At sunrise, all kinds of cars start rumbling into a west-side parking lot at Classic BMW, flooding it with lustrous color and chrome.

By 9 a.m. on the last Saturday of each month, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, Porsches and BMWs, Corvettes, Mustangs, Firebirds, hot rods and even the odd Nash Metropolitan or prewar Packard fill the giant lot at the Plano dealership for another Cars and Coffee.

Eric Maas, president of Classic BMW, smiles at what he calls the "magical" mix of autos – knowing that most of their owners will probably never return to buy a BMW from him.

"It's their show, not mine," he said.

It's also a highly unusual marketing tool for an auto dealership. Cars and Coffee does not even include a mention of Classic BMW, other than its location at Spring Creek Parkway and the Dallas North Tollway.

But as the car business becomes increasingly competitive – with Infiniti, Lexus, Acura and even Hyundai vying for BMW buyers – image can be as important as in-your-face advertising in subtly wooing car-savvy consumers, Maas says.

"When you're talking about the high end, image is everything," said Drew Campbell, president of the New Car Dealers Association of Metropolitan Dallas.

Two years ago, Classic left its old location on North Central Expressway in Richardson for a huge, stylish new facility in Plano – a contemporary 155,000-square-foot dealership on nearly 25 acres of land.

The show is a way of both establishing Classic's enthusiast credentials and calling attention to its new location, Maas said. Since the show began in May, it has grown dramatically, from 155 cars at the initial event to 520 last month.

"Our specialty is BMW, but we have an affinity for everything automotive, and we want people to know that," he said.

Participants see that enthusiasm monthly on the dealership's giant 1,100-space parking lot. The shows typically begin about 7 a.m. and run until around 11 a.m. All cars are welcome, and there are no rules, classes, entry fees or prizes.

On a recent Saturday, a new wine-colored Alfa Romeo 8C drew a cluster of people in shorts and T-shirts on one corner of the lot. Nearby were a black Ferrari California and several F430 Scuderias. A Porsche Carrera GT was parked a few rows over from a turbocharged, 1,000-horsepower mid-'90s Mustang. Not far from it were several flashy Nissan GT-Rs, a red '32 Ford hot rod, an original 427 Cobra and a lowered, supercharged Corvette that gulped nitrous oxide.

Twenty to 30 relatively rare BMW Z8 roadsters are expected at the show today – some of them flown in from Germany, Maas said.

"This show is a great opportunity to go experience a lot of vehicles in a low-pressure, kid-friendly environment," said Scott Black, 45, who owns a 1972 Pantera and a 2008 Mustang Shelby GT convertible and has attended most of the shows with one or both of his sons. "It is the most democratic such event I've been to."

Dallas automotive artist Bill Neale said the shows – most of which he has attended – highlight the growing presence of specialty and enthusiast cars in the Dallas area.

"Back in the '60s, [Carroll] Shelby knew what he wanted to do in the car world but felt he had to get out of Dallas and go to California because this was not a car town," said Neale, 84, a close friend of the storied racer and developer of the Cobra muscle/sports car. "He can't say that now."

The show, modeled after a similar long-running event in Southern California, is one of about a dozen Cars and Coffee events in the U.S., including one in Houston.

As part of the show, Maas raises money for charities; he has gathered about $3,500 for Alzheimer and leukemia foundations. On Saturday, the Dallas Stars Foundation will be collecting donations at the show.

Cars and Coffee has become the subject of Internet chatter, videos on YouTube and even some extra attention from the Plano Police Department, which watches out for speeding and burnouts as people leave the show.

Coincidence played a big role in bringing it here.

Months ago, as Maas and his family prepared to board a flight to California, he needed something to occupy his car-crazy 4-year-old son. Using his cellphone, Maas found a video on iTunes of the California Cars and Coffee – riveting shots of Cobras, Ferraris, muscle cars and hot rods.

He found it as fascinating as his son did. "I said, 'I want to be a part of this,' " he said.

Maas says he doesn't know how much the shows cost him. A dozen or so employees work the monthly events, and the dealership is responsible for providing free coffee and bottled water.

"I do have a spreadsheet somewhere that denotes that we have some number of employees working on it," he said. "But I don't pay attention to it."

His only disappointment is the modest amount of charitable donations that the shows have generated – an average of about $700 per event. Big bottles are set up at the water and coffee stands for people to drop cash or change into, but Classic doesn't actively solicit donations.

"I think we could have shows where if we have 2,500 or 3,000 people showing up, we could raise $2,000," Maas said. "That's kind of an informal goal."

He has no misgivings, however, about the broad array of cars that occupy his parking lot once a month.

"I can spend all day at the Louvre – and have," Maas said. "But I don't come away feeling any better than after spending four hours at Cars and Coffee."

The show won't lapse, he says – even in the winter months ahead.

"I'm waiting for someone to come up to me and say they hate the show," Maas said. "Until that happens, I'll keep doing them."