Car meets can be tough to run. Organizers have to balance the needs and desires of the attendees, neighboring people and businesses, and property owners. In an effort to keep their event alive, the Coffee and Cars meet in Houston, Texas has taken drastic action. It’s instituted an outright ban on Camaros, Chargers, and Mustangs.
The problem will be familiar to anyone that’s hung around a local car meet. The trouble normally starts when it comes time to leave. Engines roar to life, with the more boisterous attendees revving aggressively. An expectant audience then lines the exits, smartphones aloft, hoping to film something ridiculous. Usually, it’s a burnout, or a hard launch, or someone losing control and wrapping their car around a lightpost.
As much as these antics light up social media, they’re anathema to the continued existence of a local meet. Police and the general public don’t look kindly upon this sort of behavior. Too often, as well, it ends in tears, when drivers with little sense or talent hurt themselves or injure bystanders.
The Coffee and Cars event in Houston takes place the first Saturday of every month at the POST Houston entertainment venue. Organizers have long tried to deal with the issue of poor behavior from attendees. Like most meets, it has clearly posted rules and signage for attendees to leave calmly and avoid horseplay. With this call seemingly unheeded by a select few, the event has seen fit to instead try and ban offenders with a broad-strokes ruling. Thus, temporarily, Mustangs, Camaros, and Chargers will be unwelcome at the Houston event.
The ruling was posted after “burnouts and revving” that took place at the November event, according to organizers. The Autopian has seen private footage of a modern Dodge Charger performing a large burnout near the event. The video, captured by a bystander from a distance, shows the driver of the Charger executing a 360-degree donut in the middle of an intersection. A gaggle of smartphone-toting spectators swarm the vehicle as it pirouettes on the street in a thick cloud of tire smoke.
It’s unclear whether this specific event inspired the ban, or whether it was the combination of multiple incidents. Regardless, the brazen disregard for safety could clearly be seen to reflect poorly on the event. When queried, organizers provided The Autopian with a press release regarding the matter.
“Safety is a cornerstone of our events,” the organizers stated. “We take significant steps to ensure it, such as hiring security officers for each gathering, comprehensive planning, ample event staffing, and clear communication of our rules against reckless behaviors like revving engines and performing burnouts.” The organization went on to decry the current state of events. “Despite our rigorous safety protocols and clear stance against disruptive behaviors, it is disheartening that a minority still chooses to behave in a manner that endangers others and disrespects the community’s wishes and the effort put into each event.”
A model-based ban is an interesting move that plays on stereotypes in the car scene. Mustang owners are so famous for spinning out of control at meets that they functionally became a meme. Similarly, Camaros and Chargers are muscle cars that are beloved for their ability to generate copious amounts of tire smoke.
@cph_carspotter Build vs bought. ????️???? #houston #bugatt #chiron #chevrolet #corvette #burnout #carsandcoffee
Recent events have seen multiple cars doing burnouts in the roads surrounding the meet.
Whether banning these cars solves the problem remains to be seen. Right off the bat, it’s easy to see some flaws in the reasoning. It’s curious to ban the Dodge Charger with no mention of the Dodge Challenger, which shares similar drivetrains and a propensity towards burnouts. The Corvette, too, is a capable vehicle for such shenanigans, but it is not subject to the ban.
It may be that the organizers have noted the actions of certain individuals and banned their cars to try and keep them away. As a temporary measure, it could serve as a deterrent to further bad behavior. A preliminary shot across the bow that reminds everyone to pull their heads in, lest they too be banned.
The measure is, nevertheless, not a surefire solution. A video from automotive YouTuber El Ceza shows cars leaving the earlier October meet, with vehicles of all stripes breaking the stated rules. It clearly shows that bad behavior has been an issue at the Houston event for some time. There’s a Lamborghini revving, and an Mk IV Supra doing much the same. We see burnouts from a number of cars, too, including a 1970 Chevy Malibu getting seriously sideways. Meanwhile, the driver of a Hyundai Genesis Coupe is seen oversteering near spectators, thankfully correcting before it hit the sidewalk. It bears noting none of these vehicles would be subject to the temporary ban going forward.
The ban will also surely put well-behaved owners offside. Nobody likes being punished for something they didn’t do, after all. At the same time, the organizers find themselves in a tough place. It’s difficult to identify individuals that break the rules as they leave the event, and even harder to police their entry to the next one. With previous calls to behave unheeded, a new tool was needed. The hope will be that the ban either keeps offenders away, or scares them into behaving, whatever car they show up in.
