Bridgewater NJ

Word went out last week via the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) about an event which was new to me: a Sunday morning Cars & Coffee in the parking lot of a Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 22 in Bridgewater NJ. This was all of 6 miles from my house, and was scheduled to run from 9am to 11am, so it was an attractive choice, especially if a few other members of the Alfa club were to show up.

I arrived 15 minutes early to find several dozen cars already lined up, most of them late-model Corvettes and Mustangs. I’ve been to, and have heard about, other Cars & Coffee events in NJ like this, and perusing row after row of newer high-horsepower machines driven by millennial hipsters looking for bragging rights isn’t my thing. It was with great relief that I spotted a current generation Alfa Giulia sedan and parked next to it. The owner, Neil, was a younger chap who, with his traveling buddy Caleb, took an immediate interest in my ’67, and we spent a few minutes chatting about the Alfa Romeo brand in general. They both were friendly and delightful, and showed themselves to be interested in all kinds of automotive machinery.

Soon after I arrived, 3 members of AROC’s NJ Chapter showed up, all driving Spiders. Tony had his blue Series 1, Mike arrived in his red Series 3, and Bob parked his immaculate red Series 4, with all of us adjacent to each other. It was a great opportunity to show Neil and Caleb the distinctions among the different generation Spiders.

I broke away from the camaraderie several times to take in the other vehicles. Frankly, a long row of C6, C7, and C8 Corvettes more closely resembles a used-car lot than a car show to me, but I get it. Scattered among the 21^st century iron were a few gems. Standouts included a 1970 AMX, a 1970 240Z, a 928, and an early ‘70s Firebird.

The day was warm and sunny with low humidity, but as the temp started to climb, I decided on a slightly early departure of 10:30, which had me home by 11am. Would I attend again? There was no denying that the shortish drive was a convenience. If I knew I could count on seeing friendly faces, I would certainly pay another visit to this particular Cars & Coffee.