A crisp Sydney winter morning, nearly 200 cars and a car park transformed into a constantly moving display of European, classic and enthusiast machinery. For our latest Cars & Coffee, we kept things local and headed to Piccolo Spot in Castle Hill.
There is something unusual about seeing Victoria Avenue completely still. At 6:30am on a Sunday morning, one of The Hills District’s busiest roads was almost silent. A light fog hung in the air, there was barely any wind and, despite being the middle of winter, the temperature was considerably warmer than expected. For anyone familiar with Victoria Avenue during the working week, it was a rare sight.
We arrived early for a reason. Before the first cars appeared, there was time to walk the car park, check that nothing sharp or potentially damaging to tyres had been left behind and set up a couple of EuroWerke flags. For a few minutes, it was difficult to imagine that the empty car park would soon be filled with cars and people.
Just before 7:00am, Piccolo Spot owner Jerome arrived in his very cool classic Volvo to unlock the doors and begin preparing for the morning. His team followed over the next 15 minutes and, bit by bit, the venue began coming to life. Tables and chairs appeared, the barbecue was fired up and, most importantly, the coffee machine began warming. It wasn’t long before the sound of cars began echoing through The Hills.
The First Arrivals
Our first attendee arrived in a black Porsche 987 Boxster, taking full advantage of the unexpectedly mild morning with the roof down. It was a fitting start, but what followed gave an early indication of just how diverse the morning was going to be.
A Ford Sierra Cosworth and Opel Ascona B 400 were among the next cars to roll in, both dressed with the unmistakable look of historic rally machinery. Against an otherwise quiet Victoria Avenue, they certainly weren’t difficult to hear approaching.
From around 7:15am, the arrivals became increasingly frequent. The occasional exhaust note in the distance turned into a steady stream of cars making their way towards the venue and, by the official 7:30am start time, the entire front row was already occupied. More noticeably, there seemed to be three times as many people as there were cars.
Nearly 200 Cars in Two Hours
Over the following hour, almost every available piece of the venue was put to use. By around 8:30am, approximately 150 parking spaces had been filled. Cars occupied the undercover parking, lined the sides of the building and filled the available spaces along Victoria Avenue. At various points throughout the morning, when there simply wasn’t anywhere left to go, attendees began making use of the Anaconda car park across the road.
Fortunately, the natural rhythm of a Cars & Coffee event kept everything moving. Some of our earliest arrivals had already enjoyed an hour of coffee, cars and conversation and began heading off, allowing another wave of attendees to take their place.
The result was something resembling a moving car show. Cars slowly circulated through the venue as drivers waited patiently for spaces to become available, while the steady rotation meant there was almost always something new arriving to look at.
We estimate close to 200 cars passed through over the course of the morning, although given the constant movement, the final number may well have been higher. Unlike some of our larger venues where attendees naturally spread across multiple parking areas, almost everything at Piccolo Spot happened within the same space, giving the morning a noticeably different atmosphere.
Something for Everyone
European cars naturally made up the majority of the field, but as we’ve come to expect from EuroWerke Cars & Coffee, there were plenty of surprises mixed throughout.
Porsche was particularly well represented, including a group of six 911 GT3s, while a handful of McLarens and a Lamborghini brought some modern supercar flavour to the morning. At the other end of the spectrum, those early rally-inspired classics were joined by an impressive selection of older European machinery.
Classic BMWs were another popular flavour, ranging from beautifully preserved concours-style examples through to heavily modified, big-power builds. Seeing cars from completely different generations parked alongside each other continues to be one of our favourite parts of these events.
Then there were the cars that were almost impossible to categorise. A wonderfully boxy old-school Volvo V8 coupe certainly attracted attention, as did the unmistakable Morgan Aero 8. Perhaps the coolest surprise of the morning, however, was a jet-black Chevrolet Impala lowrider. Sitting among rows of European performance cars, it couldn’t have been more different-and that was exactly why it belonged.
EuroWerke may specialise in European vehicles, but Cars & Coffee has never required the right badge on the bonnet. If you’re passionate about what you drive, there’s a place for you.
Coffee & Breakfast at Piccolo Spot
Of course, a proper Cars & Coffee needs to deliver on both halves of the name. Jerome and the team at Piccolo Spot kept the coffee machine and barbecue running throughout the morning, serving just shy of 400 coffees and close to 100 bacon & egg rolls in only a couple of hours.
Those numbers say plenty about the turnout, with very few empty hands to be seen as people made their way through the cars and caught up with friends. Piccolo Spot is also dog friendly, so four-legged Cars & Coffee attendees are always welcome to join us next time.
The Cars Bring Us Together
One of the most noticeable things about this event was the number of new faces. There were plenty of familiar customers and regular attendees, but being so close to home seemed to give many people the opportunity they needed to finally join us for the first time. The compact two-hour format also made it easy to drop in, enjoy the morning and still have the rest of Sunday ahead.
Young families were everywhere, with toddlers and children walking between the cars alongside their parents. Groups of friends arrived together, others rolled in as small convoys, and plenty simply filled a car with mates before heading down for breakfast. Very few people seemed to arrive alone.
It’s something we’ve noticed more and more at these events. The cars provide the reason to get out of bed early on a Sunday, but much of the morning is spent catching up with familiar faces, meeting new ones and wandering the car park to see what has arrived next.
A Different Cars & Coffee Experience
Piccolo Spot gave this edition of Cars & Coffee a noticeably different character to some of our previous events. Having the cars and people concentrated into one relatively compact area created a busy atmosphere, while the constant rotation of vehicles kept things interesting from beginning to end.
There are no expectations about what you need to drive or how long you need to stay. Come down, grab a coffee, look at some interesting cars, meet some people and enjoy your Sunday morning. It’s a simple format, and one we have no desire to overcomplicate.
By around 9:30am, the surrounding businesses were preparing for their normal Sunday trade and the car park was quickly returning to normal. Within a surprisingly short period of time, there was little evidence that hundreds of people and nearly 200 cars had just passed through.
With warmer weather on the horizon, we’re already wondering whether the same formula might work just as well on a summer evening.
EuroWerke Cars & Coffee Sydney
Hosted throughout the year, the events are designed to be an easy Sunday morning catch-up over good cars and good coffee. Whether you’ve attended every event, recently discovered EuroWerke or have been considering joining us for the first time, you’re always welcome.
Thank You
A huge thank you to Jerome and the Piccolo Spot team for opening early and keeping everyone fed and caffeinated throughout the morning.
Most importantly, thank you to everyone who joined us. We genuinely appreciate the respect shown towards the venue, surrounding businesses, fellow attendees and the road rules throughout the morning.
It’s our pleasure to organise these events, and seeing so many familiar faces alongside so many first-time attendees makes the early Sunday starts worthwhile.
We’ll see you at the next one.
EuroWerke Cars & Coffee VIII:
Want to join in on the fun?
Our events are private functions which are designed for our customers and their friends + family to enjoy European car ownership. If you’d like to join in on the fun and take part on Social Drives, Tech Nights and other Misc Meets, then please sign up to our monthly email newsletter below, which is the only place to receive information on upcoming Eurowerke events.
We look forward to seeing you at the next one!
