All these years I have owned the DS I assumed the boot lid was fibreglass. Fibreglass reproductions are available in Europe for those who want a cheap way of replacing rusted or damaged body panels. However, the DS19 had an aluminium boot lid until May 1957. The previous owner mentioned it was Aluminium, but since these boot lids are so rare I didn’t...
A few months ago I managed to damage the front of the DS while parking it. Insurance will cover the repair to the front of the car, but instead of having the insurance repair match the faded paint, I would prefer to have the front of the car painted well and then pay extra to have the rear panels painted to match. So...
This weeks ad features the Pontiac Tempest. I notice it is wearing the Winter Water Wonderland plate from Michigan – the same as I had on my Jag when I was living in Michigan. GM closed down the Pontiac brand during the global financial crisis but by that point its best was well behind it. During the 2000’s it was offering insipid models with...
Friday and Saturday the Flynn collection was Auctioned off. There were over 130 running cars for sale on the friday night and then the Saturday morning consisted of the parts and some non-runners. Nearly all of them were Rovers. There was a fair amount of interest right around Australia and the Auctioneers did a good job of generating excitement. Therefore the...
The Rover P5 Coupe beat the odds and successfully completed the 320KM trip between Canberra and my workshop. Unlike the Top Gear team, I did not have a support car and mechanics to help along the way. I simply had the rover toolkit (plus a few screwdrivers which were missing), a couple of liters of oil and coolant, and a some radiator hoses...
This morning I got to drive my new Rover P5 for the first time. Initially it wasn’t promising as the car would not start. But it turns out that it was just out of fuel. The auction people put in a few litres and it started right up. It seemed to settle down into a smooth idle and it wasn’t smoking...
The Flynn collection was auctioned off today and I ended up with a car. It is a 1965 Rover P5 MKII Coupe. That sounds great as Rover P5 Coupes are lovely cars. As it is a 1965 model, it is a a MKIIC, which many regard as the most desirable of the 6’s. This car is equipped with the 3 liter six. ...
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...
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