Self-described as the “most prominent gathering of its kind,” Coffee and Cars, a car meetup group out of Texas, has banned several models of muscle cars from its events, citing unruly behavior by drivers. In a post on social media, the group said that “all Mustang[s], Chargers & Camaros” are not allowed at its events for the time being, citing “burnouts and revving” as the actions that led to the decision.
Posts on Instagram and other platforms have led to backlash. Drivers of the aforementioned vehicles as well as others decried the decision as everything from a “hateful [action] against domestic car drivers” to the event organizers simply being “soft”. We have reached out to Coffee and Cars for comment, but as of writing, we have yet to hear back.
It seems like this is a reaction to a series of incidents, not just the alleged behavior of muscle car owners at the group’s most recent event on November 4th, which featured British sports cars and supercars. In a post on Instagram, the group stated “We don’t want this gathering shut down as we have some special surprises planned. This is not the time or place to do it! Thank you for those who understand.” In this post, the group doesn’t specifically mention what drivers shouldn’t be doing, which implies it’s well known what the bad behavior is. The group also shared that all of its events may become invitation-only if the behavior continues.
Reckless driving and actions by drivers have shut down car meets before. Many car meets often have law enforcement stationed at the exits of the event area to discourage such stunts, although revving an engine is not necessarily against the law.
It would be unfair to say that there isn’t anything to Coffee and Cars’ claims. Muscle cars, especially the Mustang, have earned some notoriety for being linked to reckless behavior at car meets. A Mustang pulling out of a parking lot hungry for pedestrians is a time-honored meme, and Dodge Chargers and Challengers are common sights at street takeovers. The bottom line is they’re cheap, powerful, and often loud. They’re easy cars to misbehave in.
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