Donut Derelicts, Huntington Beach

Donut Derelicts is the meet that other meets cite. The organizer’s site describes it without a schedule: “Each Saturday morning, car enthusiasts from all over gather in the parking lot of Adams Ave Donuts to enjoy a donut, a cup of coffee and a spectacle of hot rods and classic cars.” The place is “the famous corner of Magnolia & Adams in Surf City, Huntington Beach, California.” The organizer gives no street number; listings put the donut shop at 9015 Adams Avenue, which is the corner.

The hours nobody posts

The organizer publishes a day and not a time, and the third parties disagree. A Huntington Beach dealer group writes that “the show only goes on from 6 to 9 am”; a travel listing says up to 300 people “can show up on Saturday mornings around 6 a.m.”; Wikipedia gives 6:30am to 8:30am; one Orange County calendar lists 5am to 8am. The honest reading is the one an Australian magazine gave after visiting in 2023: “Cars roll in from the very early hours of the morning and it all wraps up pretty much just as the sun comes up.” The hours on this page, 6am to 9am, are the most common listing. Arrive before sunrise if you want to see it full.

Where to park

The lot is the donut shop’s, on the right side of Adams Avenue heading east, before the Magnolia light. A travel site’s directions: exit Brookhurst Street off the 405, go south, turn right on Adams and go two stoplights to Magnolia. The lot fills and the overflow goes to the surrounding center, which opens as the cars leave.

Which cars

The organizer’s description is “Every street rod, hot rod, classic and specialty creation from the South Bay to Laguna and parts unknown.” There are no rules posted, and every account agrees that there never were: Wikipedia’s summary is “no rules, no fee, no prizes, no formal competition, and no flyers.” It is a hot rod meet first; a modern exotic is a guest.

How it started

The organizer’s about page tells it as a story of a donut shop’s regulars. “Adams Avenue Donuts has long been a community meeting place for old timers,” some of whom “were hot rod enthusiasts, Jim McCain, Ronnie Parrick, Ed & Harold, Mark Porter & Tom Witherby to name a few.” They met “around 7ish each Saturday morning.” Then: “In February, 1985, they decided to meet at the donut shop with their cars.” The name came from a phone list: “A phone list was started by Jim McCain that had 90 plus names and a heading dubbed ‘Donut Derelicts’. That list is still in existence and proudly so is the name.”

The organizer’s Instagram profile says “Since 1983,” two years earlier than its own about page; Wikipedia says about 1986. Whichever year, the meet predates the phrase “cars and coffee” by two decades. Its Instagram account, with over 44,000 followers, was posting through late October 2026.

Before you go

Set the alarm for the dark. Buy a donut from the shop that has hosted this for forty years. Leave by 9am, when the regulars are long gone and the center wants its lot.

Cars and CoffeeCaliforniaOrange County