Cars and Coffee at Southern Touch Bakery: Sounds Delicious!

An Aston Martin from a 2020 Cars and Coffee I attended. 
Maybe in England it's "Tea and Automobiles"?
"Cars and a Cuppa?"

Probably every place I've lived there have been car shows and Cars and Coffee events. Most of these are very informal, with just a friendly group of auto enthusiasts hanging out on a Saturday or Sunday morning, likely drinking a coffee, and enjoying the local car culture and talking cars. Some of these events have become legendary or even spawned a TV show. 

A Ferrari that is not red? It's possible!

Since moving to South Carolina, I've been looking for some events to attend, and this Saturday I'm heading just down the road to York SC for a Cars and Coffee at the Southern Touch Bakery. Look for a report soon, and some car photos, and I promise a review of the coffee and maybe more! One look at their menu makes me think this should be a great morning!

Got a Lamborghini sitting in your garage? Drive that thing and go somewhere!

Check out a car event in your area, or at least get out there and support your local coffee shop or bakery! Here's the link to Southern Touch Bakery.   Southern Touch Bakery

(Sean Connery voice:) Welcome to THE ROCK!

NMS-North vs. NMS-South

I sure hope you've seen the 1996 action movie THE ROCK with Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage, because otherwise today's catchy blog title isn't very funny. Anyway, Sean Connery's character once escaped from Alcatraz and then has to take some special forces folks and Nicholas Cage back to Alcatraz to avoid a disaster, and it's just a snappy line he says in his epic Sean Connery voice. 

So, what's this post all about then? Is NMS announcing a new major league racing series with itty-bitty cars racing around Alcatraz Island in San Francisco? No. 

Are we forming a racing team of famous ex-prisonors? No, but I have visited a former prison where Robert Redford filmed "Brubaker"... although it was just a pizza company at the time!

Well, then what in the wide-wide world of sports is THE ROCK? Pro Tip: it's not the actor Dwayne Johnson either. 

Are we talking about Rockingham Motor Speedway, the former oval track in Great Britain? No, it stopped hosting racing in 2018 according to the BBC: BBC NEWS                However, if you're looking for a logistics hub overseas that can store 50,000 cars, host a track filming session or etc, contact the current owners of Rockingham Motor Speedway at this link: Rockingham Logistics Center

"THE ROCK" we're talking about is Rockingham Speedway, and oddly enough it is located in Rockingham North Carolina! THAT is where we'll be driving on August 13th with the Triad Sports Car Club. More specifically, we'll be auto crossing the NMS Cayman on a smaller part of THE ROCK known as the LITTLE ROCK. Here's a link:  THE ROCK

Hey. come on now, even saying THE LITTLE ROCK in Sean Connery's voice sounds cool! Now that I think of it, we're getting close to September 19th, which as EVERYONE knows is the annual Talk Like a Pirate Day, and I think we need another ridiculous Talk Like ____ day, so why not Talk Like Sean Connery Day?

Autocross wise, both NMS drivers will get behind the wheel of Ruby and see how we do in the B Street class. So far there are 5 total drivers in the class, and 68 competitors signed up to drive. We're going to pull out all the stops and go for TOP FIVE... in our class of five! 

NMS Adds Truck #2

If the Red Bull F1 team is going with Ford Hybrid power in 2026, why not me too!

Subtitle 1: I bought a bottle opener, and a Ford Maverick was attached to it! The tailgate really does have bottle openers on it!

Subtitle 2: What truck is ranked #1 by Motor Trend for Best Small and Midsize Trucks to Buy in 2023? Hint: Rhymes with Maverick. Here's their article: MOTORTREND

                                              

OK, yeah, we ordered a Ford Maverick a few weeks ago, and of course due to high demand and production of hybrids being slow, we were willing to wait a year for it to be built. Or two. Or more. However, we kept checking car dealerships, as well as online retailers that rhyme with CarMax and Carvana, and not finding any new trucks or used trucks that seemed right. But then, like a bolt of lightning out of the blue oval (Ford blue oval, get it?), our local dealership had one on their website. 

Should I name it Brett Maverick, or maybe Pete Mitchell?

                                        

Not so fast! I've learned that dealerships will have trucks listed online, and maybe the truck is AT the dealership, but all of them so far I'd seen were customer orders, so they were NOT for sale. Today however, I figured "Ah what the heck, give 'em a call." The phone call with our local dealer revealed that the truck wasn't at THAT dealership, but up the road about 50 minutes. Shoot, says I, I'll call them too, what could go wrong? 

So, I called, and found out that YES they HAD the truck on the lot. YES it was for sale. I told the helpful salesperson I'll be there ASAP, can I test drive it? They said sure, come on down, it's for sale. The customer that ordered it changed their mind. We'll have it ready for you!

One test drive later, and a bunch of paperwork too, and NMS has now brought on board a 2023 Ford Hybrid XLT Maverick. 

Does it tow a county courthouse? No

Does it go from 0-60 faster than a speeding bullet? No

Does it go off-roading over the Grand Canyon and cure Covid? No. 

Did it have a $30,000 dealer "price adjustment" like a Saleen Mustang I saw on their lot? No. 

Does it have 775 Horsepower like the Shelby F150 I saw on the lot? No.

Does it have push button start? No.

Guess what, I don't need a vehicle to do all that. I just wanted a good gas mileage vehicle (can you say 40mpg in the city?) to drive every day, load up car parts, pick up pizza in, and take trash (excuse me, "garbage" if you're in NY) to our local facility a couple times a week. The Maverick does all that, and I'm looking forward to all that new technology I've never had, like Apple Car Play and all that stuff. 

Oh, and yet again, NMS is going all out in 2023 to boost the economy, spend money, and pay enough taxes to run an entire continent. You're welcome America!