One of two victims killed in a fiery crash early Sunday morning has been identified by family and friends as a well-known Orange County car influencer.

James Wehr, 27, co-founder of South OC Cars & Coffee, billed on its website as “the world’s largest weekly car show,” was one of two people inside a 2019 McLaren that crashed into a tree at high speed, splitting the vehicle in two and causing it to erupt in flames.

The single-vehicle crash was reported around 12:18 a.m. at Culver Drive and Deerfield Avenue in Irvine, according to the Irvine Police Department

Officers and Orange County Fire Authority crews responded to the scene, where the vehicle was on fire. After firefighters extinguished the flames, two people were found dead inside the vehicle.

James Wehr, cofounder of South OC Cars & Coffee, billed as the largest weekly car show in the world, was killed in a fiery McLaren crash in Irvine on Sept. 13, 2026. (Instagram @southoccarsandcoffee)
A preliminary investigation found that the McLaren had been stopped while heading north on Culver Drive at Deerfield Avenue. When the traffic light turned green, the driver accelerated rapidly and ultimately lost control.

The McLaren veered to the right, struck a curb and slammed into a tree, according to police.

The impact split the McLaren in two before it caught fire, investigators said.

Around 10 a.m. Sunday, a message posted to the South OC Cars & Coffee Instagram account confirmed that Wehr was one of the victims.

“Hi South OC Cars and Coffee family. Unfortunately, we have some really heavy news to share with you all,” the post read. “This morning, just after midnight, we lost our darling son and brother James, in a motor accident.”

Police investigate a fiery crash that killed two people after a McLaren struck a tree, split in two and caught fire in Irvine on Sept. 13, 2026. (Citizen)
According to the South OC Cars & Coffee website, the weekly car shows originally began in the parking lot of a San Clemente Target store. As the Saturday meetups grew in popularity, Wehr and his father, Simon Wehr, eventually relocated the event to the Outlets at San Clemente.

The weekly gatherings were held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., “rain or shine,” and attracted 1,000 to 3,000 vehicles, including “hypercars, supercars, exotics, vintage, classic, muscle and sports cars, hot rods, rat rods, pickups, 4×4’s and motorcycles,” according to the website.

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No registration was required, and spectators were welcome.

Wehr’s mother, Sarah Wehr, who helped her husband and son with the organization, also posted a moving message to her son Sunday evening.

“It’s too soon. We brought you into this world at 2:36am, August 17, 1999, and watched you grow into the magnificent man you are. Your love for people, for your friends and your family, was second to none. I remember your first steps at our home in Perth, Australia,” she wrote on Instagram. “I remember everything. All of it. Your insanely great belly-laugh and your cheeky smile. Thank you for all the years we were blessed to know and love you, James.”

It remains unclear who was behind the wheel of the McLaren at the time of the crash. Police have not officially identified Wehr, nor has the identity of the second victim been released.

The Irvine Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team is investigating the crash. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective David Juarez at 949-724-7047.