Jacksonville Car Culture events calendar

Caffeine and Octane

The next Caffeine and Octane is set from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 at The Avenues mall’s Southside Boulevard parking lots.

Next month, C&O celebrates Fords, Ferraris and Fiats in a special display within the Central Lot.

Submit your ride for consideration at www.caffeineandoctane.com.

a new consumer education initiative launching called Drive Electric North Florida.

We’re going to have the  inaugural Drive Electric North Florida event at this Caffeine and Octane, with an Electric Avenue section filled with EVs and a tent with materials about EVs.

The founding members of Drive Electric North Florida include EVRider.tv, the North Florida Clean Fuels Coalition and JEA.

Cars should start arriving by 7 a.m. each Saturday to the Southside Boulevard side of the shopping mall, the best way in through Malabar Boulevard. As always, there will be a Porsche Jacksonville corner, exotics area, Classics Rows and more at the August C&O. And look for literally 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.

Gentle reminders – All vehicles parked in the Central Lot must remain in place until the show concludes at 11 a.m. Please Park in the Exhibit Lot if you need to leave prior to 11 a.m. Those parking in the Exotics Lot and the Porsche Corner are free to arrive and leave at any time.

This Saturday:

Jacksonville’s International Auto Show

Jacksonville’s annual new car and truck show runs four days this year, set for Thursday to Sunday, Feb. 16 to 19, at the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, 1000 Water St. Hundreds of new cars, sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and electric vehicles will be on hand for review. Special events include:

Ladies Night – 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, to benefit Rethreaded, a nonprofit agency, with wine tastings and live music – tickets on 904 Tix.

Saturday is First Responders Day, with active military and first responders receiving free admission with valid ID; college Students also receive $5 off tickets with valid ID. Children’s choir performances from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and live music by the Chris James Band starting at 6 p.m.

Sunday Education Day has a special Daytona 500 showing, and Children’s choir performances from 1 to 4 p.m.

Thursday’s show runs from 3 to 9 p.m., then noon to 9 pm. on Friday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19. Admission is $15 per adult, $9 for seniors, $8 for military and free for children under 12. Parking is free courtesy of VyStar Credit Union. For more information and e-tickets, visit jaxautoshow.com.

Upcoming events….

Peterson Academies of Technology Automotive Showcase: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday at the school at 7450 Wilson Blvd. Free for spectators and $25 per show vehicle.

Hastings Boulevard Car Show: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, on Main Street in downtown Hastings. Free for spectators and $25 per show vehicle day of show. Free for spectators and show vehicles.

Westside Baptist Church Super Annual Car Show: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Westside Baptist Church at 7775 Herlong Road.

Sixth annual Pedro Menendez High School Athletic Booster Club benefit car show: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine at 4730 U.S. 1 S./Dixie Highway S. Free for spectators and $20 day-of-show for display vehicles.

Moose Lodge Car, Van and Truck Show: 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Chapter 184 Moose Lodge at 3875 Reid St. in Palatka. Free for spectators and $25 day-of-show for display vehicles.

Bike Show: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. o Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine at 4730 U.S. 1 S./Dixie Highway S. Free for spectators and $10 per show motorcycle.

Benefit Car and Truck Show: 3 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, at The Crews Barn at 6852 Cattle Gap Lane Glen in St. Mary. Free to spectators and $25 per show vehicle.

Jacksonville International Auto Show: Feb. 16 to 19 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center at 100 Water St. More than 30 car company products on display, plus live music and special events – for hours, ticket prices and event news, go here.

11th Annual Kruisin4Kids car show: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 25, at Dinsmore Baptist Church, 10500 Old Kings Road in Jacksonville, with a burnout competition.

Mardi Gras Festival Car, Truck and Bike Show: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, on South Lee Street in Kingsland.

Classic Car Show: 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 4, at Journey Church West at 550974 U.S. 1 in Hilliard.

Boy Scouts Troop 77 car show: 8 a.m. to 2:30 pm. on Saturday, March 11, at Old Plank Road Baptist Church, 8964 Old Plank Road.

Seize The Day Car, Truck And Bike Show: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 25, at 1 World Golf Village Place in St. Augustine. Show vehicles are $20 each. Proceeds benefit Mayo Clinic Epilepsy Center and Michael Gullion.

8th Annual San Jose Car & Truck Show at Dupont Station: 8:30 10 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 1, 6271 St. Augustine Road. More info to come. Proceeds will be donated to the Bishop John J. Snyder Community Center.

Riding into History Concours D’Elegance: Set for April 15, 2023, at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, with Competition Motorcycles as the featured class and Grand Marshal Mary McGee, AMA Hall of Fame and Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee. McGee will join the Grand Marshal Tour that weekend, as well as the Grand Marshal Banquet. Riding into History is a non-profit organization with its primary charity, K9s for Warriors, which provides service dogs for disabled veterans. Riding into History has donated more than $600,000 to local charities since its founding in 1999.

PT Cruiser Car Show: Saturday, May 20, at the Classic Car Museum of St. Augustineat 4730 U.S. 1 S./Dixie Highway South in St Augustine.

Memorial Day Rod Run: Callahan Methodist Church at 449648 U.S. 301. Proceeds go to Barnabus FIT and Gear Up for Graduation.

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.

Hemmings Great Race presented by Coker Tire: June 24th to July 2nd, launching from Francis Field in St. Augustine to Colorado Springs, with Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Kansas stops in between.

Cruise-in heads-up:

Cruise Fruit Cove: This monthly cruise moves up to a noon to 4 p.m. slot on Saturday at PDQ, 194 Florida 13 in Saint Johns.

All the Cruise-ins

Clay County Cruzers, Callahan Cruisers and Amelia Cruizers all hold regular weekend cruise-ins, so check their Facebook pages.

