While it’s no secret that international relations between the USA and Iran are not exactly chummy, we were tipped off to a story that proves horsepower is the international language. Pal of BangShift, Marty Schorr let us know that the first satellite chapter of the “Cafe Racers” a car guy gathering founded in Sarasota, Florida has opened, in Tehran, Iran. These guys have some cool stuff as well. The leader of the Tehran chapter has a 1974 Motion Phase III Camaro that was brought into the country in 1974.

Marty reports that chapters are opening in several cities across the country, and obviously, across the world. The whole concept is very much BangShift approved. It’s all about getting together with fellow car enthusiasts, hanging out, shooting the bull, and having fun. No bullshit, no attitudes, just cars and good times.

Here’s the full release from Marty. If you want to learn more about the Cafe Racers and what you can do to start a local chapter, visit their site at www.SarasotaCafeRacers.com

Here’s the full release on the successful launch of the Tehran Cafe Racers. 

Car Guys having fun transcends politics, ideology, and decades of conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

Sarasota’s Café Racers has developed into more than just a car guy lunch group. It has morphed into a destination, where people who savor life in the fast lane and worship at the temple of torque can come together and break bread with citizens of the right lane. Now they’re building a worldwide car guy community!

The first Café Racers satellite group is up and running not where you might expect. It’s in Tehran. That’s right, Tehran, Iran! Tehran Café

Racers’ organizer, Ramin Salehkhou, drives a documented “export” ‘74 Baldwin-Motion Phase III Camaro powered by a 454-inch big-block. Joel ‘Mr. Motion’ Rosen had originally built and shipped this 500 horsepower Camaro to Tehran in 1974. Tehran’s first Café Racer lunch, which attracted 22 cars and more than 30 people, was covered in Donyae Khodro (WORLD OF AUTOMOBILES), a weekly auto enthusiast newspaper in Iran. The mix of cars included vintage Mercedes-Benz SLs, Alfas, late-model Range Rovers, a Gen I Mustang convertible, Pontiac Formula Firebird, Ramin’s Baldwin-Motion Camaro and other European and American cars. The turnout was truly impressive since car enthusiasts in Iran have to deal with a multitude of problems, including difficulties importing parts.

Because of traffic congestion, the Tehran Café Racers chose a destination/restaurant (Sarkhosheh) in Meigoon, a one-hour drive from Tehran. They turned their inaugural lunch into an all-day affair, with a road trip to the top of Mount Dizen, home to world famous ski runs.

Since the first lunch, Ramin Salehkhou, a lawyer educated in the U.S. and President of the Classic Car Committee of the Iranian Motorsport Federation, has been deluged with requests from enthusiasts who want to join. He is involved with fellow Committee members in the restoration, documentation and preservation of the multitude of classic cars that exist in Iran, including the deposed Shah’s collection of coachbuilt luxury and exotic cars. They most recently unearthed and refurbished a Bizzarrini 5300 GT! They are now preparing their entry for the 2010 Peking to Paris Rally, to be driven by two of their female members. Not unlike SEMA, the Committee has lobbied successfully against mandatory “End-of Life” legislation for cars 25 years and older. It could have put an end to the classic car hobby in Iran. A Motion and American muscle car enthusiast since childhood, Ramin is also a member of the prestigious FIA Committee Historic International. 

A second Café Racers satellite, Carlisle Café Racers, has signed on in PA, near the Carlisle Fairgrounds. They expect to be up and running in the Fall. Inquiries have come in from San Francisco, New York, New Jersey, Boston, and as far away as Australia.“We’ve taken the popular Cars & Coffee concept of car guys getting together and sharing the passion to a new level.

Now we are encouraging serious car enthusiasts worldwide to use our model (www.SarasotaCafeRacers.com) and create multi-marque Café Racers lunch groups where they live. They can contact us ([email protected]) for startup information. Once up andrunning, they can develop a web (blog) presence, link to our website and network with other Café Racers. And it’s all free,” says founder and CCO, Marty Schorr who drives a C6 Corvette. “Our raison d’etre is all cars,all the time! And our only rule: Be a real car guy or be gone!” 

The Café Racers concept brings together serious car enthusiasts and crosses generational, socio-economic and cultural lines. The common thread is passion and it really doesn’t matter if you’re a Master Mechanic with a musclecar or a Master Of The Universe with a collection of exotics, hot rods and racecars. What matters is that you are a real car guy and you play well with others.

Café Racer policy: No Dues. No Drama. No Poseurs!