Happy New Year’s edition!
Caffeine and Octane Jacksonville: Attention, all those owners of Crowns and Ceras, of GT-Rs and HiJets, of Autozams and Beats – it is almost time to highlight Classic Japanese Vehicles in a special display within the Central Lot at the next C&O, from 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 8 at The Avenues mall’s south side at 10300 Southside Blvd.
Submit your ride for consideration here to join the estimated 1,000-plus cars, trucks and more at the free cruise-in. And remember – Caffeine and Octane Jacksonville is an all makes, all models show, with all parking spots first come/first serve.
Cars should start arriving by 7 a.m. to the Southside Boulevard side of the shopping mall, the best way in through Malabar Boulevard.
As always, there will be a Porsche section, and an exotics area, as well as hundreds of vintage and classic cars, muscle cars and so much more.
Official Caffeine and Octane merchandise is on sale at all Caffeine and Octane Jacksonville events.
Event news
Mecum Auctions
What could be the most legendary lead sled of them all, the 1951 Hirohata Mercury Coupe, is coming up for auction in Florida. And the sleek 2-tone coupe will have a sales estimate of $1 million to $1.25 million when it rolls onto the stage at the Saturday, Jan. 15 Mecum’s Kissimmee Auction.
The name “lead sled” came from the fact that customizers dropped, chopped and channeled Ford Chief Designer Bob Gregorie’s sleek 1949 Mercury design, using lead to smooth out its lines as they lowered the top for an even more dropped look. The Mercury, the centerpiece of a historic Great Mercury Customs class at the 2004 Amelia Island Concours, was named for original owner Bob Hirohata of Los Angeles, and custom built by Sam and George Barris. Seen in major car magazines of the day, like Hot Rod and Hop Up, it appeared in the 1955 film “Running Wild” starring Mamie Van Doren.
“The purpose of taking a production car was not that it wasn’t beautiful, but I wanted it to be different, look different and make it more aerodynamic. I wanted to proportion it within reason, not just because we lowered the top, or sectioned the body or got it low to the ground, but it had to have the perspective of being unique, attractive and aspirational to the people who look at it,” Barris told the Florida Times-Union in a story about the Hirohata Merc. “In my period, it was what we called pioneering. We had to pioneer customizing. Custom is spelled with a ‘C.’ When I did my cars, it stated with a ‘k.’ If I am going to change the car, I have to change the word.”
Californian Jim McNiel owned the spectacular 1951 Mercury Hirohata coupe since 1959, but his family is selling it after his death.
“It has been everywhere. I dated my wife in it. It has been part of me all these years,” he told the Times-Union in 2004. “It’s about time that people realize the amount of workmanship that went into these. This was young American kids doing what they thought was cool in the ’50s. George knew what was cool, and he captured that in what he built. All of these cars here are beautiful. They all have something unique, and it is the first time they have all been together.”
The coupe was radically re-sculpted by the King of Kalifornia Kustoms’ shop – 4 inches taken from the roof up front and 7 in the rear, a butted, V-type windshield finished the upper structure changes. Frenched Ford headlights and Lincoln taillights were added, plus 1952 Buick Riviera side spears with customized door skins and fender skirts. In recent years, the car was added to the National Historic Vehicle Register and displayed for a week in a glass enclosure on the National Mall in Washington D.C.
Car collector and historian Wayne Carini guides us through the classic coupe and its history in a Mecum video. And check out the full story on how the car came to be from Hagerty.
Speaking of The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance: Watch this website – https://www.ameliaconcours.com – as tickets for the 27th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, set forThursday, March 3 through Sunday, March 6, go on sale in January.
Events now listed on the website include: Saturday’s Cars & Community, a celebration of the automobile featuring more than 300 vehicles on the same show field used for Sunday’s Concours d’Elegance; and a NASCAR Saturday Seminar hosted by Ray Evernham. The RM Sotheby’s auction, as well as the annual Silent Auction, will both be back in 2022.
Sign up to be a Concours volunteer at ameliaconcours.com/event/volunteer. More information on how to reserve spots for those events, as well as many others, is coming.
Now the Car Shows:
Third annual Car Show: 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 8 at the Suwanee County Coliseum, 1302 11th St. in Live Oak. Proceeds support RIVEROAK SkillsUSA for local veterans.
Amelia Cruizers Car Show: noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 8, at Townies Pizza, 819 T.J. Courson Rd, Fernandina Beach
Relay for Life Rod Run: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Northeast Florida Fair at 543378 U.S. 1 in Callahan. Hosted by the Callahan Cruisers of North Florida.
