Shannons Auto Caffeine: Brisbane – Sydney – Melbourne
The inaugural Shannons Auto Caffeine meet was held in February, with an eclectic mix of cars and bikes congregating simultaneously at the Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne Showrooms.
Modelled after the popular ‘cars & coffee’ events seen weekly in car parks around the nation, Auto Caffeine is similarly informal. There are no trophies or awards, or really any rules as to what constitutes an acceptable vehicle. Instead, we’re just encouraging anyone with an interesting car or bike to share their machine with the other Auto Caffeine participants in your city.
The Shannons team are all enthusiasts just like you, whether that be on the Insurance side or Auctions, and plenty of people on the team harboured a desire to host a ‘C+C’ meet. Then, in a turn of events nobody could have predicted, a cruise ship docked in Sydney and within a couple of weeks, the simple act of congregating over a coffee was on temporary ban.
With restrictions now lifting, Auto Caffeine is the result of that hitherto unfulfilled desire; and it fits perfectly with our tagline, ‘Share the Passion’. Auto Caffeine is, at its core, exactly that; an opportunity to embrace what is great about our hobby, essentially enjoying machines we’re passionate about and sharing them with others.
Adding an extra element will be Auto Caffeine’s alignment with Shannons regular timed Auctions, the meets serving as a preview before bidding starts a couple of days later. Shannons Auctions Showrooms will be open, and staff will be on hand; best of all, all catalogue items going through that Showroom, be it Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, will be on hand to inspect. This not only brings you a series of cars and bikes that you may not otherwise have seen, but might even get you interested in bidding on one of the lots, whether that be a car, bike, numberplate or automotive memorabilia.
February’s maiden event was a resounding success, attended by plenty of enthusiasts stopping for a coffee, a look over the other parked vehicles and, of course, a first glimpse at the fresh lots up in the Shannons Summer Timed Online Auction. In Melbourne, the AGP Corporation put an actual F1 car on display, recently wrapped in their latest livery, ‘Live Fast’. We’re excited to be partnering with the Australian Grand Prix again and are hosting the Shannons Historic Demonstration, part of the AGP’s 2022 programme.
A late-model F1 car is pretty impressive, but an enthusiast in Queensland trumped everyone when he arrived in a Porsche Carrera GT. Never available in Australia when new and only built in left-hand-drive, the 450kw, 5.7 litre V10-powered supercar parked adjacent its direct ancestor, a Porsche 356 coupe, and unofficially stole the show.
Future dates for Auto Caffeine will be publicised in due course, so keep your eyes on the socials, or sign up to the Shannons Club Digest for all the info. You don’t have to be a Shannons customer to bring your vehicle along, furthermore you don’t even need to bring a special car or bike; if February’s event is anything to go by, there’ll be plenty to look at regardless. Just so long as you’re sharing the passion.
