PONTIAC, Mich. – Despite still being in the middle of winter, we think this is the perfect time to start thinking about some of our favorite car-related activities – like attending cruise-ins and cars & coffee events. One of our favorites in the Detroit area takes place close to the famed Woodward Avenue. No, we’re not talking about the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, one of the largest one-day automotive events in the world each August. Rather, we’re referring to a series of big cruise-ins at a place called the M1 Concourse. This facility in Pontiac, Michigan, just off Woodward north of Detroit, is a car-lover’s dream, with a 1.5-mile road course track, a paved skid pad and a few hundred private-garage man caves – with a scant few still available for purchase.

Nearly every month, the crew at M1 opens the gates to the general public for mega “Cars & Coffee” events. Cool car owners bring the cars, while local sponsors supply the coffee and donuts. You’ll need good walking shoes if you plan to see all the vehicles that show up for these gatherings. Early arriving attendees wind up parking up and down the skid pad, which can handle about 250 vehicles, as well as multiple vendors and any M1 concourse display vehicles. Once that fills up, they begin parking cars on either side of the track, which fills up quickly when the weather is pleasant.

Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend last summer, Ford retiree, super-enthusiast and longtime photojournalist Bill Cook drove his Boss 302 to the M1 Cars & Coffee event to see if he could get a glimpse of some cool, collectible Fords. As you might expect, Bill found plenty of Blue Oval rides among all the classic, vintage and antique vehicles that were on display here. We looked though the photos that Cook sent us from that event and selected some of our favorites to share with you in the gallery below:

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY BILL COOK