If the ban fails to quell bad behavior, it’s easy to imagine the event becoming far more difficult to run. As a popular meet, it sees hundreds of spectators lining the streets. It would only take one crash to put the event across every local news channel. It’s unlikely the organizers themselves or the property owner want that kind of negative attention, nor would they want to see anyone hurt.
It’s clear that there’s a whole lot of love for the Coffee and Cars meet in Houston. Here’s hoping that can inspire some of the more excitable attendees to reign in their right foot and leave in a calm and dignified manner.
..but do they check all BMW tires pressures with a calibrated, digital gauge?
I know Mustangs seem to have a problem at events, but around here, in day to day driving Chargers are by far the most aggressive, it’s not even close.
Just limit the event to cars with less than … say 200HP?
Kei Cars and Coffee
Hehehehehe hehehehehe….
I hope there’s an event in my area soon! 😀
Shows focused on cars from the 1980s are becoming popular.
Honestly I don’t think the world is losing much if cars in general were limited to 200HP.
I run a monthly local event that’s on the CITY’S property m with all permits and the city baking our events. With that being said a warning from me or my team is the only warning you get, after that it’s tickets or arrest/impound by our local PD, which they too back our events. Also noted that once they leave the parking lot onto the road, we are in no way responsible for any of their actions. We went through a long process of making sure liability doesn’t fall on us and we can continue having events. Both the city and local PD know we can’t judge every person/car that comes out as being a bad apple, so they don’t hold it against us. I think banning certain vehicles would only cause a greater issue …there were talks about banning the squated trucks at our events and I flat out refused to do so, those of them that attend are shinning examples of great auto enthusiasts just with a different passion than most. I’m going to keep my eyes peeled on more information, as I attended some Houston events when I was there for my brother’s funeral and had a great time. Also if anyone is looking for a awesome event to attend this December and your in or around the south Georgia are come and have a great time!
https://facebook.com/events/s/2nd-annual-cruise-for-kids/974471327043987/
I wouldn’t care if they trailered a squatted truck to the meet but if you can sit behind the wheel of one of those and still be fine sharing the road with those deliberately unsafe vehicles you are a braver man than me. Stancing can probably be as unsafe but at least they can see.
If a dog dragging its ass would not be allowed at a dog show, then I’m fine with a truck dragging its ass not being allowed at a car show.
My 62 Lincoln can drag it’s ass into and at a show and it’s welcomed…
Honestly they’re not any more unsafe than a 800+ hp car with little brakes on the road… I’ve seen more wrecks and heard of more wrecks from other types of vehicles than squated trucks. What about chopped cars with a windshield so low you can’t barely see. Or a blown car with stacks were you can’t see anything to the right of you?. People’s hatred for squated trucks is just reaching and ignorant. And I’m defending them because I have one, I don’t… They don’t serve my purpose or preference, I just don’t hate
I’m of the opinion that, along with squats, any of the obviously unsafe mods you mention should also be confiscated and crushed if found operating on public streets.
LoL, you’d hate your life if you took a ride in ANY of my vehicles LMAO
Seems a bit of a stretch to me but I’m not in the community. I feel like enforcement, and not finger-wagging, at the exit of the event could go a long way, even if that’s coordinating with local law enforcement for them to have a presence there.
The local C&C I go to in Tucson basically does a banned list on cars if they do a burnout, but never went so far as to go after a specific model. But we also don’t seem to have folks standing near the exit with smart phones like I’ve seen elsewhere. Still, if I ever leave an event and there are people filming, I’ll rev a bit like I’m gonna do something, then slow roll out.
Like it – add the clowns with exposed turbo’s for headlamps (or any JDM insisting on showing off their blow-off valves) and those who simply can’t drive too.
https://artofgears.com/files/2016/04/2016.4.12-Mustang-Memes-Wrecks-2.jpg
In general, car shows with late-model cars are quite boring, because what story is there to tell when you show up with a 2022 car that you financed?
I mostly stick to vintage car shows for that reason, like I want to see old junk that’s survived/been fixed up. I’m way more impressed by a running, driving Maserati Biturbo or an old Alfa Romeo than any new Italian supercar. People with old Italian/German/British cars always have cool stories to tell.
No loss, frankly. When did anyone here last go to a meetup for the rare opportunity to see a Mustang, Camaro, or Charger?
