Cars and Coffee of Central Jersey

The Spinning Wheel Diner on Route 22 in Lebanon, NJ, has been hosting a weekly collector car cruise night on Thursdays all summer long. If the diner’s name sounds familiar to regular readers of my blog, it’s because the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club has been visiting this diner as part of our monthly breakfast meets.

I’ve known about the Thursday cruise nights for a while, but did not get a chance to attend until this week, so there we were, my trusty Alfa companion and myself, on August 7, 2025. I arrived promptly at 5 p.m., the official starting time, to find very few parking spots remaining. I parked next to my friend John’s beautiful teal blue “retro-Bird,” and as cars continued to file in, they were directed to park on the grass behind the paved lot. More than one attendee was overheard to say that this was possibly the biggest crowd of the season at the Spinning Wheel, no doubt helped by the tremendous weather, with temps in the low 80s and low humidity.

Glancing around, I quickly surmised that my Italian mistress was the only furrin car there. In actuality, most of the cars were either ‘50s and ‘60s muscle cars, or street rods of one kind or another. I felt out of my element until a few other imports showed up. John and I walked the lot together, taking in the variety of vehicles on display, which included not one but two 1940 Fords, an assortment of Thunderbirds, a Triumph, an MG, a Miata, and Corvettes of various vintages. I’m sorry, but if you’re driving a C8 Corvette (and there were several) to a “collector car cruise night,” you’re just showing off. I get the appeal, but a C8 parked next to a C2 makes it blatantly obvious which I’d rather have in my garage.

My wife arrived to join me for dinner in the diner (and for which I had a 10% off coupon as a show participant), and after the meal, I was ready to head home. At about 7:30 p.m., I hopped into my car, started it up, and saw that the representative from Cars & Coffee of Central Jersey, who was hosting the event, ran up to my open window to present me with a trophy! I’m not sure what I won or how my car was selected, but it was a nice gesture nevertheless. The diner is only a thirty-minute ride to my house, so I was back by eight, which made for an easy night. All in all, it was a fun way to spend a Thursday evening.