - people will show up driving 'something', as long as they can get there! Today was a good example. The weather forecast has snow starting between 6AM and 7AM. I went at my normal time, and had breakfast before anyone else (besides Katie's staff) showed up. By the time I left, there were a few other cars in the lot. During the winter, Katie's becomes more of a social event than a car event. Though it was not a Seven kind of day today, since I have recently retired, I am making progress on small items on the car... I bought replacement front turn signals (my Seven had headlights and front signals sourced from motorcycles). I cleaned and re-applied waterproofing on the half-hood. Next, need to see if I can get the front fenders repaired or replaced. My problem with this is, I have 14" wheels. When I look for cycle fenders, most are listed as 13". Do I need to find, specifically, 14" fenders? --Bob Collum

Try this pic... (Our friend Dino just bought a Lamborghini Urus, but decided to also get this Jeep - in case he needs to go out on REALLY nasty roads!) --Bob Collum

Alan Olson and I showed up in our Elises, and we had a couple of other British marques represented today. Check out the license plate on Dino's Jeep! --Bob Collum

I saw this Renault 4CV at Cars & Coffee yesterday. That chrome detail on the back is a fancy surround for the fuel filler. REALLY? While it certainly looks nice, and dresses up the otherwise plain-Jane rear, why would you think it's a good idea to position it above the hot engine? It reminded me of the VW bug we saw in Cancun a couple of years ago... 5 happy guys in the car with a gravity-feed, jerry-rigged gas canister on the back engine lid. They smiled and waved as we took pictures of them driving off. I was just hoping we weren't going to hear an explosion, followed by the flaming gasoline trail coming back towards us. --Bob Collum

Quite a good turnout at Katie's today. Plenty of interesting cars to see. --Bob Collum

The first Sunday C & C of 2020. After raining most of Saturday afternoon and evening, Sunday was mercifully dry, but cold and windy. Still, we had a pretty good turnout! Alan Olson again drove his Aston, and I drove my Elise. No other Lotus folks there today. --Bob Collum

Here is a link to the 2020 Northern VA Sunday Cars & Coffee thread: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?12640-2020-Northern-VA-Sunday-Cars-amp-Coffee-Thread

For reference purposes, here is a link to the 2019 Northern VA Sunday Cars & Coffee thread: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?12206-2019-Northern-VA-Sunday-C-amp-C-Thread

Here is a link to the 2020 Katie's Cars & Coffee thread - http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?12639-2020-Katie-s-Cars-amp-Coffee-Thread-Great-Falls-VA

The first Katie's C & C of the year, and it was foggy, but mild - over 50F at 5:00AM! As often happens here, the crowd was sparse, until people woke up and realized it wasn't raining, and wasn't cold. By 7:30AM, there was a decent crowd, though nothing really exotic. The guy that owned the Challenger had a strategy to avoid door dings you hadn't thought of! Yes, they were on both sides! --Bob Collum

For reference purposes, here is a link to the 2019 Katie's thread: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?12205-2019-Katie-s-Cars-amp-Coffee-Thread-Great-Falls-VA

The last C & C of the year. We were heavy on off-road vehicles this week. Dino brought a 'co-pilot' for our friend, Paul. --Bob Collum

Three days after Christmas, we had a cold but dry morning. It took a while, but we had a good number of people and cars, by 7:30AM. The last Katie's of 2019. Three Lotus in attendance - Mark's Exige, my Seven, and Ed's Evora. (I did not get a picture of Ed's car.) The Dino, fresh from a complete restoration, was GORGEOUS! --Bob Collum

Just 3 days until Christmas. Another very good turnout, but I got so involved in talking with people, that I took very few pictures. We had three Lotus owners present - Bob Scates in his Esprit, I drove my Elise, and Alan Olson drove his Aston DB9. This venue has turned out to be a surprise hit! Merry Christmas, everyone! --Bob Collum

This time of year, Katie's is more about catching up with friends than ogling cars. Still, there's always something interesting there... --Bob Collum

We had what I think may be a record-breaking turnout today. Starting with two brand-new cars - Chuck's Porsche Macan and Dino's Lamborghini Urus. We also had 4 Lotus owners in attendance - Mark Franke, Bob Scates, Alan Olson, and me. Only the two Bobs drove our Lotus, though. I especially liked that Alan Olson's V12 Aston DB9 was parked next to Bob Steinhagen 's V12 Ferrari F550. A beautiful pair of cars! --Bob Collum

A beautiful, clear morning - but, 29F. That made my decision to drive the Elise, instead of the Seven, an easy one! Bob Scates drove his Esprit. --Bob Collum

31F this morning, but skies are crystal clear! A great day to drive to Katie's early. Another bonus: in cold weather, we don't have throngs of people everywhere. A good selection of nice cars, though... --Bob Collum

I did see a Seven in London, but wasn't quick enough to get a good picture... Look closely, and you may see it, driving away. --Bob

This facility, run by Colin's son Clive Chapman, restores and maintains classic Lotus race cars. --Bob Collum