Open to all cars. Last month we had almost 800 cars or more - (lost count) ;-)
If you are a car enthusiast, whether it’s sports cars, antiques, hot rods or street machines, you owe it to yourself to visit Marietta’s Caffeine & Octane monthly car gathering. Held at the Avenues of East Cobb shopping mall on Roswell Road just east of Johnson Ferry Road on the first Sunday of every month, C&O draws well over 500 classic and collector cars from the surrounding area, rain or shine.

Starting early on the first Sundays, usually around 8:00 am, the parking lot of The Avenues begins to fill with a wild and diverse assortment of cars that is sure to please every gear-head. Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi and BMW are all present, as are Chevy, Ford, Dodge and Plymouth. Cars of all types and all ages are there. It is not unusual to see an early Ford, perhaps a Model T, parked along side an Acura NSX or a Pantera, which is right next to a row of Camaros; both new and vintage, flanked by Austin-Healeys and MGs.

The most amazing thing is that the gathering started as an impromptu venture, a group of car guys meeting for coffee and tire-kicking at the Panera Bread Company restaurant at The Avenues for a friendly get-together. Spreading by word-of-mouth, the gathering grew until it had to be changed to Sundays to avoid conflict with the shoppers in the mall area. The delayed opening for most of the stores on Sunday allows for the gathering to be held and over with by the time the stores begin to open. Most cars start leaving by 11:00 AM or so; a parking lot goes from totally full to nearly empty in the space of three hours.

Get up early on the first Sunday morning of the month and have a coffee and a Danish with 500 or so of your new best friends at Caffeine & Octane at the Avenues of East Cobb. It’s worth your time and a little effort, you won’t be sorry! – Thomas George at Examiner.com / Atlanta