by Nick Gruzevskis · Published February 19, 2023 · Last modified September 20, 2024
I’ve lost count of how many marques I’ve owned, but I’ve never owned a Ford. My father did though, and it was the proud replacement for his 14-year-old Volkswagen 1600 Notchback, a rare car now, but also assembled in Australia. In 1985 my father purchased a brand new XF Fairmont from Cam Dawson Ford in Geelong. He optioned power steering, air conditioning and alloy...
I’ve owned my 420SEL parts car for a while now, and not really provided any updates as to how it’s going. Overall, I’m glad I purchased the car, although it’s hard to find enough time dismantling it. I’ve been able to recoup some of my money selling a few parts, but I really need to put more effort into this in 2023. I’ve...
Now I’ve had the 300TE registered for a month or so, and have put about 600km on the car, I have a better idea of some of the improvements I want to make to it. I was able to take care of some of the most obvious ones right away. I’ve been ordering some parts over the last couple of weeks that...
For years the W116 has lived in the shadow of the W126. The W126 is often lauded as one of the best cars Mercedes-Benz ever made. Under its skin it can trace its lineage back to the W114 models of 1968, but the styling was fresh and modern and it was light years ahead of everything else on the market. Today,...
I bought my 300TE in generally good condition, but there were a couple of things I wanted to do right away to improve the car. I find this is pretty typical with a ‘new’ car even in great condition as every owner has a different idea of how they want the car and what they care about. The first was the A/C. I...
Now I have sold my 1986 Mercedes 300SE, time to introduce its replacement, a 1990 300TE. I had been keeping my eye out for a good driver quality S124 wagon for a while. I wanted a car I could use for things like taking my kids bikes around and so on. The S124 really fits the bill for this. I think these...
Today I sold my 1986 300SE W126. It was the right decision to sell, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to miss the car. It wasn’t the nicest 300SE in the country, but in some ways it was like a favorite pair of shoes, comfortable and familiar. I originally bought the car as a daily, and I was on full registration for...
Last night was the first MBCNSW night drive of the year. This month we tried something a little bit different. Previously inner city drives have been a bit of a failure as the group got separated and lost. This time, we tried again with a few changes. Firstly, we kept the route quite simple. Secondly, we had a muster point halfway along the drive. ...
The Citroen DS is known for the quality of its ride. The books use epithets such as ‘Magic carpet ride’. There is a bit of puffery in that statement, but the sentiment is right – the ride is normally very good. Recently my DS has become the worst riding car that I own. Something was clearly wrong. The biggest impact on ride quality...
Today was the first Mercedes-Benz club event of the year. It was the first of a couple of drives, organized by past presidents of the club. This drive was organized by our immediate past president and started in Berowra. Next week the previous past president is organizing a drive down south. The route was pretty similar to one we have used before as Night...
For sale: 1979 Mercedes-Benz 280SE. Australian Delivered. Update model with the nicer velour carpet and full wood trim. Original Becker Mexico radio. Well optioned including alloy wheels, sunroof etc. 906 Grey Blue with cream MB-Tex interior, both in great shape. Original books, data card, and service history for the first half of the cars life. A lot of work in the last twelve months...
For Sale: Australian delivered W126 300SE in striking signal red and cream MB-Tex interior. Both interior and exterior in nice shape. Car was repainted by the previous owner. I’ve owned the car six years and it was my daily driver until the covid lockdowns. Since then I have a different job and I’m not driving it as much as I used to – time...
A couple of months ago an eagle eyed viewer of my Instagram feed asked my why my 560SEL doesn’t have a Hirschmann Antenna. Given how original the car is, it was a good question. I had never really noticed what antenna the car had, other than it worked. Since I have the original Becker, I really should have the original Hirschmann Antenna...
I recently spent two weeks in Surat Thani, Thailand. On the way back, the flights from Surat Thani to Bangkok do not line up with the flight back to Sydney. Therefore, I had an afternoon to spend in Bangkok before returning home. It turns out there is an amazing classic Mercedes (and select other models) restoration shop very close to the airport. It...
Surat Thani is a mid sized city in southern Thailand. It is home to about 120,000 people and is a regional centre for agriculture. The main business is trade in crops such as Rubber, Coconuts, Palm oil etc. It is not a tourist destination, but it does function as a connection point for those traveling to islands like Koh Samui via ferry. I’ve...
Citroen / Jaguar / Mercedes / Misc
by admin · Published December 19, 2022 · Last modified September 15, 2024
With yet another year almost finished, time for an update on the Classic Jalopy fleet. Similar to last year, I will go over what I did with each car, any issues, and future plans. As with last year, I don’t own (or desire) a modern car, so these cars are used as a combination of hobby and everyday transport. Last year I had a...
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