Flashback: 2012 Sydney German Auto-Fest

They Sydney German Auto-Fest is now a major event in the Sydney car show calendar.   There are hundreds of cars to choose from including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche, Audi and some of the smaller brands.   It has even replaced the separate Mercedes-Benz concours event.    However, this show had quite humble beginnings.   I attended the 2012 Sydney German Auto-Fest, back when it was a couple of dozen cars in a parking lot.   I recall that this was the inaugural event, but I could be off a year.

I went there in the 250SE, but I wasn’t sure if you had to register before, so I didn’t display the car.   The original event clearly did better than the organizers had hoped for as the small parking lot where it was held was soon overflowing.    I only had a short time available, but I was able to snap some of the photos that you see there.

Some of the cars that were on display at this event are now favorites to be seen at subsequent events.   This includes the dark blue Pagoda, the red 190SL and the Adenauer.   Compare these photos to the last time I was able to attend – in 2018.   That year was so big it completely filled Gough Whitlam park.   I would imagine the event will need to move to a larger space at some point.

The event continues this year on the 25th of October. Due to being late in the calendar is unlikely to be impacted by COVID-19.   For more information on the 2020 event, please see this link.    I will likely be displaying the 250SE.    I am pretty confident that the 2020 event will easily surpass the 2012 Sydney German Auto-Fest.