Around Town

October ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ Car Show Canceled 

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The founder of a popular car show that draws 3,000-plus people to New Canaan has canceled what was to be the final installment of 2020. Originally scheduled for Oct. 18 at Waveny, Caffeine & Carburetors has been cancelled due to COVID-19 virus and related restrictions, according to Doug Zumbach, owner of an eponymous coffee shop on Pine Street. “The state of Connecticut is allowing outdoor events with up to 500 attendees or 25% of last year’s attendees,” Zumbach said. “With over 3,000 people attending each of our events last year, our C&C event format clearly does not conform to the current state regulations.”

Though rates in Connecticut are low, “I believe no automotive event large or small is worth an attendee catching COVID-19 or that our event could cause the spread of this virus,” he said.

Around Town

May ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ Downtown Canceled 

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The founder of a popular car show that draws thousands of people to New Canaan each year said Tuesday that he’s canceling the May event for health and safety reasons. 

Doug Zumbach, owner of the eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets, said the May 17 Caffeine & Carburetors scheduled for downtown New Canaan would be canceled. The situation in town hasn’t changed much in the past month “and I think we all owe it to each other to keep ourselves healthy, and our neighbors healthy,” Zumbach told NewCanaanite.com. 

“In running a Caffeine & Carburetors event, there is just no possibility of keeping a social distance, and I just will not tax our systems—the police, EMTs, the town—just to run a car event,” he said. “We have to keep everyone safe and happy.”

He already canceled the April gathering, which had been planned for this past Sunday. As of Tuesday night, New Canaan had 152 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus and 21 residents had succumbed to coronavirus disease, according to the Officer of Emergency Management. Schools, parks and non-essential businesses all have been forced to shutter by orders of the governor and first selectman, while restaurants have switched to delivery- and pickup-only models, and retailers have pushed e-commerce channels.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Final ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ of 2019 Draws Thousands to Waveny

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Thousands of auto enthusiasts descended on Waveny early Sunday for the final ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ car show of 2019. Camera- and coffee-toting fans of classic and specialty cars moved through the Waveny House forecourt, parking lots and fields on a crisp, cool fall morning for the free event. New Canaan’s Doug Zumbach, the founder of Caffeine & Carburetors who started hosting car gatherings outside his eponymous Pine Street coffee shop about 25 years ago, said during the free event that it was going “very well.” “It’s under control, great participants and great cars,” Zumbach said. Sunday’s gathering marked the only show of 2019 held at Waveny. Three earlier Caffeine & Carburetors events were held in downtown New Canaan.

Around Town

‘The Automotive Gods Were Looking Out for Us’: Caffeine & Carburetors Opens 2019 Season Downtown [PHOTOS]

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Thousands of auto enthusiasts and local residents headed to downtown New Canaan Sunday morning for the first of four Caffeine & Carburetors shows planned for 2019 (click album above for photos). Those attending the popular gathering of speciality and classic autos on Pine and Elm Streets snapped photos on a clear, warm day. “The weather first of all worked out real well—a little nervousness about that, but the automotive gods were looking out for us,” Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee owner and C&C founder Doug Zumbach, a New Canaan resident, said of the show. “The content is great—some fantastic people brought some very rare cars to the show. Great turnout.