Knights of Columbus Council 13337 Charity Car Show: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at The Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine, at 4730 U.S. 1 S./Dixie Highway South in St Augustine. Free for spectators and $25 for show vehicles day of show.
Peterson’s Automotive Showcase: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Frank H. Peterson Academies, 7450 Wilson Blvd. in Jacksonville. The show is free for spectators and $25 for show vehicles.
Rumble at the Ranch – Hot Rod vs Rat Rod: May 5 through 7 at WW Motocross Park, 1439 Otis Road in Jacksonville. The event features burnout contests with a $1,500 purse, car show and other events. More info to follow at facebook.com/events/1252072518622329.ref=newsfeed.
The FIRM (Florida International Rally and Moto Park): Open Track Days held most weekends at the road course and rally course at 7266 Airport Road in Starke.
All the Cruise-ins
First Coast Car Council, Clay County Cruzers, Callahan Cruisers and Amelia Cruizers all hold regular weekend cruise-ins, so check their Facebook pages.
Jacksonville Caffeine and Gasoline: 7 to 10 a.m. on every first Saturday at the Orange Park Mall at 1910 Wells Road in Orange Park.
Happy New Years – the First Coast Car Council holds its newest cruise-in from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this and every first Saturday at The Beaver Street Farmers Market, 1810 W. Beaver St. UPDATE: The Car Council’s second Saturday cruise-in suspended through the end of the year.
Clay County Cruzers’ events: 3 to 6 p.m. every first Saturday at Big Dawg Sports Restaurant, 1330 Blanding Blvd.; 3 to 6 p.m. every second Saturday at Dick’s Wings, 1803 East-West Parkway in Fleming Island; 5 p.m. every third Friday at Freddy’s Steakburgers at 386 Blanding Blvd.; 9 to 11 a.m. every fourth Saturday at Nicole’s Café, 2216 S. Mimosa Ave. in Middleburg; and 2 to 5 p.m. every fourth Saturday at Gator’s Dockside Oakleaf, 316 Merchants Way, Jacksonville.
The Part’s House/The Brothers Banter Podcast Cruise-in: The renamed White Brothers Auto Parts Cruise-in at the same time – 5 to 8 p.m. every second Friday at 405 Lane Ave. N.
NEW – Auto Legends Amelia Cars and Coffee: 9 a.m. to noon every second Saturday at Mocama Beer Company, 629 S. 8th St. in Fernandina Beach.
Cruise Night at Beachwalk: 5 to 8 p.m. every second Friday at the Beachwalk Amenity Center, 1000 County Road 210 in St. Johns.
Caffeine and Octane Jacksonville: 8 to 11 a.m. every second Saturday at The Avenues Mall at 10300 Southside Blvd. Information: https://bit.ly/3gPRvVQ.
Cruise Fruit Cove: 4 to 8 p.m. every third Saturday at the PDQ at 194 Florida 13 in Saint Johns, just south of Julington Creek.
Amelia Cruizers: 4 to 7 p.m. every third Saturday at Cold Stone Creamery, 808 Sadler Road, Fernandina Beach.
Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine monthly cruise-ins: St. Augustine Cruiser’s “Cruise In” from 5 to 7 p.m. every third Saturday, and Cars and Coffee from 8 to 10 a.m. every fourth Saturday resuming on Nov. 27 (see above), both at 4730 U.S. 1 S./Dixie Highway South in St Augustine.
Cars and Coffee Fleming Island: 7 to 10 a.m. every third Sunday of the month at the New Vision Theatre at 1820 Town Center Blvd., Fleming Island.
Johnny Angels: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. every third Friday at Johnny Angels diner at 3546 St. Johns Bluff Road S.
Historic Springfield Main Street Cruise: 4 p.m. every fourth Saturday between 8th and 17th streets at Main Street in Jacksonville’s Springfield community.
And finally….
By now, everyone has seen the 1946 classic, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” and remembers George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) crashing his 1010 Dodge brothers touring car into the tree, just before (SPOILER ALERT) he meets Clarence the angel.
Well, Hagerty has a story about that very same black Dodge, now owned by Keith Smith and complete down to its wood-spoked wheels, leather upholstery, and a small, circular brass tag on the dash that proves it was a Twentieth Century-Fox movie prop.
FYI – The Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine has an earlier version of the same car – a 1914 Dodge Brothers Touring Car – the second oldest car in the museum on U.S. 1.
Costing $800 when new, it is one of the first 249 cars built by Horace and John Dodge, with a 25-hp four-cylinder engine under its bonnet.