SoCal car-lovers pay tribute to influencer killed in fiery McLaren crash
Hundreds of car lovers turned out in Southern California Saturday for an emotional tribute to influencer James Wehr, days after the 27-year-old was killed alongside a young passenger in a horrific McLaren crash.The Sept.19 gathering marked the first South OC Cars and Coffee meetup since Wehr, who co-founded the wildly popular weekly event with his father, Simon Wehr, died in the fiery Sept.
13 wreck in Irvine.Video posted to Instagram showed a sprawling sea of luxury and performance vehicles filling the Outlets at San Clemente, with numerous cars sporting matching “James Wehr Forever” decals across their windshields and a large photo of the auto aficionado with flowers.“To be remembered like this.What an incredible turnout for James Wehr.
A pretty special event,” wrote Luke Saylor who posted the video.The massive gathering was a fitting tribute for Wehr, who helped turn South OC Cars and Coffee into a destination for Southern California gearheads.Held every Saturday from 9 a.m.to 11 a.m., the event bills itself as the world’s largest weekly car show and typically draws between 1,500 and 3,000 vehicles.Everything from multimillion-dollar hypercars and exotics to muscle cars, vintage rides, hot rods, pickups and motorcycles regularly packs the San Clemente venue.Wehr helped run the event with his father as a family operation supported by volunteers, photographers and members of the local car community.Saturday’s turnout prompted an outpouring of emotional reactions online.One remembered Wehr as an “amazing son, nephew, grandson, friend, mentor, colleague to everyone who knew him.”The tribute came less than a week after Wehr and his passenger, Alexis “Lexi” Kramer, 22, were killed when Wehr’s 2019 McLaren crashed shortly after midnight in Irvine.Police said Wehr accelerated at a high rate of speed after a traffic light turned green before losing control of the supercar, which slammed into a curb and tree.The McLaren split apart and erupted in f...