Cars & Coffee

More Than Eye Candy

Cars and Coffee is a weekly gathering for car enthusiasts and the simply curious. It meets every Saturday morning in the parking lot at 749 East Altadena Drive. On any given weekend, you might find classic cars, vintage touring vehicles, hot rods, muscle cars, sports cars, lowriders, and maybe a machine you can’t explain.

I first met its founder while painting on Lake Avenue near Altadena Drive, not long after the flames of the Eaton Fire had been put out. Across the street, the local business I was painting had been reduced to a heap of charred wood and twisted metal.

A man stepped up to my easel. He knew of me, and after a brief conversation, I knew he was someone I would hear more about. He was as passionate about his mission as I was about mine: to document a slice of Altadena as it was in that moment.

His name is Dave Stone. While I had been painting the ruins of Altadena’s architecture, Dave had been photographing the vehicles that had been burned and abandoned.

So it was no surprise when I learned, some months later, that Dave had started Cars and Coffee here. The weekly gathering is more than eye candy. It’s therapy.