Around Town

PHOTOS: Caffeine & Carburetors Returns to Downtown New Canaan

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Thousands of classic and specialty auto enthusiasts visited downtown New Canaan on Sunday morning for the hugely popular Caffeine & Carburetors car show. Founded and run by New Canaan’s Doug Zumbach, owner of the eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets, the three-hour event included a new rule this time around, where those showing their vehicles were required to stay to the end of the show. “People seem to be abiding by the new directive—there are a lot of good questions about it, some people have come and turned around because they do want to leave a little earlier,” Zumbach told NewCanaanite.com as police, volunteers and the Community Emergency Response Team or “CERT” directed pedestrians and motorists safely across Park Street on a clear, cool morning. 

“The show is going very well,” Zumbach said. “Very organized, civil. So it seems to be working out nicely.”

Held on all-pedestrian stretches of Pine and Elm Streets, Caffeine & Carburetors featured about 1,500 show cars, Zumbach said.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Final ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ of 2022 Held in Waveny 

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An estimated 1,300 auto enthusiasts descended on Waveny Park on a crisp, overcast morning Sunday for the final 2022 installment of an increasingly popular car show. Launched by New Canaan’s Doug Zumbach at his eponymous coffee shop on Pine and Grove Streets, Caffeine & Carburetors features hundreds of classic and specialty autos, drawing gearheads from the community, region and beyond. Zumbach said more than 30 volunteers helped with parking and directing attendees. “CERT [the Community Emergency Response Team] is here helping us, I think we have five New Canaan Police on hand,” Zumbach said. “Well-staffed, well-organized and I think people are having fun.”

Attendees holding cameras, pushing baby strollers and clutching dog leashes roamed through much of the park around the main house for three hours in the morning, leaning over open hoods, visiting vendor booths and getting food from one of three food trucks parked near the Orchard Field for the increasingly popular event. 

Brian Sahai, branch manager at New Canaan’s Bankwell, a longtime sponsor of Caffeine & Carburetors, said, “This is a wonderful event that puts a nice spotlight on a community we all love.”

Around Town

PHOTOS: Thousands Attend Caffeine & Carburetors in Downtown New Canaan 

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Thousands of residents and auto enthusiasts headed to downtown New Canaan on Sunday morning for a popular car show now in its eleventh year. 

Featuring 700 specialty and classic autos, Caffeine & Carburetors on Pine and Elm Streets is “growing and growing and growing,” First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said. “A lot of people come to New Canaan just for this,” Moynihan said while mixing with the crowd opposite Pine Street Concessions on a clear, sunny morning. 

Moynihan, who conceived of the town’s Tourism & Economic Development Advisory Committee, said Caffeine & Carburetors creator Doug Zumbach is seeking to promote the show for New York City residents traveling by rail to New Canaan. Doug Zumbach launched the auto gathering outside outside his eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets in 2008, and it quickly drew crowds from about a dozen vehicles to 50 and more, outgrowing that small area. The final installment of this year will be held Oct. 20 at Waveny. 

Caffeine & Carburetors

Parks & Rec Votes 11-0 To Approve Oct. 20 ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ at Waveny

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[Note: This article has been corrected with the Oct. 20 date for Caffeine & Carburetors.]

Saying “safety” concerns had been addressed, town officials last week voted unanimously to approve an Oct. 20 Caffeine & Carburetors show at Waveny. During her last meeting as head of the Parks & Recreation Commission, Chair Sally Campbell said she was satisfied that plans for the popular gathering of auto enthusiasts included provisions for pedestrian safety, a limit on the number of vehicles and clear directions for where attendees should park. “This is good, I think it’s great,” Campbell said during the Commission’s March 13 meeting, held at Town Hall.

Caffeine & Carburetors

Parks & Rec Chair: We Need a Formal Parking Plan Before Approving October ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ at Waveny

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Saying they’re concerned about pedestrian safety, town officials on Wednesday night called for the organizer of a popular car enthusiast gathering to be held Oct. 20 at Waveny to ensure that a footpath running along the main road through the park is clear. 

If the Caffeine & Carburetors exhibitor cars are parked on one side of the footpath only, then visitors who wander through the popular show that Sunday will be less likely to walk in the road, according to members of the Parks & Recreation Commission. “If you can get the cars to park so that the path accessible that would be great, because that would change entirely what happened with all the pedestrians in the road,” Commissioner Francesca Segalas said at the group’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. It isn’t clear which side of the pedestrian path is to be left clear—parks officials couldn’t agree on that—but Caffeine & Carburetors founder Doug Zumbach agreed to work with Recreation Director Steve Benko, Parks Superintendent John Howe and Commissioner Matt Konspore on a parking plan. Parks & Rec Chair Sally Campbell said the Commission would take a vote on whether to recommend the Oct.