From Chevrolets to Cadillacs, from TVRs to GTRs, 50 spotless vehicles were gleaming in the Sunday morning sun in the Hollin Hall Shopping Center parking lot on March 30, as were their owners. These aficionados eagerly analyzed horsepower, window design, suspension, exhaust pipes, finishes, cylinders and engine intricacies at the bimonthly Alexandria Cars and Coffee meetup featuring an electric mix of vehicles of all ages.

This 1933 Chevrolet, running board and all, got attention.

 

Mount Vernonite Bill Bock called the event “a Sunday morning social club,” as he answered questions about his 1972 Triumph TR6, a sports car built in England. He bought one after returning from military service in Vietnam and 51 years later bought another. Its official color is damson, not purple, he clarified. Bock maintains it himself, which includes smashing thumbs and breaking fingernails. “If you didn’t build it, it’s not yours. You own the car,” he stressed.

“I love sharing and I love everyone’s cars,” said first-timer Bill Lorenzo from Stafford, Virginia, fondly describing his 2017, supercharged, red Cadillac CTSV which can reach a top speed of 200 miles per hour. He tries that at tracking events at Thornburg’s Dominion Raceway. Explaining why he loves his dream car, he offered, “I grew up very poor on 86th Street in Brooklyn. When I saw Cadillacs going down the street, I said to myself, ‘If I make it out of here, I will drive a Caddie.’”

Richard Murray from Lorton commented that his 1974 red Jensen-Healey two-seater is “very rare” because the English manufacturer, Jensen Motors, went bankrupt in 1976. “You can get one cheap, under $10,000,” he said. Restoring and maintaining it is a 30-year project. Why spend time tinkering with an old car? “It’s more nostalgia than anything. I gave it to myself as a college graduation gift.”

Around the corner from the “main concourse,” a firetruck red 1933 Chevrolet grabbed attention. The Mount Vernon-area owner, Chett, who declined to give his last name, explained that his antique gem is all steel, has a V8 engine and can go 60 miles per hour. “The doors even shut good,” he chuckled. The Chevy sounded like a loud, sputtering lawnmower when he pulled out.

Jim Gravina’s 1981 silver Delorean 1981 was a stunner, with its gull-wing doors opening upward. After he saw the movie, “Back to the Future,” he was determined to get a Delorean so 35 years later he found one in Virginia Beach on Facebook. The car never rusts because it is made of stainless steel. The U.S. company that built these cars between 1981 and 1983 in Northern Ireland only made 9,000, he said. In 1981, “It was futuristic. It stood out and still does. It takes me back to my childhood.” 

Alexandrian Nolan Walton said he too “got hooked” on his car at a young age, a British-made lemon yellow TVR Griffith that he longed for since age 16.” Jeremy Dehart from Springfield lucked out when his former girlfriend wanted to unload a 1991 Toyota MR2. Given the demise of the romance, he was surprised and got it for $1,200 – no hard feelings. 

Angel Wells from Upper Marlboro was one of the few women showing off a vehicle. Both she and her husband, Damein, have black Nissan GTRs. Hers has 800 horsepower, turquoise highlights and “Bad Girl” on her license plate. “It’s fun,” she quipped. “I like the way it feels when I drive it.”

Prominently situated near Fort Hunt Road, Doren Weston exuded over his dark green Chevrolet pickup truck, a 1952 classic with only 87,000 miles on the odometer. A Hollin Hall resident, Weston said that the truck was not running when he got it, but he had it running in a week. He basically rebuilt the truck, put in a new exhaust system, had some sheet metal parts fabricated, reupholstered the seats and painted the interior. The gear shift, called “three on a tree,” is on the steering column. “I love old pickup trucks. They speak to me. It embodies hard work and America. It symbolizes everything that’s good.”

The Cars and Coffee gathering, which started in 2012 in the shopping center, typically has 40 to 50 cars. To protect their treasures, it’s a “shine-only” event with three rules: No burnout (spinning tires) or engine revving. Treat each other with respect. No politics.

There was no politics on Sunday for sure. It was all car talk.