The annual Eastern Creek car show is an event I always try to get to. At once point it was probably the largest car show each year in Sydney, although it has been scaled back in recent years. While that is a bit disappointing, it is a very family friendly event, that my kids always enjoy going to. We’ve had terrible weather the last...
Although SUVs are now ubiquitous on Australian roads, there was a time when the wagon was the first choice for Australian families. With the release of the XK Falcon in November 1960, Ford Australia introduced a wagon body style. The XK wagon was based on the American counterpart, but the Australian version featured a shorter rear body, to better suit Australian roads and conditions....
Our July 2025 night drive was a bit unusual. Instead of the suburban outskirts where we normally drive, this was an inner city route. I generally avoid inner city routes, as they are so hard to keep a group together at night. The advantage they have is they require less travel to get to and from the route from most participants. The Seven bridges...
It’s that time of year that we have our neighbourly Christmas in July dinner, at the Pig and Whistle Tavern in Olinda. One may think this is a perfect opportunity to provide a Mercedes fleet update. 1998 Mercedes E430 Elegance My latest acquisition, purchased in late July 2024. Used as my daily driver. Has been reliable, comfortable and that small block M113 4.3 V8...
The 420SEL was now at a point of diminishing returns. I had removed all the parts I particularly wanted, and the car was just taking up space. Body panels are bulky and I don’t’ really have room to store them. I didn’t buy the parts car to make money, I bought it to save some parts I wanted. The plan was to be able...
Our fourth annual road trip in classic cars was the most ambitious yet. There is nothing better than using these cars as they were designed, while seeing parts of Australia I would otherwise never otherwise venture to. All while in the company of a great bunch of guys. It is not the destination that is the point of these roadtrips. The formula for these...
One of the stops on our big road trip to Longreach was the National Transport Museum at Inverell. It was only a minor detour for our group to go and check it out. The museum is in a large shed outside the town. It is quite a big museum, and it is filled with memorabilia as well as the cars. They even had a...
Our almost 5,000km road trip to Longreach had seven cars participate. All seven completed the trip successfully. Of the four such road trips we’ve done, this one probably pushed the cars hardest. Yet we had the fewest mechanical issues. Most of the issues were comparatively minor. As well as the seven core participants, we also had an eighth car – a 1989 420SEL –...
Our final day of the trip started much the same as the others. We set out from Coonabarabran at 6:30AM as we headed towards Sydney. It was quite cold and overcast, so we had to take it slow to ensure we didn’t hit any wildlife. I saw a couple of kangaroos plus some feral cats. According to my car’s outside temperature display, at one...
The penultimate day of our trip had us starting in Queensland not far from the NSW border. Yesterday we had finished up in St George. The morning was yet again quite cold and we rolled out of the hotel at 6:30AM. Our breakfast stop was the bakery in Dirrenbandi, about an hour away. We we drove south, we were greeted with a very impressive...
During my road trip to Longreach, I attended the Qantas founders Museum. Qantas is the second oldest continually operating airline in the world, after KLM. It was founded in Winton, Qld in 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (Q.A.N.T.A.S).. The home base was established at Longreach, based on the railway. The museum covers the early history of the airline as a pioneering...
Day six was a shorter drive than usual. This was largely because we are travelling through Southwest Queensland, a very sparsely populated part of the country. There are only so many towns that have good accommodation facilities for our party. We started in Tambo, to another very chilly morning. Our party was only six cars, as one of our group had an issue with...
The fifth day of our trip would be the day we finally arrive in Longreach. This trip has been much more about the journey than any one destination, but Longreach is the furthest point from Sydney we will reach. It also marks the transition from our journey there to our journey home. We started out early in Barcaldine. As with our start in Monto,...
After travelling mostly northwards for the last few days, today would be heading west. We started out In Monto at 6:30AM. Due to the clear skies it was quite cold and frosty, 3.5C according to the car. Our first destination was Moura, almost two hours west along the Dawson Highway. While the day started cold, it was already warming up by 7AM. Around...
Our arrival into the sunshine state brought with it heavy rain overnight. By the morning, the rain had stopped, but a thick fog was over the region. Visibility was down to only a car length or two in various sections. I was quite keen to do the Mt Nebo road for our final crossing of the Great Dividing Range before we headed inland. Therefore,...
The second day of our classic car road trip to Longreach and back started in Grafton. As we were able to stick with the planned route, we slept in and met at 6:15AM for a 6:30AM departure. Our first two legs were to take us on the Gwydir Hwy across the great dividing range to Inverell. Our route up NSW has largely had us...
The first full day of our 8 day road trip to Longreach and back started in Maitland. Due to a major landslide on Thunderbolts way, we had a lot more distance to cover than originally planned. If we were going to make it in a reasonable time, we were going to have to be very disciplined around timekeeping and stops. To try and maximize...
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