LA Cars and Coffee 12/28
Tim McNiff, The Editor | Published on 12/28/2025
I headed for Griffith Park in the dark, cold early morning arriving at the parking lot a couple of minutes after seven. There wasn’t another Healey to be seen, so I parked next to a couple of early Minis and set up my chair. At that point I was almost bowled over by a humongous four- door pickup pulling in next to me.
So who was brazenly parking among the British classics? The Paisan, Phil Caliva! And he brought breakfast croissant sandwiches. After taking a wrong turn off the I-5 he ended up in downtown Glendale, saw a coffee shop and decided to get breakfast for two.
Any other member who showed up would have been out of luck.
Phil was driving the modern pickup because he was driving out to Santa Anita Race Track to check out the Horseless Carriage Show and Tour. About 8am Phil left and I toured the lot checking out the cars. Of interest was a very rare Mercedes 220 convertible, a classic Studebaker 2-door coupe, a right-hand drive Jaguar XK-140, and a hand-built VW pickup. After some conversations with classic British enthusiasts from Maryland it was after 9am and time to head home. An enjoyable morning sharing the Healey experience.