Custom Cars & Coffee :: Melbourne 2015

Melbourne is arguably the home of Australia’s best coffee and also home to some of the best street cars getting around, when these two things come together it means it’s once again time for Custom Cars & Coffee…


Victorian’s are a lucky bunch indeed if roasted beans and automobiles are your thing, with regular Cars & Coffee meets held by our friends over at RTR in the west every month which can see over 100 cars or more if the suns out, while “Custom Cars & Coffee” (CC&C) sees only two events a year and proves to be the bigger affair.

This was the second ‘CC&C’ meet held again at Sandown Raceway, this time the weather was undoubtedly some of Melbourne’s “finest” with frequent showers all morning… Despite the rain there was a considerable turn out in the hundreds, the ‘CC&C’ events seem to make for one of the most eclectic car shows around. I’ve not been to any other event that has anywhere near the variety you’ll see here.
One of the first cars to steal my attention was this pristine Camaro Z28, some muscle cars really don’t do it for me. This however has some of the best lines of any in it’s era.

This rusted Holden HZ premier had a few people making some puzzled faces. We loved all the little details and the ‘curb feelers’ were the icing on the cake!!

This MG MGB Roadster was a big win on the euro front, the superlite wheels really changed the demeanor of the tiny convertible. It’s nice to see some people aren’t afraid to add some character to a classic.

While on the subject of European cars ‘CC&C’ did not disappoint. There was something on display from nearly every major stable. Although it seems Germany is the country of choice for most.

There was a handful of Porches like this duo in white, a beautiful 911 and a road ready-racer GT3.

Hands down my favorite V8 powered saloon car. The Mercedes C63. The 6.2L engine creates the most euphoric noise simply by mixing petrol and air! Amazing!!

Between spats of rain when the heavens finally closed up the sun came shining down resulting in some quick costume changes for some.

Despite being on the ‘plumpier’ side compared to the old model, tipping the scales at almost two tonne. The new BMW M5 can get up to 100kph from stand still in just over 4 seconds… The M5 is definitely punching above it’s weight!!

I think I saw a bunny wabbit!! A MK1 Golf aka the Volkswagen Rabbit in the US. The original Golf has always been a charmer, before these guys “Hot Hatches” didn’t exist.

Aside from VW’s as far as the eye could see there was a healthy amount of BMW’s filling out the lines at the show. This E30 was picture perfect sitting atop it’s mesh wheels.

The Z4 M is one of the most underrated roadsters of the modern area. With a punchy straight 6 engine and great handling just add some iconic Japanese wheels and it’s winning combo in our books!

At every show there’s that one car, that one you wait just a little bit longer for people to move out of the way to make sure you get the photo…

This was ‘The car’… This stunning E92 BMW was menacing from every angle.

There’s no denying the wheels are the hero here. 3 piece Work Meisters in satin black.

The fitment is spot on, the owner is brave to be driving around like this in Melbourne for quite a few reasons!

All the cool kids rock up late these days and nothing says cooler than a fresh yellow sticker from the boys in blue. The owner of this Golf also scored some airtime on the “highway patrol – TV Show” so keep your eyes out for that episode when it airs.

It’s easy to see why it got so much attention from side on… Absolutely slammed on a set of Porsche wheels, check out that dish!!

More AMG goodness, this time a coupe. We miss hood emblems, stupid inconsiderate pedestrians ruining it for everyone!!

Another comfortable German four door packing a V8 under the hood and mated to Audi’s renowned 4WD system makes this one quite capable in corners and off the line!

Speaking of 4WD… Not many can come close to the mighty Nissan GTR. The Victorian chapter of Skylines Australia had a huge display of Japan’s greatest export on show.

Round taillights as far as the eye can see…

There was plenty of R35’s on display and amongst such a large group it didn’t take much to stand out, just some wheels and a nice drop in the ride height and this grey number was looking great!

One of the most Iconic colours for the R34’s. Bayside Blue is always a favorite of ours.

We were pleased to find two GTR’s wearing blue at the show, if they were girls at a party they would NOT be friends right now.

This track spec R33 GTR was looking nice thrown into the mix, definitely not the most popular GTR model but this one was very aggressive! It just looked like it was itching to get out onto the track!!

The V35… Some love to argue it’s not a “real” Skyline at all. Others simply see it for what it is… A sleek and sporty luxury coupe. They were a big hit in the US.

