Houston’s Coffee and Cars is taking steps to avoid the public’s ire after the show recently devolved into a wretched hive of street burnouts, donuts, rev-limiter sound offs, and general asshattery. In the hopes of keeping things a bit more civil, Houston C&C is kicking out the well-known American Muscle offenders; Mustangs, Chargers, and Camaros. Surely some wheat will be thrown out with the chaff, but maybe this step will prove that the event is serious about keeping things calmer. If they can stick to their guns on this issue, it might actually help.
There is seemingly a template for the rise and demise of Cars and Coffee-style events around the country. They begin innocuously enough, with a small group of dedicated fans meeting up once a month to chat about cars. As the social media following grows, soon enough the event blooms well beyond the organizers’ capacity to control, and either the event folds or changes venue and the process begins anew. There are always a few bad eggs.
The event’s bad actors have seemed to multiply in recent months, and the event has posted signage discouraging burnouts and the like. After the November event, however, things escalated to the point that show runners knew they needed to take drastic action. Following Sunday’s event, the show posted on Instagram informing everyone of the new ruling.
Due to this morning’s burnouts and revving, we will be temporarily banning all Mustang, Chargers & Camaros.
We keep asking for cooperation to reduce this behavior and we have signs posted.
If this behavior continues we will be forced to only do Invitational Only Events.
We have an Epic lineup for the end of the year Toy Drive.
PLEASE STOP ENCOURAGING THIS BEHAVIOR, SPREAD THE WORD PLEASE AND THANK YOU.
In talking to The Autopian, Houston Coffee and Cars organizers issued this response;
“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.”
From the videos at the Houston event, it appears there are dozens, if not hundreds, of people lining the street filming cars leaving the event, and egging on the drivers to act foolishly. It seems the event could work to limit this behavior as well. If there isn’t an audience, the bad actors won’t have reason to jump on the throttle.