Every last Saturday of the month, Bullitt Classic Cars hosts an event called Cars & Coffee.

We interviewed the owner, Franky Nuyts, and talked to him about this monthly event.

How did you come up with the idea to organise Cars & Coffee ?

I got the inspiration to organise Cars & Coffee in Belgium, where I visited these free “pop-up” car shows frequently.    At first they were small and not that popular, but word spread fast and the events grew bigger in a short period of time.

The secret of their succes is very simple, there are no limitations on the make or model of the cars, nor are there age restrictions, which makes it very diverse and interesting to go to.

It’s on these events that you see cars that sometimes don’t make it to regular (paid) car shows.
People just get together talking about their passion and instead of just cruising around with a purpose, they can set the Cars & Coffee event as a meeting point.

So you decided to take that idea with you and start it up in Florida yourself ?

No, the Cars & Coffee events already existed here too, but when I visited them, I found that the ‘connection’ between the people that attend the show was different here.

Sometimes people just parked their car in the parking lot and then went for a drink in one of the pubs or coffee houses surrounding the parking lot.
I love to talk to people about their cars, but that wasn’t possible in most cases since the owner had ‘disappeared’, haha.

And that was the start of your own Cars & Coffee ?

Being a Classic Car dealer in Floral City and having a lot of space to display cars made it a little bit easier for me to organise Cars & Coffee.   I just had to ask people who visited the shop if they were interested in coming, and most of them were very excited to have this event so close to their home.

Right from the start (we began organizing this event in 2016) we had 30+ cars showing up.  And that number grows every month as word spreads.

Why is your Cars & Coffee different from the other ones ?

The idea is the same, people who have a nice car and are proud of it, are welcome.
No limitations on age, make or quality of their car.

We have 50,000$ cars standing side by side with 5,000$ cars, a nice blend of motorized vehicles, because motorcycles have found their way to our event too in the meantime.

The biggest difference is that we serve free coffee and donuts during our event.  Sharing food and drinks together makes it feel more like a gathering of friends who share the same passion.  People bring their chairs and sit together to talk, laugh,….nobody just parks their car and walks away.  It’s always fun!

What if you don’t have a special car and want to come ?

That’s not a problem either, we also have parking space for ‘regular’ visitors.
They are just as welcome to look at the cars and enjoy a free coffee or donut.

There is only one rule…

And what is that ?

They must love cars (and/or motorcycles)!