By Gary Dickson garydickson@siouxlandobserver.com

Ever since I was 12 years old, I’ve loved to go to car shows. That was when a buddy of mine begged his older brother to let us ride along with him and one of his friends the 28 miles from Sturgis to Rapid City to attend a big auto show at the Rapid City Auditorium. His brother relented on the condition we did not follow them once we got to the show. They were far too cool to be seen in the company of a couple of dorky junior high kids tagging along behind them.

That was 1966 and the big attraction to the show was the Batmobile. Yup, the real deal. The one Adam West and Burt Ward rode in during the filming of their ABC Television series that started that previous winter. Of course, there were lots of other cars: custom rods, antique vehicles and even a couple of dragsters, which I had never seen in person. There were several sports cars: Corvettes, T-Birds, Porsches, etc. And plenty of muscle cars like GTOs, Impalas, Olds 4-4-2, and Ford Fairlanes.

There was a big airbase at Rapid City and it seemed a lot of the airmen there had cool cars. I remember some of them were exhibiting their cars at that show. One airman had a 1965 Buick Skylark and another one had a 66′ Plymouth Barracuda. Both these guys would drive their cars to Sturgis on occasion to visit the A&W Drive-Inn. Then they’d race the local kids at the drag strip on the rural blacktop out by the Sturgis Airport.

But I digress. That was a long time ago. I still love to go to car shows when I get the chance. I do so mostly to dream, as I’ve never had a custom hot rod or restored antique anything — except maybe a chair or table. But I admire those who restore vehicles and machinery, as well as those who have the time and resources to put into high-performance cars like those that were on display Sunday at Riverside Park.

For some reason, the announcement for the Cars and Coffee event showed up on my Facebook page on Saturday. Seeing that it was going to be held on Sunday afternoon, I decided to put a small announcement in the Siouxland Observer with some photos I’d taken back in 2016 of the Rockin’ Rods Car Show in downtown Sioux City.

When I wandered down to Riverside Park about 6:00 p.m. Sunday evening, I found a row of European and Asian-made vehicles all lined up in one of the parking lots. There were a few people milling about the cars, peeking in the windows, talking to one another, nodding their heads. Another group of people and some children were over by a picnic shelter eating hot dogs and hamburgers, drinking sodas, beer, coffee, laughing, and talking.

As I usually do at car shows, I started taking photos of the group of cars. The event had started at 5:00 p.m. It was late in the day and the sun was starting to set. I didn’t want to lose any of the light which was reflecting nicely on the metal of the vehicles. I next started to photograph details, like hood and grill ornaments, wheels and rims, decals, reflections, shadows, etc. I could sense several people watching me while I worked. They were probably wondering what I found so interesting.

Eventually, a couple of car owners started talking to me about their cars. One man, Eric Esmay had driven from Sioux Falls to be at the event. He brought his 2022 Subaru BRZ to show. Like others, Esmay has quite a bit of money invested in his car. He said he was on a waiting list at Terry Schulte Subaru for several months before his car arrived. Then he plunked down about $42 thousand dollars for the machine. After that, he spent another $17K for “add-ons” which I assume meant customization, performance enhancements and items to make the already good-looking car look even nicer.

Jose Mendoza, owner of Mendoza Auto Detailing of South Sioux City, brought his Porsche 2000 Boxer to the event. He was proudly telling several onlookers about the car’s features when I walked over.

“What kind of sports car are you driving?” one of the guys visiting with him asked me.

“Oh, that classic ’22 Hyundai four-door Venue parked at the end of the lot,” I replied pointing to my small, economy SUV. They all laughed.

“Maybe Mendoza’s Auto Detailing shop could spiff it up for you with some special drag wheels and stuff, man,” he said.

I told him I didn’t think my 70-year-old heart and body could handle that or street racing these days.

I talked to the event organizer, Corey Larkin before I left. He is the owner of High Ground Cafe & Espresso Bar in North Sioux City and has hosted several “Cars and Coffee Events” this year. In fact, his business has hosted the group’s gatherings along with the Midwest Euro Club since September 2021. Prior to that the group often met at Fleet Farm with High Ground providing coffee and food and the Midwest Euro Club providing giveaways.

“This is the last event of the year for Sioux City Cars and Coffee,” Larkin said. “We’ll start up again in the spring of 2024 when it’s warm enough for everyone to get their rides out of winter storage.”

For more information about Sioux City Cars and Coffee, as well as past and future events, you can check out their Facebook page.