BELMAR — There's nothing like a classic car show on a warm night at the beach. Except, Saturday night's event was January. And, police nor the borough knew it was happening until 20 minutes before cars inundated the beach area.

Belmar police said they were caught off guard by a "Pop Up Car Meet" promoted on social media to start at 8 p.m.

"Within twenty minutes, the entire beach front was filled with vehicles participating in this event," Belmar police said in a statement. Extra patrols were called in and help summoned from surrounding communities as cars from all over the state headed for Belmar, according to police.

A video by MarkT Films, taken at the Belmar meet and posted on Facebook showed cars with loud mufflers revving their engines going up and down Ocean Avenue, and large crowds gathered on the sidewalk, as well as outside a 7-Eleven store.

The video clip, seen below, ended with Belmar police cars arriving at the pop-up meet with their lights and sirens going.

Police said they issued "numerous summonses" for motor vehicle violations and for violating the borough noise ordinance.

A group called New Jersey Automotive Events posted about the meet on their Facebook and Instagram accounts.

The group also has promoted other car meets around the state, including a November 2019 movie night for the opening of "Ford v Ferrari" at Regal Cinema in North Brunswick, a Nissan meet in Edison in November and a large show in October 2019 in Linden, which also was a fundraiser.

The Belmar meet digital flier posted the expected mild temperatures, in the 60s, and said the meet would run from "8 p.m. until infinity."

Police said there were no major incidents during evening and all vehicles left the area by about midnight.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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