Park or drive, have the time of your life.
There is no greater experience as a petrolhead than attending an event to spend time with other petrolheads. To talk about cars, look at cars and most importantly drive cars. In the Western Cape we are very fortunate to have beautiful driving roads and mountain passes to enjoy in mostly beautiful weather. It is therefore very easy to find a group of likeminded individuals aka Petrolheads out and about all over the Cape on weekends and even some hot summer weekday nights. You just have to head in the direction of Franschhoek or Du Toitskloof early on a Sunday morning to see people enjoying the fantastic roads, scenery and weather. Yes, the hills are truly alive with the sound of music, V8 music mostly.
There are however two very specific events that I have been enjoying very much lately. One a very active early morning drive, the other a more stationery event, but with the added bonus of pizza.
Park and Pizza
The first event started almost exactly a year ago amidst the lockdown regulations and a Covid pandemic. The brainchild of Jonathan Kropf, Park and Pizza was born from the need to socialise with other Petrolheads but still adhering to Covid regulations. Enter a parking lot in Greenpoint situated across from a lovely Pizzeria.
The premise is simple, yet effective. Invite some friends and fellow Petrolheads over a Whatsapp group for a get-together once a month on a Thursday evening. Organise with the restaurant owner to send staff over to the parking lot to take orders, and then deliver the pizzas to the people in the parking lot. While the attendees are enjoying the conversations and cars and still do the whole social distancing thing. The event is a mix between a Cars and Coffee event and Roadhouse style dining… if the Roadhouse only made Pizzas.
fascinating is how quickly this event grew
What is fascinating is how quickly this event grew, not only in attendance numbers, but also popularity. The event is widely attended by motoring journalists and photographers. All of whom massively appreciate the fact that an event like this even exists. Partly due to the great bunch of people this event brought together, but mostly for the cars.
The variety of cars is on another level. This is not some M-Town park-off or Porsche owners meeting. There is everything from rare exotics like a Ferrari 250GTE and a Lamborghini Diablo to extremely clean and low mileage Honda Preludes or Rotary RX7 FDs with some real Initial-D vibes. And it’s not just the same cars attending every time. The rotation of what is being brought to the event is as extreme as the variety. Where else will you see a Soprano spec Lexus LS400 parked between one of Audi’s latest RSQ models and the aforementioned 1964 Ferrari 250GTE?
The Park and Pizza event is honestly one of my favourite events ever. Every month I look forward to attending just to see who or what will turn up next.
You can check out some of Hannes Oosthuizen’s footage of the event HERE.
Carbs and Coffee breakfast run
The idea of a breakfast run is nothing new, and as mentioned you need not look far to see these runs being held on weekends by various car clubs, but that is exactly where our event is different. The event is open to anyone driving anything they like. As long as you act respectful towards other road users and enjoy being in the company of likeminded individuals. It is not at all brand or club specific; it’s about enjoying what you drive and driving it on beautiful roads. And maybe sitting down for a nice breakfast afterwards.
Like Park and Pizza, the variety of vehicles coming out to these events is astounding. The two events, although a completely different premise, have one common goal, making everyone feel welcome, no matter what you drive. It’s about inclusiveness, and the enjoyment of the automobile. That is what this hobby should be about, not just some “exclusive” club for people whom all drive exactly the same cars.
There is something quite amazing about seeing a Cadillac running with some Harper sports cars and a big AMG E63 saloon. Everything from Mustangs to Mx5’s, from Alfa Spiders to a Ferrari Dino can be seen on these runs. And it’s not just the attendees enjoying themselves, the people along our route wave and stare and take pictures as they also rarely get the chance to see such an eclectic group of vehicles together. It makes people happy, which again is also what this hobby, and in fact Carbs and Coffee, is about.
See you at the next one?
You can read more articles by Corne HERE, and please consider supporting Carbs and Coffee by visiting our store and booking a photoshoot with Corne, to shoot your own car!
