Arizona's hot climate invokes images of cowboy hats, tall cactus plants, and unbearable heat. But the city of Scottsdale is a suburb located outside of Phoenix, Arizona, that holds a considerable amount of wealth. Large pools and swanky multi-million dollar mansions dot the area and it isn't uncommon for the guy in front of you at Starbucks to pay with an American Express black card. Most of Scottsdale's wealthy dress normally to blend in, but its monthly Cars and Coffee event tends to bring out the area's supercars.
As an excited reporter and passionate car guy, I decided to make the two-hour pilgrimage from home to central Arizona with a photography-savvy gearhead mate and a female friend who had already tired of our car banter the minute we set out. I knew we had arrived when I heard the sound of a white Lamborghini Huracan shouting its 5.2-liter V10 battle cry as it peeled out. After grabbing coffee we ventured out like excited kids who just got to Disneyland. We hit the outskirts first, which held quite a few tuners, muscle cars, and classic cars. From gutted and modified E30s to classic Mustangs and even a beautifully kept 1956 Corvette convertible, the shiny candy paint jobs clashed with the rugged matte colors to provide a visual overload.
My neck kept snapping every other minute as a new car started its engine and flooded the lot with its many decibels. The whole experience felt like a surround sound symphony, except the instruments consisted of thousands of cylinders exploding. It wasn't long before we zigzagged our way into the supercar isle to see the meat and potatoes of the show. After peaking at a BMW i8, an Alfa Romeo 4C, and a Mercedes SLS AMG, we followed the cellphone wielding kids to find the most beautiful Ferrari 458 Speciale I had ever seen. Granted, I had seen many 458s before and another grey Speciale sat in a corner, but it was unimpressive compared to this bright yellow Ferrari.
The custom work on the car is what made it pop, with black carbon fiber Ferrari badges and a black and yellow interior. I wanted to stay and look longer, but an ultra-rare Ferrari Enzo was only a few cars down from the Speciale. I had never seen an Enzo in person before, and viewing one in the flesh sparked a desire in me to cross every possible rare car sighting off of my bucket list. This car meet was an ADHD gearhead's worst nightmare because there was always a shinier supercar around the corner. Soon, a Lamborghini Aventador SV, a Lambo Diablo, and a Ferrari F12 were all in the bag along with countless Ford GTs, Corvettes, Vipers, and every McLaren except the F1 and P1.
The last car I came upon was a Bugatti Veyron that had a license plate that read "TOPGR" and the license plate frame said "ZR1 for lunch, Ferrari for dinner." After getting some good shots of the Veyron, my photographer friend and I were shooed away from the car by the owner's much younger and much hotter female companion in a very snobby Kardashian-esqe way. Later, after laughing off the Veyron encounter we noticed that most of the cars were gone. Our Venti coffee cups grew emptier and most of the rare cars could be heard roaring away in the distance. We soon resolved to come back for another Cars and Coffee whenever possible. Photos by Anthony Ruggiero