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Car enthusiasts attend local morning meetup
Coffee with Cars held its regular monthly event in Dripping Springs on Sunday, July 27, at Moxie. The event was well attended, with people from all around the greater Austin area showing up to participate.
The free show is held on the last Sunday of each month, and it gives car enthusiasts a chance to show off their rides and talk to others who share their interests. At Sunday’s event, Mexcita food truck was on site, and Snowie was there with shaved ice as well as other treats and drinks.
Juan Parra, who owns LX Service in Dripping Springs, drove up in one of his Rolls-Royces. It’s part of his fleet for his limo service, which rents classic cars for wedding and special events as well as providing more traditional private chauffeur service and airport service.
“This is the Silver Wraith, a 1951 Rolls, Hooper body. In the day, it was the more luxurious type of body of the Silver Wraith,” Parra said. “It has a straight six engine. I found this car in Florida in a hangar. The car was sitting there like for 20 years. I had to do all the overhaul of the car. I still haven’t finished yet, but it’s pretty close.”
He said he’s been working on the car nonstop, every day, for almost a year. He’s restored the interior, exterior, and engine.
“Everything you find in this car, it’s like magic,” Parra said. “I don’t know, it has a lot of history and all that. I love everything on the car.”
He also has several other classic cars, including a 1969 Super Shadow Rolls-Royce, a 1936 Rolls-Royce Phantom and a 1952 Bentley Mark .
“I moved here to the States almost four years ago, and since then I started to collect cars,” Parra said. “My passion is to restore vehicles. That’s what I do, that’s my hobby.”
Mike Santos of Kyle was also at the show. He brought his 1957 Thunderbird.
“It’s been in the family since 1974. My mom got it. She drove it for quite a while, and then it stopped running and stayed in the garage for several years,” Santos said. “I came out in 2013 to California to drive it back here. I worked on it every weekend for about three years.”
His wife picked the color, which is Star Mist Blue, and is one of the original colors the Thunderbird was available in.
“I had the engine rebuilt, the transmission. Everything’s pretty much new,” Santos said. “And now I just drive it to shows like this.”
He said besides the family history, he likes that it’s just a nice running little car.
“It rides smooth. It’s got good power. It’s great on a sunny day,” Santos said. “I like to get up early in the morning, take it for a ride before it starts getting real hot and then head home.”
He also has a Mustang, and he had a couple of Mustangs years ago when they weren’t considered classic cars.
“But this is the first one I actually restored myself,” Santos said.
Chip Biele came out to the show from Round Rock, bringing his 1969 Camaro. He got it five years ago.
“In the early years, me and my brotherin- law were into drag racing and a lot of stuff, so we were always interested in cars,” Biele said. “Finally, I got to the point where I thought, you know, I want a classic car, so I bought it.”
He said he really likes the first generation Camaros.
“I just like the whole style, the body style, and how it looks,” Biele said. “It’s just so much different than a newer car nowadays, you know.”
He bought it in Des Moines, Iowa, at a place called American Dream Machines.
“When I bought it, it was probably like 85% done, and then I did a lot of stuff to upgrade it more,” Biele said. “I’m to the point where I think I’m done now.”
Blady Garcia of Dripping Springs came out to the show as well, with his 1968 Mustang Fastback. “I was looking for this model, and it took about two and a half years to locate this one in Oklahoma,” Garcia said. “The day that I saw it, I left to go look at it, and had the intention to pick it up after viewing the pictures online.”
He met the owner and made the deal. He hadn’t even taken the time to make any reservations, so he found a place to stay and have dinner, and brought the car home the next day. He had a similar car in high school, which is what makes it special for him. He was just 15, and his dad picked it out and took him to see it.
“I didn’t know anything about cars at that time,” Garcia said. “So he bought it for me and he fixed it up, and that was my first car to drive in high school. It was a coupe. And I had a passion for Fastbacks after that.”
He’s still in the process of restoring his car.
“I took the motor out that came with the car, and I built a small block Ford 331 Stroker from scratch. I had the machine work done in Chicago, Illinois,” Garcia said. “It took me about ten months to build it.”
He’s also done the rear end to the car to fit it to the horsepower. Next up, his plans include painting the wheels, getting new tires and finishing the paint job. He said he enjoys coming out to the Coffee with Cars event so he can network with others who have the same interests.
“I like that it’s not a competitive show. It’s just down to earth, sharing information and getting ideas to enhance the classic cars,” Garcia said.
The next Coffee with Cars event for Dripping Springs is set for Aug. 23.
