Parked... a car show in a cave?
A limestone mine turned commercial space is a fantastic venue for collector cars
What do you do with a 155,000 square foot underground limestone mine turned into a warehouse/storage area that doesn’t have any regular commercial use? You host a unique and Instagram-friendly car show, that’s what!
Last weekend, I attended an event called “Parked” at the former Cumberland Commerce Center, which is the fancy name of the now-defunct limestone mine. I saw an advertisement for it on Instagram through one of my favorite Nashville coffee shops, Barista Parlor. They were going to be providing cold brew and hot coffee during the show, which was enough to pique my curiosity.
When I saw the photos of the limestone cavern with a few vintage Porsches, I was hooked. I bought a ticket, which is not something a typical Cars and Coffee event would require, but hey, this show was clearly not going to be typical.
I drove an hour from downtown Nashville to the small town of Cumberland Furnace in Dickson County, Tennessee. The drive was enjoyable, as more than half of it was on winding, two-lane state roads through farm country and small towns. Much of it was uncharted territory for me, as I had only heard the town names on the local news weather segments.
Parking for the Parked event was in a dusty dirt lot outside the mouth of the cave. I always smile when I attend an automotive event and see beautiful sports cars, often worth six figures, parked in a dirt lot. The cars in the parking lot for the event would’ve made for an above average cars and coffee in most towns in the US.
Staff met attendees at the entrance to the tunnel to check their ticket and give them a wristband. I could feel the cool air coming out of the tunnel and realized I might need my jacket, but decided to press ahead. The cave was cool but not unpleasant, so I was fine without the coat.
A black Porsche 911 (993 generation) greeted attendees at the end of the tunnel, parked on a loading dock. The juxtaposition of a sleek sports car with the white/gray, craggy limestone walls and the smooth ceiling and floors was precisely what I expected for this event. As I entered the main show area, I was not disappointed.
I was greeted by the sight of one of the vehicles that cemented my love of cars as a kid in the 1980s, a white Ferrari Testarossa. It wasn’t the same year as the iconic Miami Vice one, since it had side-view mirrors on both sides, unlike the high-mounted driver’s mirror seen on 1986 US models and in the show. As an adult, I know there are better Ferraris, and cars in general, but the Testarossa still hits the nostalgia bullseye.
As I walked into the show space, the scale of the room really made an impact. The high ceilings and natural walls complemented the beautiful shapes of the cars perfectly. Whether vintage or modern, everything looked extra special in the environment. The lighting was varied wildly, a bit too bright in some areas and a bit dim in others, but that’s what gave it a sense of charm. Especially when paired with the occasional perfect highlight on a car, I loved it.
The show featured all the heavy hitters, including classic, modified Porsche 911s, modern Porsche 911 GT3s, vintage Alfa Romeos, heavily modified classic Mercedes (powered by modern AMG engines), and a slew of modern supercars from Italy.
Any time you get to be up close and personal with a Lamborghini Revuelto, make the most of it. For those unfamiliar with the Revuelto, it is Lamborghini’s latest flagship model, boasting 814 horsepower, all-wheel drive, and a hybrid system that pairs small electric motors with a 6.5L V-12. The Revuelto starts at around $600,000.
While I respect the capability of the Ferrari 296 GTS, the Revuelto, and the Ferrari 12 Cilindri, it was the vintage resto-mods and race cars that I appreciated the most. As someone who works in the motorsports industry and is affiliated with the Porsche Club of America, I see many modified Porsches. But I will never get bored of seeing a well-sorted hot rod 911. An air-cooled 911 is a beautiful canvas to work with, providing you have a significant budget, of course.
I was surprised to find a Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2 race car that I shot on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the prior weekend. The couple who run social media for the Project Racecar were there and explained that they had heard about the show and thought it would be a great place to raise awareness about the team. Job well done, plus seeing the car in as-raced condition from the week prior was really fun.
Overall, the show was what I expected. A well-curated selection of sports cars guaranteed to delight a variety of spectators, artfully placed in a unique environment. We can all thank former Porsche factory racer Patrick Long and his business partner Howie Idelson for shows like this.
The transformation of car shows from staid concours held on golf courses to pop-up art installations set in environments perfect for Instagram photos really began with Long and Idelson’s creation of the air-cooled-only Porsche show, Luftgekühlt. It has been eleven years since their first show, and the growth and popularity of it has been the signal to everyone in the car community that the future is not golf courses.
Yes, there are still numerous high-end and prestigious car shows held “on the lawn.” But the younger generation of enthusiasts is far less interested in those shows than they are in ones like Luftgekült and Parked. Organizers of these new shows focus on the backdrop and lighting of each car to ensure it is a visual experience for guests and those watching on social media. Something no car parked on green grass, no matter how rare or stunning it is, will ever be.