I’m glad they didn’t cancel, as it was still a really good event.  St Ives is always about variety and this month’s smaller showing delivered.

I took my 1990 300TE along to the event.  It was the first time I have taken the 300TE to St Ives.  There was one other W124 (a coupe) and a couple of W123 coupes.   I was quite impressed with the citrus green car, which was for sale.

As well as that they were a few nice Lotus, a couple of 80s Ferraris, a Citroen XM and DS and a couple of 80’s Honda Hatchbacks.  You never see those anymore.   Even with a smaller show, it was still very much worth the visit.   As would be expected due to the weather, there were more modern cars than usual.  There were still some really nice classics though.

Cars and Coffee events are probably going to be impacted least due to high fuel prices.  Most people attend a cars and coffee event near where they live, so distances are much shorter.  This is certainly the case for me.

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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 Plas on its first car show outing, at least under my ownership.

The MG club had obviously decided to go in a group and they had a great line up of MGs at the front of the oval.  It was quite impressive.

Some of the cars I liked the most were:

• A really nice turquoise series 2 XJ6
• A couple of great early rotary Mazdas
• A time warp early W123 230 Carby
• Totally original red Saab 900
• Mercedes 220S Roundie

Getting out of the event was far easier this time.  They had big signs and marshal to stop people trying to turn right as they exit the venue.  There is a U-turn bay just up the road, so turning right is not necessary and needs to turn across four lanes of traffic.

While some cars arrive very early and end up parking in the unpaid areas, before the organizers are there to collect the nominal $5 entry fee, I thought it was quite interesting that a group of Ferraris seemed to go around the fenced off areas bypass the entry fee.

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I took my 560SEC and headed over there.   I think many people had the same idea as it was probably the biggest one I’ve been to.   Probably half of the entire oval was full, and there were hundreds of cars in the areas outside the oval.

St Ives continues to be by far the best cars and coffee in Sydney.   Most of the other events are far more one dimensional – dominated by a particular class of car.   The thing that St Ives has is the insane amount of variety.   You still get the Porsches and Mustangs that are the mainstay of other cars and coffee events, but you’ll also get Singers, Lancias, De Sotos, De Tomasos and more.    I normally run into quite a few other people I know on the day.

Getting in was easier than other times I’ve attended as they have the cars do almost an entire lap around the oval before entering on the far side.  This means the cars are not banking up right out to the road.   Despite that, about a quarter of the cars don’t pay the $5 entry fee and park where the event used to be held, or in the public parking lots.

The morning was great and I got to see a lot of really nice cars.  There was a surprising number of Jaguar XK sportscars from the 50s on display for example.

Getting out was the hard part.  It probably took me about 45 minutes to exit the venue.   It didn’t look like they had the second exit operating like they often do, so that reduced throughput.   There was also only one way out of the oval.   Its also amazing how entitled some people are.   When it was clear that most attendees were lining up around the edges of the oval to leave, it was amazing how many people tried to jump the queue and push their way through the middle.   I won’t let these people in on principle but I guess because most of the attendees really value their cars, they mostly got away with it.   It certainly made the exit slower than it needed to be as it became a free-for-all.

Despite the traffic snarls, it was still a nice morning and I look forward to next time I am able to attend.

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While it wasn’t nearly as organized as usual, it worked pretty well, even if it was a bit muddy overall.  Weather on the day was excellent, and so turnout was good.   I took my 1977 Mercedes 450SLC, primarily because it was in the garage and what I had been driving the day before.  Last time, I took my 1981 Mercedes 240D.

Variety was great as usual.   There were fewer Jaguars, Mercedes or Citroen, but there was a good turn out of Porsche.  In particular the 928.   Unlike most car enthusiasts, I’ve never been able to get excited by the 911.   However, I do appreciate a 928 with a manual transmission.   There most have been a least 5 928s on display and one of them had a manual.   There was also a rare manual R107 350SL.

There was a decent number of Alfa Romeos and even a few nice Lancias.   I also liked a very early Jensen built Volvo P1800.    While I was there, I caught up with a friend in his Citroen D Special, the only Citroen I noticed on display.   I need to get mine out.

Despite the muddy fields, the event was very much worth it.   It also gave me a good excuse to wash the 450SLC later that afternoon.

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I last went in December in my Citroen DS.   Today I took my 1981 Mercedes 240D – The first time I’ve taken the car to St Ives.  One of the great things about this event is not just the variety, but that the cars change a lot.   There are some usual suspects that are there most months, but the event can look radically different month to month.  For example, this time, there were very few French cars, and almost no classic Mercedes-Benz, other than a 450SEL and a 300SE W126.

Instead, it would appear that one of the Mopar clubs made a day of it, as there was an impressive collection of Mopar muscle cars on display.   It was great to see them all at the event.   There were also two WO Bentleys and other British rarities like a Bristol and a Sunbeam Rapier.

