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C.A.R.S. and Coffee has officially returned for the 2024 season, welcoming an array of classic cars and trucks to the Coffee County Administrative Plaza parking lot for its first event Saturday, April 6.

Hosted by the Custom Auto and Rod Shop, or C.A.R.S., the monthly event occurs 9 a.m. until Noon during the first Saturday of every month April through October.

C.A.R.S. co-owner Jennifer Ferrell said she and her husband Avery started the morning cruise-ins two years ago.

“It is a national show that different communities and towns have, the biggest one being in Nashville,” Ferrell said.

While visitors to the Nashville Cars and Coffee might catch some high-end cars, Ferrell said they thought it would be nice to have something locally in Manchester.

“When you go to the Nashville Cars and Coffee you are going to see some exotic cars and all kinds of stuff, but a lot of the little people like us don’t necessarily care about that,” she said. “They are nice, they are cool to look at but we like to keep it local and have somewhere for us to go and run around on Saturday morning and then go about your day.”

While the Manchester event averages about 125 cars each month, those numbers have been as high as 200 cars gathered on a Saturday morning.

James Johnson was on hand with his Coronado Gold 1967 Pontiac Firebird 400.

“This color was only painted for six months of the manufacturing of it and having the matching interior is rarer,” Johnson said. “I got this car in 1987, it was dead, it was a real basket case.”

Over the next 30-35 years, Johnson would completely restore his car, which is actually the same type of car he purchased new in 1967 in Cleveland, Ohio.

John Geary’s red and white 1960 Ford Thunderbird has been seen by many Manchester residents over the years, as he drives it every day.

Geary said he has now had the car for 20 years.

“I had one when I was a kid and never got over it,” he said. “I waited 50 years to get this one.”

Equipped with a 352 cubic inch V8 engine, Geary said the car has never been driven in the rain since he has owned it.