MBCNSW February 2024 Night Drive – Heart Attack Run

This months night drive fell on a leap day, September 29.   The next time a leap day falls on a Thursday will be 2054, so it was a night not to be missed.   The main part of the drive was to drive the back roads of southwest Sydney, starting with Mulgoa Road.

Last year we had a drive that started from Krispy Kreme Penrith.  It was quite popular, as a few people bought a box of doughnuts to take home for the family.    This seemed like a good place to start this drive, as it was on the Mulgoa road exit of the M4.    Our destination was the ever popular Chubby Buns burger truck in Campbelltown.    Given we were starting at a doughnut shop and finishing at a burger truck, it seemed obvious to dub this run the Heart Attack Run.

The weather in Sydney on the day was an absolute stinker.   38C and almost 100% humidity.    It had been hot and humid all week, in keeping with a pretty unpleasant summer here in Sydney.    Probably based on the weather, we had five people come on the run.   As with most of these drives, the W124 was the most popular option, with three cars.   A 1986 230E, 1990 300TE and 1991 300E.   In contrast, we had a brand new demonstrator Mercedes EQE Electric SUV.   One of our club members is an automotive journalist and had this car on test.

I took my 1977 450SLC.   At first, the heat was so bad, that the air conditioning struggled to keep the cabin cool, but as the night progressed it worked better and better.

We met up at Krispy Kreme, but this time nobody was particularly interested in doughnuts.  I guess nobody wanted a heart attack after all.  After after a short drive through some heavy traffic areas in Penrith, we entered the back roads in the area.  While they are a bit bumpy in places, it was a nice relaxing drive with very little traffic.     Most of the drive was quite good, although the approach to chubby buns was a bit convoluted.   We had the odd drop of rain due to the humidity, and some quiet entertaining lightening in the distance, but no actual bad weather.

While nobody was all that interested in doughnuts, the Chubby Buns burger truck was a big hit with everyone.    It was great to get out of the house and do this drive after sweltering in my home office all day.