The bad weather meant many entrants were running late, cars kept flowing in all morning.

Everyone’s favorite. A Ford Mustang. The blue was great colour on the classic body and with a bigger chin than a man from a Bonds commercial too!

Now to a local hero… The Holden SL/R 5000 Torana. With hulking wheel arches from factory and the green hue it certainly was looking angry!

Remember when I said this was the most eclectic car show around? Down the front we found a giant Dodge ‘truck’, wrapped commodore and wrapped Monaro.

The ‘loud’ looks of the other wrapped cars were dulled by this gleaming Mercedes coupe. The gold wrap had a mirror finish, we were just happy the sun was tucked away behind the clouds!!

In between checking out all the cars there was often the distracting sound of some cars blasting around Sandown circuit, this was the perfect backdrop for the car show.

We don’t know why this guys been hiding from all the Classic Japan shows… A pristine Mitsubishi Galant GTO is a rare sight to be had!

Onto some more classic rides from the land of the rising sun. There were a handful of beautiful Z’s on show.

This was our favorite 270ZX of the bunch, super clean, wheel flares and dished wheels. Perfect!

There was even some quality cars for the little guys at the show! Any kid rolling around in the driveway in one of these bad boys is sure to be the envy of all the other kids in the street.

It seems there were also a few nice cars out in the car park.

We found Daniel’s MX5 adorning a few extra additions.

The new spoiler is a killer piece to finish off the look of the car.

Now we’ve all seen manga art used on a car but we’ve never seen a panel this big done entirely in manga comics.

While it’s pretty extreme it is nice to see some quality artwork up close.

One of the more ‘wild’ looking 86’s at the show, this one paying homage to Toyota Racing Developments ‘TRD’.

Hybrid and electric cars are for rain forest loving hippies right? Wrong!! Tesla has been changing people’s perception of electric powered cars since 2008. Thanks to some ingenious engineering, some 600 newton meters of torque and over 300KW of power.
While range is still the biggest issue for these types of cars speed certainly isn’t a problem anymore.

Easily one of the most curious cars at the show… The English sports car known as the Ultima GTR.

It’s offered both as a fully built road ready car and funnily enough as a (do it your self) kit car. The car is however far more advanced than it’s diy origins let on.

Utilising a tubular steel space frame with a fiberglass body it’s light, really light!! Weighing in a smidge under a 1,000KG.

Inside is one of the simplest interiors we’ve ever come across. No distractions here just some pedals, a shifter and a steering wheel. Surrounded by a generous splash of Alacantra and this is somewhere we simply refer to as our “happy” place.

The engine found in the “turnkey” version (factory built) is a small block V8 sourced from Chevrolet mated to ether a Porsche gear box or Getrag Transaxle unit. Recent builds have been putting out over 500kw… That makes for 0-100kph in about 2.6 seconds!!!!

Now the exotics. Custom Cars & Coffee really has it all. There were Lamborghini’s, Ferrari’s, and Maserati’s for all to see.

Lamborghini’s have always been the pin up poster car of choice for young enthusiasts but it wasn’t until the Murcielago came along in 2001 that Lamborghini really took the mass produced super car fight to Ferrari. Paving the way for the Gallardo which sold more in total than all previous Lamborghini’s combined! The Murcielago was however the more extreme of the two featuring the companies biggest V12 engine to date.

The Murcielago really is one of the most striking cars in person and easily one of the widest at over two meters wide!!

What would an Italian super car be with out scissors doors?! It really adds to the theater of the angry Italian bull.

The heart of the beast. A 6.5L monster of a V12. One of the last we’ll ever see thanks to stricter emission laws.

Lastly another V12 terror from the land of pizza. The Ferrari Testarossa. One of the most Iconic supercars of the 80’s and also known for it’s ridiculously large side mirrors.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Custom Cars & Coffee and can only imagine what the turnout would have been like if the weather was on the dryer side.
This is hands down the best mix of cars we’ve seen on home soil and really captures the feeling we get seeing all the photos from some of the coffee meets from Irvine, California.
We’re look forward to the next big event these guys conjure up, to keep up to date follow their Facebook page here. Customcarsandcoffeemelbourne
In the mean time if you have a craving for early mornings, roasted beans and gorgeous cars then check out the regular monthly meets held by Road Track Rally – Cars & Coffee
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.