With 2025 completed a few months ago now, it is time for an update on the fleet. As with both 2023 and 2024, I drove my fleet of classics around 18,000km over the year. Unlike last year, I needed to be towed twice this year, although one of them was my own fault for running out of fuel and my wife’s modern cars also...
In my first drives of the Daimler, one of the things on my list to fix was the tachometer. When I first got the car, I had it converted to modern electronic ignition. The Jaguar V12 always had electronic ignition, however it originally used a system called OPUS. On my car, the ignition system had been messed with and the OPUS box wasn’t working....
Back in 2013, I visited the Louwman Museum. I’ve always regarded it as the best automotive museum I have ever visited. A few weeks ago I was in Belgium for work. I had a Saturday free, so decided to visit again and see if the collection had changed. Since I was in Brussels, It was just under two hours on the train to get...
Autoworld Brussels is a rather excellent car museum in Brussels, Belgium. I’ve been a couple of times, in 2013 and 2025. While the core collection doesn’t change all that much, there is a section that is probably about 20% of the museum that is for rotating special exhibits. When I visited last year, the special exhibit was for the cars of Maserati. I really...
Today was the final day of the 50th anniversary of the W123 event and what a great event it was. Originally the plan was to have a farewell breakfast at the Girl Guide hall of Queanbeyan. However, they suffered a plumbing disaster, so instead of going to the hall, they made breakfast at MB Spares and Service, in Fyshwick. Considering the last minute change,...
Day 1 was about getting to Canberra. Day 2 was all about using and enjoying the cars. And Day 3 was about getting as many together as possible. We started out with a cars and coffee event in Fyshwick. This was somewhat of a warm up for the main event, and allowed cars within a few hours drive of Canberra to come in for...
The second day of the 50th Anniversary of the W123 started with a swap meet. Day 1 had been about getting to Canberra and a welcome BBQ. We assembled at Black Mountain parking lot, which was the departure point for the Scenic Drive we would do later. This was a great location to do it, as the parking lot was basically empty. There was...
In January 1976, the W123 was launched on a cold and snowy day in Stuttgart. It would prove to be one of the most iconic models in Mercedes-Benz history. The W123 has since become a bit of a cult classic. It is still probably the best entry point into classic Mercedes-Benz ownership. 50 years later, the Australian Mercedes-Benz clubs and the W123 facebook group,...
Led by the MBCACT, the state based Mercedes-Benz clubs are planning a major event for the 50th anniversary of the W123. The W123 is one of the more significant models in Mercedes-Benz history and so it is an important milestone. I’ve been slowly tidying up my W123 since I purchased it. However, I had a couple of last things I wanted to do before...
The old Pacific Highway is an old favorite and was actually the first of these night drives, back in 2021. It had been a couple of years since we did it, so I added it back to the schedule with a slightly adjusted route. Due to the W123 event and the Australia Day long weekend, we had the drive a couple of weeks earlier...
This morning I attended the monthly St Ives Auto Brunch event. Most of the other cars and coffee events in Sydney are quite one dimensional, but St Ives is all about variety which I like. I last attended in September last year, and it was a lovely summer day today, worth going before it got too hot. I took my 1973 Daimler Double-Six Vanden...
When I first got my Daimler Double-Six, I had been using the drivers side petrol tank only. The one on the passengers side looked a bit gungy when I opened up the filler cap and looked inside. The drivers side tank looked nice and clean. Each tank is 45 liters and is mostly independent. Jaguar went to the dual fuel tank system with the...
In the state of NSW, we have very strict rules around using mobile phones, and and increasing number of cameras to detect their use. As I like to stream music from my phone to the original radios in my cars, I needed a system to be able to skip tracks, change volume and answer calls without touching the phone. Most of my cars use...
Back in October, I purchased a 2012 S212 Mercedes-Benz E350 Wagon as a new family car to replace the 2007 S211 Mercedes-Benz E350 wagon. This is a car that my wife primarily drives, I mostly drive my classics. It wasn’t actually that easy a choice to find something we liked. Specifically we wanted: A car, not an SUV or Ute. Large cargo area that...
While this site focuses on the older cars I own and drive daily, none of these cars are the primary family car. Since August of 2016, my wife has been driving a 2007 Mercedes-Benz E350 S211 wagon. This has been the primary family car until October of this year. During that time, the car covered around 88,500km over 9.3 years. It has now been...
Our final night drive for 2025 was to be a shorter one than the November Bilpin drive. Since everyone is busy around Christmas time, we moved the drive a week earlier and planned something shorter. Instead of a big drive, the focus of this one was to try a late night dessert truck in Homebush. To get at least a reasonable drive in, we...
For the last couple of years, our November night drive has taken us to Bilpin for a late night drive up Bells Line of Road for apple pie. This is a drive best done in warmer weather, so November works well before people get busy for the Christmas break. Our destination is Royal Gardenia, which is in Bilpin not far from the Blue Mountains...
I’ve noticed the oil pressure light would come on at odd times in my Citroen DS. Mostly when I would rev the engine, for example going up a hill. It would go out if I would back off. The way the light would come on at odd times made me think that the fault was probably more with the sender unit than actually low...
By October 1972, the Daimler Saloons were all based on the Jaguar XJ. The old 420 based Sovereign had finished production in 1969, and the DS420 limo had a separate price list. That car had a broad appeal, finding buyers from Royalty to funeral homes. This price list is for the UK market. The Jaguar Price list of the same period also offered the...
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