The E-Type was going in for its annual service and rego check, with the view to move from full rego to the new logbook based club rego system. In addition, the braking problems that have plagued this car had re-surfaced on the drive back from Oberon. Yet again, the brakes were not releasing properly. I also noticed a fairly bad fluid leak...
Today I was able to drive a 450SEL 6.9 for the first time. I have driven many M117 engined cars (450’s and 560’s primarily) and the big difference is the massive amount of torque on tap with the M100. Regardless of the speed or gear the car launches immediately with even minor throttle input. The car I drove was the imported...
This weeks ad showcases the Peugeot 404, one of the most rugged and dependable cars ever built. There are still 404’s plying their trade as taxis all around the world and the 404 did as much to open up remote areas of the world than the Land Rover or Land Cruiser. The Peugeot 404 is often compared to the Mercedes W114/W115. It’s...
On the 18th and 19th of November the entire collection of the late Dr Flynn will be auctioned in Canberra. There are around 160 cars for sale, most of them rover P4, P5 or P6 models. These cars represent the Rover marque at its very best and provide examples of most of the models offered during that period. Sadly, it would...
I heard this week that the 250SE was the runner up in its category at the recent German Car show and Mercedes-Benz Concours. The German Car show functions as the 2016 MBCNSW Concours. The category was for the W111/W112 Coupes and Cabriolets. This was the first time I’ve displayed the car with the correct headlights and wheel trims and the car is the...
The radial tyre revolutionized tyres and driving and Michelin were the first to bring it to market. All the performance cars of the era wore Michelins. The Michelin Radial X was a revolutionary tyre that spelt the beginning of the end for the Bias Ply tyre. Why do drivers “in-the-know” ride on Michelin “X” tires? Because they know (as you will, too), that...
This weeks Ad features the introduction of the 220SE Coupe, photographed in front of an Austrian castle. The 220SE was introduced at the Geneva auto show in 1961 and was overshadowed by the Jaguar E-Type. The Mercedes W111 Coupe represents one of the most elegant designs of the 1960s and is one of my favourite Mercedes-Benz models. Coupe D’Etat For over half...
This week features a great ad highlighting the Hydropneumatic suspension of the Citroen DS. This car has its ups and downs. Moody? No. French, and logical. When road conditions change, you can change the height of a Citroen car to suit the road. Citroen can do it, and only a Citroen. Deeply rutted road, heavy snowdrift? Uo you go, and pull away with plenty...
This weeks ad features a double page ad featuring the 280SE Cabriolet W111 to the pre war 540K. The choice of the desert scene is rather odd for these type of cars, and the picture feature the American model with the strange front running lights. If you were a prince in the 1930’s, you might have owned a Mercedes-Benz 540K. Today, you can...
This weeks ad tries to link the mainstream 60s models from Mercedes Benz to the racing programmes of the 50s. It is actually not that far fetched as the overhead cam motor in the W108 250SE pictured did have fuel injection and there would have been lessons learned from the racing programme. The ad would have been referring to engineers like Rudolf Uhlenhaut. Ulenhaut...
After my unfortunate DS crash I was able to locate a new old stock bonnet for my DS. The bonnet for the DS is aluminium which makes repairing the current bonnet rather difficult. I have heard that at least in 1955, this was the largest single aluminium panel on a car, but I don’t know if this true or not. I can...
I had ordered a few parts for the 250SE a few months ago but had not yet had a chance to fit them. The first was the winder knob for the front quarterlight on the drivers side. I had found a reproduction one of these on ebay and mine was slightly warped, so the inner disc that hides the screw kept falling out....
This weeks ad focuses on the 1963 mid size Dodge models with the 426 RB motor (note this is not the fearsome 426 hemi engine). As was the focus of the time, the emphasis is on drag strip times. This ad is on the back of another Michelin ad I purchased so it was a bit of free bonus. Once I...
This weeks ad focuses on how innovative a car company Citroen was before it was merged with Peugeot. The two cars shown are very similar to my two Citroens – the Traction on the top and the DS21 below it. They are not quite the same as this is a French made Traction and the DS21 is a Pallas model unlike mine. ...
Today I went to the Citroen Car Club meeting to get the historic rego signed for my Traction Avant. I am not often able to attend these meetings so it was good to catch up with the members. The club had a raffle at the meeting and I even won a prize! I took the DS and it was running really nicely on...
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...
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