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.

Caffeine and Gasoline: Free first Saturday of the month cruise-in at 7 to 10 a.m. Saturday at J-Tech Institute at 8813 Western Way in Jacksonville. House rules – “respect the property.”

North Florida Domestic Car Club’s cruise-in: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each first Saturday of the month at a new site – the Crossroad Church UMC, 10005 Gate Parkway.

Gripping Gears Car Meet: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month at Adamec Harley-Davidson at 380 Outlet Mall Blvd. in St. Augustine, presented by Jacksonville Headturners.

First Coast Car Council: All cruise-ins postponed.

Callahan Cruisers: 4 to 7 p.m. every second Saturday at Hardee’s at 542309 U.S. 1 in Callahan.

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.

Johnny Angels: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. every third Friday at Johnny Angels diner at 3546 St. Johns Bluff Road S.

Cruise Fruit Cove: 3 to 7 p.m. every third Saturday at the PDQ at 194 Florida 13 in Saint Johns, just south of Julington Creek.

New cruise-in: 1 p.m. every third Saturday at Hardee’s at 6852 Wilson Blvd.

Amelia Cruizers: 3 to 6 p.m. every third Saturday at Cold Stone Creamery, 808 Sadler Road, Fernandina Beach. The Amelia Cruizers Car Club will stage a cruise to the ice cream store, staging at 2 p.m. in the parking lot next to the closed Krystal’s (2020 Sadler Road), then make an informal parade along the ocean and on Centre Street through downtown to end at Cold Stone.

Yulee Cars and Coffee: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every third Sunday at the Sonic Drive-In at 463939 Florida 200 in Yulee.

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 Fleming Island at 1803 E. West Parkway; 5 p.m. every third Friday at Freddy’s Steakburgers at 386 Blanding Blvd.; 8 to 10 a.m. every fourth at Nicole’s Café at 1101Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park; and 2 to 5 p.m. every fourth Saturday at Gator’s Dockside Oakleaf, 316 Merchants Way, Jacksonville.

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, both at 4730 U.S. 1 S./Dixie Highway South in St Augustine.

Cars and Coffee Fleming Island: 8 a.m. every fourth Sunday of the month at 2310 Village Square Parkway, Fleming Island.

New cruise-in: 6 p.m. every fourth Saturday at Mission BBQ, 8440 Blanding Blvd. in Jacksonville, hosted by Modern Mustangs of Jacksonville.

New cruise-in: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every fourth Saturday at the Rockin’ 50’s Eatery at 3501 N. Ponce De Leon Blvd. in St. Augustine.

New cruise-in: Custard Cruise-in from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, July 5, at Culver’s, 3433 U.S. 1 in St. Augustine.

Show and Tell: 6 to 9 p.m. every fourth Thursday at Advance Auto Parts at 10014 Atlantic Blvd.

Azalea City Cruisers: Monthly cruise-in from 5 to 8 p.m. every fourth Saturday at Velchoffs Corner, 105 N. 2^nd St. in Palatka.

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…

The Pole to Pole expedition team and Nissan unveiled a special version of the new Ariya electric SUV, set to undertake an almost 17,000-mile trip from the magnetic North Pole to the South Pole. Set to kick off this March, the Ariya will tackle ice fields, deep snow, steep mountain climbs and inhospitable desert dunes. Arctic Trucks, specialists in polar expedition vehicles, collaborated with Nissan design and engineering teams to prepare the Ariya for these conditions with intentionally minimal modifications.

There’s no changes to the battery or powertrain, but there are 39-inch tires coupled with e-4ORCE, Nissan’s advanced electric all-wheel-control technology.

“One of the things that underpins all the adventures we do is that we take a standard production EV and aim to make minimal changes to clearly demonstrate its real, everyday capabilities, regardless of where you are driving it,” Pole to Pole EV Expedition Leader Chris Ramsey said. “Our Nissan Ariya is no different as the vehicle’s drivetrain and battery has remained factory standard. … We’ve modified the suspension and widened the wheel arches so we can benefit from the stable platform “

As a self-confessed coffee lover, Ramsey will have a specially integrated espresso machine , and a portable wind turbine and solar panels that will take advantage of high winds and long daylight hours to provide charge for the EV’s battery when him and wife Julie stop.

RADwood at The Amelia: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, at the Golf Club of Amelia Island next to the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. RADwood is a celebration of ’80s and ’90s automotive lifestyle, this car show blending period-correct dress with automotive awesomeness. Register for the event with your 1980-1999 car or motorcycle. This is a limited event for just 150 vehicles and a handful of motorcycles, displayed on the same golf course property as the Sunday concours. Tickets range from $50 to $80. RADwood display ticket includes Cars and Caffeine access on Saturday for driver and one passenger. Additional passengers/spectators will need to purchase tickets through the Amelia concours website.

The annual Werks Reunion Amelia Island returns on March 3 to The Amelia River Club at 4477 Buccaneer Trail, hosted by the local arm of the Porsche Club of America. Registration has opened for the event, which starts at 7 a.m. as registered cars begin filing the grass. Spectator parking is $40 cash per person. At 10:30 a.m., Youth Judging sponsored by Hagerty begins, with awards from 2 to 3 p.m.  The Porsche event is held in conjunction with……

… The 28^th iteration of The Amelia has tickets are available, with stock car legend Jeff Gordon as honoree on March 2-5. The weekend’s events include a Saturday seminar featuring Gordon and NASCAR Hall of Fame crew chief Ray Evernham; chances to meet the legendary driver at Sunday’s concours; and a class of vehicles he drove and won in during his career. Details and tickets are at AmeliaConcours.com.