The Biggest Little Meet in the World
Every other Thursday night, in the Starbucks / Blockbuster parking lot at 190th and Anza streets in Torrance California, an amazing transformation occurs. This ordinary parking lot becomes an impromptu S2000 festival. It’s called the Torrance Starbucks Meet, but it has become the single largest regular gathering of S2000s on the planet.
What started a few years ago as a few enthusiasts gathering to chat about their S2000s has grown into a bi-weekly mega-meet. No fewer than 20 S2000s are usually present, and the recent attendance has swelled to an average of 40-50 S2ks. There are usually from 2-5 NSXs also appearing, and there’s usually a surprise or two as well. (Could be a Skyline, a Ferrari or two, who knows…) There’s often one or two members of the local law enforcement present as well, but mostly because they’re enthusiasts too. (I don’t believe there’s ever been even a single fix-it ticket issued.)
Because this is such a large gathering, the meet is often used as a forum for other S2ki business. At this week’s event, Patrick Blanchard (S2000Patrick) was named the new Community Organizer of the Southern California Forum, much to the delight of those in attendance. Patrick was one of the original organizers of this event, and it’s just another example of his wonderful contributions to this community.
The last event saw the unveiling of Wendy Hunt’s (Dreamcation) new Spa S2k. Thanks to the efforts of SoCal CO Mike Trinh (BackCracker) and Planet Acura’s Matt Piercey (Pierceman), a beautiful ’02 model was located on the east coast and brought out to California for Wendy. Another local CO, Kelvin Yong (HunterEZ) put in many hours detailing and installing all the generously donated aftermarket bling to get the car ready, and Wendy was blown away by the continued love and support of the So Cal community. (Nearly 100 attendees turned out for the presentation)
There are always some very exciting S2000s persent. Just last night, there were no les than four cars with forced induction including Sideways’ 450+HP blown monster, and even a turbo or two. Evasive Motorsports is usually there showing off the latest aftermarket toys recently installed on their test car, and many of the HIN crew bring their show cars for us to ogle. There’s often a mini swap meet going on between the attendees, and this is the place for the S2ki faithful to show off their latest modifications.
The meet features an amazing cross section of our overall community with a phenomenal variety of ages, nationalities, income levels, and occupations all coming together to share their love of one another and the terrific little car we call our own.
If you’re ever in the Los Angeles area on a Thursday evening, (when the meet is happening… dates are always posted in the SoCal forum) you owe it to yourself to pay a visit to this gathering. Who knew hanging around in a parking lot for 4 hours every other week could be so much fun?!