About Cars & CoVerica – with Josh Jones

Hello, my name is Jovana Cetnik, and I am a summer intern at CoVerica. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Josh Jones, an organizer for Cars & CoVerica and Vice President. Cars & CoVerica is a private event in Dallas, Texas, showcasing exotic and ultra-luxury cars. Since its founding in 2020, it has grown rapidly. Here are some insights from Josh about the event and the process behind it.

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What inspired you to start organizing Cars & CoVerica?

In 2018/19 I started getting some traction in the collector car insurance space.  There were some really noteworthy cars I was able to insure.  I thought “you know…how cool would it be if we could showcase some of our client’s cars in a way that was exclusive and allow us to casually network?”  That was really the genesis.

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‍What has been the most unique or rare car showcased at your events?

WOW! Well, I guess that all depends on who you ask, but the succinct answer is a 1995 Ford GT90. It was a prototype Hypercar that Ford ALMOST produced and then pulled the plug on right before it went into production.  They literally only made ONE for the Geneva Auto show as a showcase/display car.  We had it at our Charity Fundraiser event a couple of years ago.  It is now on loan to the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, courtesy of Brent and Rhonda Hajek.  Pretty cool!

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Have you collaborated with any other local businesses or organizations? If so, how have these partnerships impacted Cars & CoVerica?

Absolutely!  The partners were specifically curated because of their significance in the “DFW car scene”.  They represent business that are directly involved with a lot of cars that we insure.  Whether its financing, a dealership, detailing, window tint or protective film, these guys are only 1 degree of separation from us.  They have also become friends and we want to help one another succeed.  It’s more fun that way.

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How do you attract participants and car enthusiasts to your meet-ups?

Mostly just word of mouth at this point.  We have been established for about 5 years now and have a pretty good reputation.  It’s becoming one of those “if you know, you know” type events.  The organizers and I are not inclined to make it bigger.  I think our secret sauce is in the exclusive component and just really having a unique environment where everyone can relax and mingle.  It’s really different than other car meets in that respect.

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Can you share a memorable story or experience from one of your past events?

There are certainly a lot of mega cars that have rolled through, but I think the most significant memories that I have are when owners allow little kids to get up close with their cars.  There’s something really cool about seeing a little guy light up when they hear a V12 Lamborghini rev up, or sit in the drivers seat of a McLaren.  You can see it on their faces the moment that they sort of get bitten by the car bug.

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What do you think is the future of Cars & CoVerica?

It’s obvious that these cars are still interesting to people, so I guess these events will perpetuate as long as they keep making interesting new cars.  As far as a vision of grandeur, I would love to see our event get more dialed in and even upscaled.  Something like a weekend event hosted at the 4 Seasons where we have cars displayed on the golf course, and people can come in from all over the country as a destination thing would be really cool.  But, I have this full time job thing that sort of cuts into planning something like this.  That would require years of preparation and a team of people with the same vision.

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What is your personal favorite car or type of car to see at your events?

Restored classic cars.  Such as a vintage Porsche or a really well restored muscle car that is period correct.  You just can’t buy that off the shelf.  There’s just something really special about a time capsule car.

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How has Cars & CoVerica evolved over the years?

We have more notoriety.  Our first couple of shows were literally right in the middle of Covid and we would have just a handful of people show up that were clamoring to just get out of the house.  Literally, like a dozen people.  We had gotten to a point last year where it really just got too big.  We had more people showing up that we could respectfully manage.  This year we have made it a lot harder to gain access (RSVP only.  No walk ins) and it has irritated some would be guests.  Subsequently, our events are a little more scaled down in size, but I think overall we are getting back to the secret sauce again.  Smaller, more intimate, and more curated groups of cars and people.

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