2016 Sydney German Car Show

This year the NSW Mercedes-Benz Club concours and the German car show were combined into a single event.   Overall this seemed to work reasonably well as they opened up additional paddocks and it meant one of the best turnouts of Benz’s for some years.    For some reason the turnout for the other German makes was rather poor, and perhaps they were assuming it was a Mercedes event as there were only a handful of BMWs, Porches and the odd Audi/VW.

The star of the show without a doubt was the 1938 230 Cabriolet ‘A’.   Not only an incredibly rare car but an excellent restoration.   This car was the standout despite a Gullwing less than 10 meters away.

The other noticeable thing was the renaissance of the W116.   Previously hardly sighted at events apart from the 6.9, well maintained examples were particularly well represented, outnumbering most other models entered for judging.  Even more surprising was the dearth of W123’s – none entered for judging and only a couple at the event.  Considering globally the W123 has a lot of interest as a modern classic and the W116 is mostly overlooked, this was quite a surprise.

I entered my car for judging, not because I expect to win (I don’t), but mainly to park it with the really nice cars, and always with the possibility that the real show cars might not turn up on the day!  While my 250SE is in excellent condition, it is not a show car and I don’t have much interest in making it one.

The day started and ended with a fair amount of rain, which given the soft top was wet on arrival back at the warehouse, it gave me a good opportunity to shampoo it.   My neighbour was rather amused to see me hosing off the excess shampoo in the rain afterwards!