While I am interested in the older stuff, the event is probably 50/50 modern enthusiast cars and classics, which is a nice mix.    As usual there was a good collection of classic Jaguars on display and I admired a lovely XJ12 I parked close to.   I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it at the all British Day.

I think this is probably the biggest turn since the new format started, with entry to the main oval and a $5 entrance fee.  I much prefer it like that.   For some reason there is a contingent that still parks in the spectator area, which seems a shame.

While the morning started out as very foggy, that soon burned off.  It turned into a warm and humid day and a great way to spend the morning.

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The car has been a project for the last year or so and is finally on the road.    The colour is called Blue Danube and it has an Ivory roof.  Being a late (1975) D Special, it is fitted with Air Conditioning, although this has not been connected yet.

Given I was going to look at a D Special, I took my DS along.   It was in good company with two other D models, both of which are regulars at this event.   It was good timing, as the DS has been in my garage at home for the last month or so, and as the weather heats up, I was planning on swapping it for a car with A/C fitted.   This is probably the last outing until end of February for the car.   My car, being a 1970 model was the oldest of the four cars.

The event was much smaller than usual.   Weather was good, but it has been raining heavily yesterday, including into the evening.   People are often quite busy in December as well.   It was still worth going,  there are always some interesting cars on display.

Probably most interesting was the pre-war Rolls Royce with the turntable and glassware in the back seat.

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I took my Jaguar E-Type this time.   It was a lovely morning to drive a convertible.   I spent more time talking to people I knew than taking photos, so I only snapped a few this time.   I don’t think I even got one of my own car.

As usual there was a great variety of really interesting cars on display.   There was a very original Mercedes W111 coupe with W112 trim, a few really nice classic BMWs, probably the nicest Renault Fuego I’ve ever seen and the normal good variety at this event.

Moving this event to the main oval was a really good move and has eliminated the difficulties in finding a place to park that was previously an issue.    This event is always worth a visit.

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Last Sunday, I had a free morning so decided to go along.   I had the 450SLC in the garage, so took it to the event.   I got there quite early, around 7:15AM.   Back in days past, that was the time you needed to arrive to find a place to park.   However, I didn’t bank on that now this is a paid event, and that the organizers have access to the main oval, this is no longer necessary.   In fact, I got there so early, that I ended up parking in the old location near about 20 other cars, since the main oval was not open yet.

In future, I’ll aim to arrive around 8AM.   The traffic moves pretty well now they are using the main oval.   The main thing to watch is that some drivers are not really thinking when they arrive and park.  Many do not arrange into rows with a wide enough gap to drive between them.  This means you have to be careful not to get parked in.

I took my three kids so I only stayed until about 8am.   There was supposed to be a group from MBCNSW going, but I only met one member who had come separately in his very nice 300CE.

As usual there was a pretty nice selection of cars on display.   This event is always worth it, since its very close to where I live.  It still has by far the best variety of any cars and coffee in Sydney.

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The main showground is plenty big enough for all the cars that want to attend, without the parking chaos of previous events.    Of course, the organizers can improve the event, but they can’t think for the attendees.   Despite having an entire oval to park on, it was hilarious to see people trying to jam cars together in a corner of the oval so they were all blocked in, instead of creating rows with enough room to drive between them.    I made sure I parked facing the access road so I could easily get out.

I took my Citroen DS.   Its always a good car to take to events like this, as its quite different.   But today, it wasn’t.   There were three other very nice DS on display.   There was an original Henri Chapron convertible, plus two other very nice saloons.  The saloons were both later models.

As usual there was a great variety of cars at the show.   Right at the front, there was a line up of Jaguar XKs – there was an XK120 roadster, a drophead and an XK140 roadster.   There were was a contrast between the extremely valuable like a Ferrari F40 to the obscure and interesting.

There were also some other really interesting cars, like a Blower Bentley, Toyota Crown, a Maserati Coupe, Ford GT 40 (I think a replica), and plenty more.

I always really enjoy going to this show, and I like the new format using the oval.    I normally find I run into a few people I know too.

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I took my 450SLC.   It was a good opportunity to take it for a longer drive after finishing the Becker install.   It was also quite dirty from not being used for two months, so I wasn’t too concerned about it getting dirty.   The more I use the car, the happier I am with the Becker.   It sounds really good, even with the factory amp.   The FM injector works well, and it looks so good in the dash.

As usual there was a great selection of cars.   This month the Alfa Romeo club must have had an official event there, as there were a lot of Alfas on display.    There were also a fair few British sportscars that had to quickly put on what tops they had to keep the rain out.    There were other unusual cars like a Lancia Prisma and an Alpine racing car.

Seeing for the first time at Auto Brunch was a Lamborghini Countach 5000QV.   It looked great in black and you forget how low to the ground these cars are until you stand next to one.    The pick for me was the 1959 Ferrari 250GT.   This is owned by a MBCNSW member and is immaculate condition.    It sure drew a crowd.   Both of these cars were good reminders that we should use our classics, and bit of light rain is far better than lack of use.    If you can take out a 250GT in the rain, you can take out an R107.

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