2024 Fleet Update

Another year has passed, so time for an update on what is going on with each of the cars I own.   Like last year, I will cover the highlights and lowlights for each car, major work performed, how much I drove them and any plans for the future.

As with 2023, I drove my fleet of classics around 18,000km and suffered no breakdowns.   Classics need regular use and life is far too short to drive a boring modern car.   The cars are listed below in order of roughly how many kilometers I traveled this year.

Highlights and Lowlights

The two car highlight of the year were ‘The Long Way Euround‘ – my big road trip to Victoria, and my family road trip to Tasmania.  I took the 450SLC on the Long Way Euround and put almost 4,000km on the car. The Tasmania trip was in the 300TE.  I didn’t really have any major lowlights this year – some repairs were more expensive than I would have liked, but most of the work I had to do was general maintenance.   I had a couple of annoying issues that meant certain cars were waiting for repairs at various times, but nothing major.

Fleet Changes

Only one change this year, the addition of my 1981 Mercedes 240D.  The 240D was not a planned purchase, but it was such a nice original car, that I could not say no to it.  It is my first W123 diesel and I now understand why these are such a cult car.  I didn’t sell any cars.

Fleet Stats

The average age of my cars is 46.7 having owned each car for an average of 9 and a half years.    The oldest car is my 1965 Jaguar E-Type, built September 1965, and the youngest is the 1990 300TE.    I attended 17 car club events this year, the majority being the monthly MBCNSW night drives.

1977 Mercedes 450SLC

It as a big year for my 1977 Mercedes 450SLC.   I had a lot of Mechanical work done on the car, to prepare it for the Long Way Euround.   Early in the year I took the car on a family road trip to Canberra, before having the timing chain, guides, tensioner, and vale stem seals replaced.   That cured the problem the car had with fouling #1 spark plug.

I replaced the under bonnet insulation, before having the front suspension rebuilt and an upgraded A/C condenser fitted.   Finally after so many years the car has cold A/C on hot days.   The biggest highlight was the Long Way Euround, my 3,900km road trip through Victoria.   The car performed admirably, especially on the twisty sections.   Just before the end of the year, I had a few issues fixed that cropped up on the road trip, including a leaking A/C hose, a broken handbrake spring and the starter replaced.

• KM Driven: 5,700km
• KM on Odometer: 318,000km
• Spend Level: Very High
• Availability: Good
• Highlight: The Long Way Euround
• Lowlight: Uses more oil than I would like after vale seals replaced.
• Ownership:  21 yrs / 56,000km
• Work this year: Timing chain and valve stem seals, Under bonnet insulation, A/C upgrade and and front suspension rebuild, post road trip repairs.
• Plan for 2025:  Replace the rear speaker covers with 3D printed covers that look factory but are slightly larger.

1990 Mercedes 300TE

The 300TE plays the role of a family car more than anything else I own.   Instead of taking my wife’s modern car, I took the 300TE on our family trip to Tasmania, and it did great.   I far prefer driving the W124 to the S211 and it was just as fuel efficient.   The blower motor started making more noise on the trip, but only failed on the very last day. Replacement was a bit of a pain as the first one I purchased didn’t fit.   I also have seen a couple of issues with the new starter running on.   The next issue to tackle is replacing the tailgate wiring harness.   None of the electrics in the tailgate are working anymore, and I suspect the ground wire is broken.   It looks like a rather painful job.

• KM Driven: 4,300
• KM on Odometer: 383,500km
• Spend Level: Low
• Availability: Good – was off the road for around six weeks changing the blower motor.
• Highlight:  Taking the car on a family road trip to Tasmania.
• Lowlight:  The whole saga replacing the blower motor was a pain in the neck, and I’ve had strange issues with the starter.
• Ownership: 2 yrs / 8,700km
• Work this year: Replacing the blower motor. (part 1, part 2)
• Plan for 2025: Replace the tailgate wiring harness.

1987 Mercedes 560SEC

2024 was an uneventful year for the 560SEC.  I ended up using the car a fair bit, putting on 2,400km.   This included a bunch of club events including a trip down to Canberra for the ACT Concours and some good drives.  Of the five W126’s I’ve owned, I’ve now owned this one longer and put more km on it than any of the others.   The only mechanical work was quite minor – repainting the battery tray and replacing the viscous fan coupling.

• KM Driven: 2,400
• KM on Odometer: 176,000mi (283,000km)
• Spend Level: Low
• Availability: Excellent
• Highlight:  Day road trip & ACT Concours Event.
• Lowlight:  None.
• Ownership: 6 yrs, 19,000km
• Work this year: Painted the battery tray and replaced the viscous fan coupling.
• Plan for 2025: Nothing specific.