One reason I stopped going to car shows was the takeover by large numbers of boring late model stuff. Even for the Italian shows—where did the Isos, Bizzarrinis, old Maseratis and Lamborghinis, daily-driven ’60s Ferraris, once gray-market cars, OSCAs, Morettis, etc. go? Don’t know, but, oh boy, there’s 15 mass-produced bros with Gallardos and a dozen ugly Modenas in boring, predictable red. Banning these even more dime-a-dozen cars will only make the show more interesting.
As for the stereotyping, I relate it to when I used to mountain bike and a few entitled jerkoffs would damage the trails, act recklessly around other trail users, and leave trash behind, resulting in the trails being shut down to bikes. I always understood why those things happened and didn’t blame whoever was in charge of the trails, but the losers who were actually at fault (and complained the most at the closings). I also didn’t take offense as I knew I wasn’t one of those clowns. The benefit of cars vs mountain bikes is that stereotypes exist for a reason, making it easier to generalize by car type and so more specifically target a smaller group rather than everyone. Sure, not all of the given vehicle drivers are dicks and the offenders also drive other cars, but it’s better a few temporarily banned than the whole event getting permanently shut down as the organizers can show they’re taking action and (hopefully) appease the broader community while possibly prompting the offenders who drive non-banned cars to get the message and shape up (however unlikely).
Its rich that Dodge seems to be running it’s entire brand identity on takeovers and burnouts and yet they aren’t providing support for this. Put up some paddocks with concrete dividers – line it with bleachers, dodge flags and banners and let the kids that want to waste tires have an intersection for shenanigans.
-Huge omission to exclude the Challenger. It has above and beyond the worst owners. Statistically. The IIHS has it as the second most deadly car in the US after the Mitsubishi Mirage. And unlike the Mirage it is a very safe car, so it is not the car, it’s the driver.
-Good, nobody needs a car show to see a late model Mustang, Camaro, or Charger. Go to a strip mall when there is not a cars and coffee and you will likely see multiples of each. People try to make spectacles of burnouts and drifting because there is no spectacle to the cars themselves. And like one of the other commenters below, I say that owning one of them.
Honestly seemed quite odd to me given the Charger is its sibling.
Guys, it’s the internet, I know, but the title here’s a bit too click-baity for my tastes. Was there a word limit or something?
Serious question, as we’re always looking to improve: Where is the clickbait in the headline?
The car show indeed decided to ban select models until further notice. And as indicated by the show’s social media, if bad behavior continues, the public show will be shut down and future shows will be invitational only.
Car shows have shuttered entirely due to behavior like this, so attempting to stop it is an act of self-preservation.
Is it the fact that we didn’t state the name of the car show in the headline? For some insider baseball, if the subject of your piece isn’t widely known, sometimes you paint the headline with more recognizable stroke. “Coffee and Cars” sounds like a failed attempt to write “Cars and Coffee” unless you happen to know about this exact show.
Yeah, it was the “This car show” part, as opposed to naming the show.
I was going to say “Everyone knows about Coffee and Cars”, except you’re exactly right, I mistook it for Cars and Coffee (right up to this very moment), which was a big part of my angst here – it felt very YouTube-y “You won’t BELIEVE which company did <X>!”, where it’s like Apple or something. I see how this was trickier, though.
Y’all are professionals, I trust the process, consider the complaint retracted 😀
Not to jump into somewhere I don’t belong, but my clickbaity sense tingled initially too and it was that leading “This…”. It just immediately sets off the clickbait/listicle/why am I on buzzfeed bit in my brain.
Y’all are the best and I have absolutely no complaints about this site and also no place telling y’all how to do anything other than MOAR please. If the title had been, “Car show decided it had to ban…” I wouldn’t have even thought about the title. The “This…” for some Pavlovian reason implies there’s some hidden gem I gotta click-through to find out. Does that make sense?
They forgot Challengers and G35/G37/Q50s, but other than that, great!
hahah, right?
I’d say it’s no great loss because there’s only so many S550/650 Mustangs with ‘Crowd Control’ window stickers and Chargers with shipping protectors and Hellcat decals that need to be in ANY car show.
And I say that as a Mustang owner and Charger fan..
It’s hilarious when they list their “mods.” Cold air intakes, oil catch cans, painted calipers.
That framed document from a car show that was going around online where some nutjob writes a backstory for his car, from the car’s perspective, wherein the owner is referred to as the car’s “true Alpha”, is so funny I still question whether it was a troll.