The Bay to Birdwood trip was our 5th annual major road trip in classic cars. This year, we went back to aligning around a major motoring event, the Bay to Birdwood. As usual, the formula was pretty simple, 8 classic cars, touring the back roads and out of the way places in Australia. We avoided motorways entirely, and stayed on sealed roads, mostly through...
Back a couple of months back, I found myself unable to close the rear passengers door of my 560SEL. It would close, but not latch properly. Having a look, I saw the insert in the door striker had disintegrated, so I figured this would be a simple fix. I’ve swapped door strikers on other cars before with no issue, I think on my 450SLC...
I had a great roadtrip in my 450SE, covering 4,350km. However there were a few things I wanted to address now the car was home. I was able to address some of them but there are a few that will take longer. Moisture from AC Ducts After running the AC for a while, I would get drops of moisture from the AC ducts. My...
I recently came across a price list from Lanes Motors in Melbourne for the Mercedes-Benz saloon car range in mid 1973. June 1973 meant that the W116 had just been released, but only the initial models of 280S/280SE and 350SE. The 450SE and SEL wouldn’t be launched until the following month. The W114 and W115 models had been in production since 1968 and the...
Linnwood House is a historic house located in Sydney’s Western Suburbs. The house hosts four car shows each year. I try to get to at least one of them as it is always a very nice and relaxed event seeing all the cars parked around the grounds of the house. Each of the shows the organizers invite some different car clubs to display. This...
The November 2026 St Ives Auto brunch was another great turn out of interesting cars. I went along fairly last minute in my Daimler Double-Six. Its actually a little easier to get in if you go a little later, the line seems to be shorter. As I rolled in, I ended up parked in front of a Daimler 250 V8 in red, which was...
On my recent road trip to South Australia, we managed to visit a number of interesting motoring museums. One of them was Gilberts Motor Museum in Strathalbyn. It was quite an interesting museum, and surprisingly hasn’t been there all that long. The museum is located in an old car dealership and service centre. It only opened during the COVID era, so has been there...
As part of my recent road trip to South Australia for the Bay to Birdwood event, I attended the National Motor Museum. Entry to the museum is part of the Bay to Birdwood experience, but the museum would be well worth a visit at any other time. While the museum has a varied collection, the thing that makes it stand out is the focus...
This month we returned to Palm Beach for a less intensive drive. We last did a similar drive for the 50th night drive last year. Since last month was a long drive, and so is November, I schedule a less intensive one for October. A few months ago we moved the start time one hour earlier. Overall this seems to be working quite well. ...
Yesterday was the annual German car show here in Sydney. This is organized by the Mercedes-Benz club, but generally well attended by the other major German car clubs. I normally taken my 250SE along to this show. This year I didn’t display a car, as I had a family commitment in the city. The location being close to a train station meant I could...
There was a bit of preparation for my 450SE to embark on the 4,200km trip for the Bay to Birdwood. The car was running well, but the main thing to sort out was the air-conditioning. This trip would take us through some pretty hot parts of the country, and I wanted working air to do it. Air Conditioning My 450SE was still running the...
I recently had the opportunity to drive a Series 1 Daimler Sovereign. By this I am referring to the model based on the Jaguar XJ, not the earlier car based on the 420. The Sovereign model was introduced in 1966, as a Daimler version of the Jaguar 420. The 420 was essentially a Jaguar S-Type with a restyled front to resemble the the MK...
Our Bay to Birdwood trip was the 5th annual roadtrip of this nature. We had 8 cars and drivers participate this time, with 25 across all 5. All eight cars returned on their own four wheels, and no tow trucks were required. While we had a few mechanical issues, there was nothing that stopped all eight cars completing the trip. The total distance for...
Our final day of our road trip to Adelaide and back started in Hillston at 0630. Our first destination was Condoblin for breakfast, via lake Cargelligo. We would be taking Lachlan Valley way as our route generally followed the Lachlan River. The scenery was much greener than yesterday, with more farmland. The road was also pretty good too, and it was great to cruise...
Today was the penultimate day of our big road trip to Adelaide and back, and the biggest distance covered. We started early in Broken Hill, leaving at 0630 local time. Broken Hill observes South Australia time, so we lost half an hour heading east. We didn’t have a normal breakfast stop, the plan was to stop a rest area near Wilcannia rather than in...
On Day 6, we started out in South Australia, crossed over into Victoria for Breakfast and then into NSW for Lunch, before ending back on South Australia Time. As usual we left Loxton early and headed to our first destination, Merbein. This was the only part of our drive where we overlap with the route we used to get to South Australia. There is...
After leaving the Finish Festival, we still had a few hours of driving to reach our destination for the evening. We managed to leave around 1400, which gave us a bit of extra time for the drive and to reach our destination. As we went to leave, I had a small issue with my car. As I went to start it, it didn’t catch...
Once participants have finished the Bay to Birdwood route, the event is not over. Next there is the finish festival. All the cars participating line up in the expansive grounds of the National Motoring Museum in Birdwood. Not all cars participating in the Bay to Birdwood participate, but most seem to. it is also possible to buy separate tickets for this event. As you...
Today was the actual Bay to Birdwood event, the core thing we based our trip around. And what an event! It really surpassed my expectations. I don’t think I have ever been to a more community oriented automotive event. Perhaps the closest is the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit, but I rate the Bay to Birdwood above that. The event is in three main...
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