Caffeine & Exotics (7-19-2015)

Caffeine and Octane is an institution in the Atlanta car show scene, the Atlanta car scene, and really growing to become an Atlanta institution in general. What's a sure sign of a strong tradition? Spin-offs. The Mustang spawned the Camaro, which spawned the Firebird, which spawned the Challenger and other offerings from Chrysler's Mopar division and General Motor's holdings (not necessarily in that order)

And Caffeine and Octane spawned Caffeine & Exotics, an easily-confusable name, but a different show atmosphere altogether.

Caffeine & Exotics with the Westin Buckhead as a backdrop.

I haven't been to Caffeine and Octane's new venue, now at Perimeter Mall. But I remember several summers ago when it was held in a wooded business park off of Windward Parkway. Every first Sunday that parking lot would be packed to the gills by 8AM. Cars parked on the end caps and all along the roads winding through the business park, and people filed through the lot, often tripping over each other --especially me, because I was usually crouched trying to get an interesting angle-- to get a look at the cars.

Here's a clip from July 2013 at Caffeine and Octane's old Windward Parkway location.

Caffeine & Exotics is different. The show is held at Lenox Mall in a small front parking lot. What's unique about this show is their red carpet running perpendicular to the mall entrance. Each show it features a different car, this month it was a beautiful Saleen S7, owner unknown. The lot is surrounded by mid-rise buildings. It's interesting how a more downtown environment lends a different mood to a car show.

I spoke to the owner of a 1994 Ferrari 348 at the show who says he doesn't normally bring his Ferrari to Caffeine and Octane. Instead, he says he breaks out the El Camino. And I think that illustrates the difference in mood between the two shows.

See, Caffeine & Exotics also differs in that pre-registration is required. This is traditionally how it's done in the car show realm, but Caffeine and Octane is a free, first-come, first-served show. It's based off of the original Cars and Coffee in Irvine, California. The only way you're guaranteed a spot at Caffeine and Octane is if you get there before the lot is full.

But Caffeine & Exotics still manages to capture some of the magic that C&O does across town. The Nissan GT-Rs and Lamborghinis in highlighter tones draw crowds of well-dressed teens and adults alike. There were classic Porsches on display: a fiberglass 917 replica and two Speedster-inspired track cars. A line of brand new Mercedes' sat across from a group of Corvettes, which were adjacent to a handful of Aston Martins.

While Caffeine & Exotics certainly isn't as much of a catch-all as Caffeine and Octane can be, it's still making its way up in the Atlanta car scene. And it's setting itself apart while still managing to harness some of that environment that draws hundreds of onlookers and cars to Caffeine and Octane every month.

If you want to catch the next Caffeine & Exotics show, be sure to get up bright and early on the third Sunday in August (8/19). The cars start rolling in around 8 and it all wraps up at 11AM when the mall opens.

Keep scrolling to check out the rest of my pictures from this morning!