Mother Nature has it out for us. There’s no other explanation. It seems like every month, our area has a week or so of straight sunlight and blue skies, but when the last weekend of the month rolls around, down come the rainstorms. Regardless of the inclement conditions, we were thrilled with how many cars and guests came out to the September iteration of Front Street Media’s Cars & Coffee Presented by Whiteline.
This month, we partnered with our friends at Whiteline to give away some goodie bags, and they were a hit! The first 50 guests might not have received any of the stability control and performance suspension items for which the company is famous. Still, they did receive a sweet Whiteline tote filled with branded gloves, a notepad, a pen, a lanyard, and an official sticker set.
I discuss how I’m pleasantly greeted with early attendees long before the set start time during each of these articles, and September was no exception. Considering the opportunity for the free bag, enthusiasts patiently waited for our staff to set up, then lined up eager for a donut, some coffee, and free swag — and we were happy to deliver!
One of the earliest arrivals — which actually showed up a few days before — was this 2020 ROUSH Performance Stage 3 Mustang. This badass, 750 horsepower, warranty-backed piece of American machinery is being used by Turn 14 Distribution staff for a short period. Since it was hanging out in our lot, we took it out for some photos and will be serving up a full feature on it shortly, so stay tuned for that.
The forecast deterred a few people from making the trek from distant locations. However, the attendees that braved the morning’s constant drizzle were happy to support and brought some quality builds to display. We were delighted to see our former Editor, Jason Reiss, and his supercharged Mustang GT, too. If you missed it, you can read all about his recent manual-to-auto swap (yep!) and everything he went through getting the new transmission to work in his car.
We especially enjoyed this proper two-tone Nissan S13 coupe that journeyed from over an hour away to support our event in the rain. There’s something so perfect about a two-tone S13, but it’s even better when said S13 has super rare Panasport G7 wheels in excellent condition and tons of accompanying J-spec additions.
I admittedly missed this FC RX-7 pulling into the lot but noticed a crowd forming around it once it parked. As I neared, I saw the widened, mismatched panels housing SSR MS1 wheels, and my conditioned response was to assume there would be an LS swap lurking within its engine bay. Boy, was I wrong! A very clean tucked two-rotor powerplant remained between the strut towers, and every piece of frame positioned ahead of it was converted to tubular bars. It was a pleasant surprise that reassured some of my faith in humanity. Not every RWD platform needs to be LS swapped. Kudos to the owner on this great setup!
Throughout the morning, the light-to-moderate rain kept arriving in waves. However, thankfully, there was refuge to be had beneath our lot’s massive solar panels. Still, some weathered the precipitation to capture images of a favorite vehicle on the premises like this Shelby GT350 or Honda S2000.
We also liked seeing some lovely Euro builds make the trip to our event like this satin black F80 M3 equipped with HRE wheels, a StopTech Trophy big brake kit, an Akrapovič exhaust system, Eventuri charge pipes, and a Charge Air Cooler from CSF Performance. The combination of carbon fiber and satin black complemented each other across the chassis and made the sedan stand out despite its muted tones.
While we’re on Euro builds, let’s discuss the dedication of a friend of mine who brought two of his cars down from the Bronx just for this event. He stayed in a hotel the night before and had his track-ready E46 M3 with Volk Racing TE37 wheels and Recaro Sportster CS seats parked right next to the family mobile E90 M3 complete with BBS LM-R wheels and Recaro child seats. Thank you again for coming down, it was great to see the fleet together in our lot, and I’ll see you soon for some more photos.
I loved the diversity at this event, too. No matter what row I circulated, some odd combination of vehicles was parked next to one another. There was a clean E30 convertible next to a street-tuned R35 GT-R. A C7 Z06/Z07 Corvette mixed in amongst a group of Infinitis, but I enjoyed this R32 GT-R adjacent to this Audi RS3 the most. Let me explain why.
You see, this isn’t your average Audi RS3. From the outside, the custom front mount intercooler is just about the only giveaway to what lies beneath, and I love that. This car generates juice above 1,000 horsepower and already ran a 9-second quarter-mile on factory wheels with street tires. The owner recently upgraded tires to the fat M&H radials pictured here but has yet to make a pass on them. Plans were made to feature this car later this year, so stay on the lookout for that.
To anyone who stayed home due to the weather, I can’t blame you, but some of these people might. Some die-hard roofless enthusiasts took the rain in stride. A friend of ours drove his NC Miata with no hard- or soft-top affixed, and there were a few different motorcycles around the grounds. These two Honda Groms pictured above had tons of modifications differing from factory units; however, the most notable was the CBR300R engine swap. I can’t imagine what a small-tire bike feels like with that much power, but I appreciate the owners riding from Jersey in the rain to support!
As with any other Cars & Coffee we’ve run, I missed the opportunity to talk to an owner or two of some cars I liked. One being this detailed Volkswagen with O.Z. Racing Futura wheels, a spotless engine bay, color-matched cage, clean air suspension setup, and modified Recaro A8 seats. It was a standout build, and I’d love to know more about it.
On the other end of the spectrum, I talked in-depth with the owner of this gorgeous Honda Civic sedan littered with authentic rare Mugen pieces. It’s tough to find any of these parts around America, let alone all furnished on the same car. It was a treat to pore over the minutiae of this build, and we’re looking forward to featuring it on the website soon.
Finally, I wanted to note this Rocket Bunny V1-equipped Scion FR-S, who has attended a couple of our events now. I love that this car gets used and has a little dirt and grime — or maybe they didn’t want to wash it in the rain. The legitimate parts found throughout are so cool to see with some wear and tear on them. Max bonus points for the new addition of the Blitz turbo kit, too. It’s a cool look to see the worn stock engine with a bright, shiny new addition like that.
I could go on for hours about how many great vehicles supported our September event, but I’ll leave some room for the massive gallery below to pick up the pieces. We want to thank Whiteline for their support, everyone who attended despite the weather, and we’re already looking forward to hosting another event late in October. Stay tuned to our social media in the coming weeks for the exact date.
Photography by Kyle Crawford and Brandon Cody
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Gallery