1987 Mercedes 560SEL

I didn’t drive the 560SEL as much as normal in the first part of the year.  The first reason was the drivers window was stuck down and it took me a while to fix it.  I assumed it would be a regulator and it turned out to be the motor.   Next the odometer stopped working.  As a rule I prefer not to drive a car where the odometer is not working, so I had to wait for the parts to arrive and then repair it.

In the second half of the year, I took the car on a few night drives, and on Youngtimer Sacco day.

• KM Driven: 2,000
• KM on Odometer: 342,000km
• Spend Level: Medium
• Availability: Medium
• Highlight:  Youngtimer Sacco Day
• Lowlight:  Minor issues preventing me from driving the car.
• Ownership:  5 yrs, 15,000km
• Work this year: Drivers side window motor, odometer and uprated AC Condenser
• Plan for 2025: There is a very minor coolant leak that I need to trace and fix. Plus the windscreen washer is not working.   At some point I want to fix the rear reclining seat too.

1965 Mercedes 250SE Cabriolet

After all the work last year, the 250SE was generally running quite well.   I took it on a road trip to Canberra for the 2024 Wheels car show.   During the drive to Canberra I noticed how bad the ride had become, so invested in a new set of tyres.  One of the belts had started to separate internally, and the new set made a big difference.  I also had an oil leak from the heat exchanger fixed.   The the second half of the year I started to notice a lot of vibration from the power steering.  Turned it it was a broken bolt holding the pump on.

I also installed a repaired Becker Grand Prix Stereo.  It is a later (1974) DIN size radio as my dash has been cut, but I have used the smaller knobs so it is not so apparent.   I’m very happy with how it looks and works.

As usual I displayed the car at the Sydney German Auto show.

• KM Driven: 1,200
• Spend Level: Medium
• Availability: Very good.
• Highlight:  Road trip to Canberra
• Lowlight:  None
• Ownership:  13 yrs, 15,000km
• Work this year: New tyres, Becker Radio installed,  Heat exchanger repaired and power steering bolt.
• Plan for 2025: At some point I need to have the cover for the soft top repaired.   A couple of the studs have come off.

1981 Mercedes 240D

The 240D was an unplanned purchase, but I am delighted with the car.   The 240D is a great example of not listening to people on the internet, as all the claims about how they are dangerously slow are total nonsense.  It is not a fast car by any means but it is a really enjoyable car to drive around the city.   There is something to be said for a very simple classic.

I’ve owned three W123s in my life, a 230E, a 280CE and now this one.  I think this is my favorite of the three, but I have other cars to drive if I want something with a bit more power.

• KM Driven: 1,000
• KM on Odometer: 188,500km
• Spend Level: Medium
• Availability: Average
• Highlight:  How good this car is having bought it sight unseen.
• Lowlight:  Nobody got a good photo of the 240D doing a lap of eastern creek raceway.
• Ownership:  8 months, 1,000km
• Work this year: Motor mounts and A/C regas, under bonnet insulation, radio repair, algae in the fuel tank (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7).
• Plan for 2025: Take the car on its first road trip and re-install the original radio with hidden Bluetooth module.  Prepare the car for the 2026 W123 event.

1970 Citroen DS21 BVH

It was a fairly uneventful year for the DS.   With its four cylinder engine and comfortable suspension, it is a great car for driving around on local trips on Sydney’s bad roads.   I used it for a lot of drives like this, especially in the cooler months.   I also took it to a couple of cars and coffee events.   In 2025 I will need to look at replacing the rubber rail around the inner roof rail, as it has cracked and keeps falling down.

I had planned to display it at the All French Day which was cancelled twice.   The council is over sensitive to weather.

• KM Driven: 800
• Spend Level: Negligible
• Availability: Excellent
• Highlight:  No mechanical issues.
• Lowlight:  All French day being cancelled twice.
• Ownership:  12 yrs, 12,000km
• Work this year: None
• Plan for 2025: Replace the rubber trim around the roof rail.

1965 Jaguar E-Type Series 1

It was a bit of a frustrating year with the E-Type.  It was quite a wet year here in Sydney, and every time I planned to get the E-Type down from the hoist where it is stored, it was either raining or about to rain.   Based on that, I didn’t use it nearly as much as I planned. I even took it on a Mercedes Club night drive as the weather was good and it was an opportunity to use the car.

The only mechanical issue I had was a leak from the brake system.   Luckily the car has non-corrosive brake fluid as it dripped onto the 240D.  There is some very minor noise that appears to be coming from the throwout bearing, so at some point a clutch job is likely required, which is engine out on the E-Type.

• KM Driven: 400
• Spend Level: Low
• Availability: Very Good.
• Highlight:  British Car Show
• Lowlight:  Bad weather prevented me from driving the car.
• Ownership:  14 yrs, 13,500km
• Work this year: Leaks in the brakes repaired.
• Plan for 2025: At some point the E-Type will probably need a clutch job.