Gearheads, muscle car fanatics, classic car lovers, casual car fans, and everyone in between, rev your engines and prepare for a brand new season of Westchester Cars & Coffee plus the grand opening of the HQ Auto Vault.

Like a late ’90s TV pitchman would say, “But wait, there’s more!” By the end of this year, HQ Racing will make its debut as a world class multi-level go-kart racing experience filling the rest of the space at the old Bertoline building at 7 John Walsh Boulevard. Add the presence of Spins Hudson, the 40,000-square-foot entertainment venue next door, the synergy between Westchester Cars & Coffee, HQ Auto Vault, HQ Racing and Spins Hudson at Factoria completely revitalized the Charles Point business district as a family-friendly area, helping to make Peekskill a destination city.   

Westchester Cars & Coffee

On March 30, 2025, from 8 a.m to 10:00 a.m., Westchester Cars & Coffee will start its 13th season and fifth year of making Peekskill their home since moving here from Yorktown in 2020. The new season looks to be unlike any other, with many themed days, cars of every shape and size, from virtually every generation, and not one, not two, not three, but four Super Sundays, with many other surprises in store along the way. 

Basil Kazepis, founder of Westchester Cars & Coffee, is excited about opening day and seeing the car community again, and he’s excited too for the four Super Sundays this year. On Sunday, April 13, the group will celebrate First Responders Day, where members of the Peekskill Police Department, Peekskill Fire Department and Peekskill Volunteer Ambulance Corps will be on hand in a relaxed environment, and will be bring different pieces of apparatus that kids can touch and sit in. On June 15, the group celebrates Fathers Days. “This event is always extremely popular as dads bring their kids to enjoy the cars and some sun,”said Kazepis. “This year there will be lots of activities, maybe a few bouncy houses and some special surprise cars in store that will only be revealed later on. Dads will really enjoy it.” Sunday, August 10, and Sunday, September 21, are also Super Sundays.  

In addition, throughout the season, Westchester Cars & Coffee will have other special events lined up almost weekly. Plans include welcoming one of the Sundays Rivian, an exclusive, high-end, luxury all-electric car manufacturer. Rivian will bring a few cars for people to view and possibly test drive. On another Sunday, Westchester Cars & Coffee will welcome Larry Kosilla, owner and proprietor of Ammo NYC, a car care company and YouTube channel, known for its detailing products and content focused on car care, detailing techniques, and transformations. The Ammo NYC YouTube channel has over 2.2 million subscribers and counting. 

Other special events held by the group include the annual Cars & Coffee with the Chiefs holiday Toy Drive, and Thanksgiving Food Drive, where all donations stay within the Peekskill community. 

Since day one, Westchester Cars & Coffee founder Basil Kazepis has made sure this car meetup group is warm and welcoming for families, and has helped embed the group into the fabric of the City, making it feel like the group has been here since its inception. 

Westchester Cars & Coffee meets every Sunday from 8–10 a.m. at 7 John Walsh Boulevard. On Super Sundays, the group meets from 8 a.m.-noon. For the most up-to-date information, visit the Westchester Cars & Coffee website, Facebook and YouTube channel. 

HQ Auto Vault 

On March 30, 2025, HQ Auto Vault will hold its grand 0pening in conjunction with the season opener of Westchester Cars & Coffee. HQ Auto Vault is a premium storage facility for luxury, classic and exotic vehicles. The state-of-the-art climate-controlled facility, with 24/7 monitoring and security, is the brainchild of Steve DiPaolo, a longtime car enthusiast and former owner of Royal Coach Lines. Last year, Steve DiPaolo purchased the old Bertolini building, a 72,000 square foot building and 5.5 acres of land at 7 John Walsh Boulevard after the building went up for sale when the Bertoline family sold its distributorship to Dana Distributors, as the Peekskill Herald reported. Steve’s intention was to create one of the finest car storage facilities in the northeast for high-end vehicles. 

On March 30, 2025, Steve’s dream becomes a reality when HQ Auto Vault opens its doors for the first time. Half of the 72,000-square-foot building will be used as a car storage facility. In addition, there will be a showroom and a hospitality suite that the public can rent for special events. 

In conjunction with its opening and the season opener of Westchester Cars & Coffee, HQ Auto Vault will conduct tours of the new facility and offer opening-day specials, as well as memberships. For more information, visit the website, Facebook and Instagram.  

HQ Racing

Before the end of the year, the remaining 35,000 square feet of the HQ Auto Vault building will become a brand new state-of-the-art, world-class go-kart racing experience with the opening of HQ Racing, which claims it will be the “largest indoor/outdoor multilevel Go-Kart track in the United States.”  

Though the plans are still in the “vault,” Peekskill Herald was able to grab exclusive information on HQ Racing. The cavernous space — which once held an enormous refrigerator, rows and rows of pallets of beer, kegs, promotional merchandising, and all of the delivery trucks that were filled nightly with merchandise — will now be transformed into a multilevel, indoor/outdoor go-kart race track, complete with a catwalk and terrace for people to watch the races. 

HQ Racing says it will be a world-wide premier destination in the go-kart industry. It has teamed up with Sodikart, a world leader in the karting industry, to create the multilevel track, and will have Sodikart single-seat electric and gas-powered go-karts, as well as tandem go-karts, specifically for use by people with disabilities. Sodikarts are known world-wide for their chassis, performance, and winning tradition in competitions on race tracks all over the world. The hope is that HQ Racing in conjunction with Sodikart will bring people from all over the world to experience this one-of-a-kind track. A bigger hope is that the track will bring tournaments from around the world, along with visitors, to Peekskill.

Nearly 35 million Americans participate in the sport/hobby of go-karting every year. With its affordability, universal appeal, safety restrictions and speed limits you find at most tracks, go-karting in 2025 is very safe and enjoyed by individuals of all ages. But go-karting extends beyond just entertainment. It is a serious hobby for many and a legitimate career in professional motorsports. Professional go-kart races take place all over the world each year.

For example, the SKUSA SuperNats take place in Las Vegas and is one of the largest kart races worldwide, attracting racers from every continent. With HQ Racing building what it calls the “largest indoor/ outdoor multi-level go-kart track in the United States,” Peekskill stands to attract people from all over the nation and the world to race on this track.  

These complementary businesses have the potential synergy to revitalize the Charles Point area. With the addition of the HQ Auto Vault and the land it sits on, Westchester Cars & Coffee will be able to increase the cars and people flocking there Sundays.

With Spins at Factoria next door and the addition of HQ Racing, the family-friendly atmosphere can continue throughout the rest of the week. There’s also Holiday Inn Express down the road on John Walsh Boulevard to house out-of-town visitors drawn to a world-class go-kart race track, dining options at Factoria, a reconstructed Fleischmann Pier and the Riverwalk all within steps of each other. It all adds up to Peekskill building a reputation as a family entertainment destination.

Don’t forget to share this article and let Basil and the rest of the folks at Westchester Cars & Coffee, as well as HQ Auto Vault, know you read about it in the Peekskill Herald.

Visit the Peekskill Herald Events Calendar Features and the Peekskill Herald Event Calendar to see more local events or to add your event.

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