Here in Richmond, Virginia, we’re blessed with an active Cars and Coffee community that meets every two weeks. If I’m in town, you can guarantee I’m around somewhere - more recently in my NA Miata, ‘87 AE82 FX or ‘72 F-250.

Attendance is more or less directly related to the weather forecast, and if it’s bad enough the organizers will postpone the event until the next Saturday.

Weather was not looking favorable on Saturday. When I woke up at 6:45 AM it was pouring, so I turned my alarm off and went back to sleep - surely it was not going to be held. But when I woke up a tad before 8 and it wasn’t raining…I knew I had to at least see if other people were going to show up.

You have to crest a little hill when pulling into the parking lot where Cars and Coffee is held - some days you wonder where you’ll be able to find a place to park, and other days there’s only a few cars in the lot.

To my surprise, there was a nice little turnout!

I normally bring my camera to Cars and Coffee, but if I’m honest, I typically don’t end up using it. It’s normal for me to get out of my car, immediately strike up conversations with friends or strangers, and next thing I know it’s 10:30 and I’m among the last to leave. That’s no problem for me - it was never about the cars.

Before leaving home, I reached out to my favorite groupchat and asked if anyone was going but only received nays, which meant it was a good opportunity to actually use my camera.

And so I did.

One of my favorites this weekend was my friend Jordan’s Toyota Corolla AE82 GT-S track car. It’s much like my AE82 - you know, except totally track prepped, manual, and has the hotter 4A-GE engine.

At some point, Ruby and I had an Isuzu Rodeo that we loved, but ultimately sold it because we didn’t want to deal with the inevitable future engine problems those typically have later in life (imagine oil in the engine, except everywhere but inside the engine). That problem appeared to have been solved in this Isuzu Amigo that ended up parking next to Jordan with this LS1 swap.

Speaking of LS swaps, this BMW E39 5-series is powered by an LS that not-so-subtley protrudes through of the hood.

On the other side of the row of BMWs is this cute little 316 ti. I’ve always thought these were a little funny looking, but that makes me appreciate them even more.

I’m not a huge C8 Corvette guy (sorry), but this one had the popular “Lambo door” mod installed which is kinda novel.

Conversely, because I own an FR-S, any of those cars get my attention. The first was a ‘15 or ‘16 FR-S that looks like it’s starting its journey similar to mine - clear sidemarkers, license plate relocation, and Valenti tail lights. I wonder what the future of this one holds. The second was a new 2022 Toyota GR 86. I got the opportunity to drive my friend Brett’s GR 86 a while ago and I was very, very impressed.

When 10:00 AM rolled around, I started my Miata and tucked away my camera in the passenger bucket. But right as I was about to get in, one last car arrived that I had to take a few pictures of.

This is a 1984 AMC Eagle, and while the wheels are from an Oldsmobile Alero, it rode that high straight out of the factory. I made some good smalltalk with the owner (fittingly wearing a Philadelphia Eagles jersey), who has what sounded like a dozen odd projects like this one.