Considering the last minute change, the event went off without a hitch.  The change in venue ended up being to the advantage of one attendee, the Helios yellow 300D with black badging and door surrounds I had affectionately dubbed bumblebee arrived on the back of a tow truck.   Poor old bumblebee wasn’t starting, due to a blown glow plug fuse.

Turns out one of the glow plugs had shorted internally.  We were then treated to an impromptu demonstration of how to troubleshoot a glow plug issue in the older series glowplugs while eating rather excellent bacon and egg rolls. Since we were at MB Spares and Service, a replacement glow plug and fuse was on hand.  About 30 minutes later bumblebee roared into life again.

Bumblebee was the third car that suffered from an issue on the trip, which I think is testament to how W123 owners use their cars.  There was a Queensland car on the first day with a plugged fuel filter and apparently a local car suffered an engine issue, which is a shame.

The other interesting thing I saw was a Turbo wagon under construction.  On all the internet sites, the accepted wisdom is that the 617A does not fit in right hand drive vehicles due to clearance issues with the steering box.   Having seen the turbo being test fitted with an NA engine, its clear that it does fit.  Perhaps not to the standards of Mercedes-Benz, but I think the real reason why there was no right hand drive turbodiesels is that Mercedes-Benz did not see the market for them.  The not fitting thing seems like a convenient excuse.

Its been well documented that Mercedes-Benz did not originally plan to make a right hand drive version of the W123 wagon.  It was only due to the fierce lobbying of the UK importer that they did.  I suspect there could have been right hand drive Turbodiesels had the same sort of case been made.  Even if a little engineering was required.

seeing the wagon under construction, it is easy to see how different the OM617A is to the NA engine.  It is fitted with a much higher capacity oil pump, complete with double row chain.  There is an oil squirter under each piston as well as a tube in the bottom of the piston for the oil squirter to cool the piston.   In addition, on this car, the crankshaft is being balanced for a manual transmission.

After the farewell breakfast, I went and checked out the Australian National Museum with my family before heading back to Sydney around 3PM.   It was a really hot day, but the 240D did very well in the heat. The AC keept me very cool.  The coolant temperature sat around 90c at most times, going up to 100 during long sustained hills.   The uprated condenser I installed seemed to have done wonders.

From leaving home Friday morning to returning Monday evening, I covered 1,022km in the 240D.  Probably because I left later, I didn’t see a single W123 on my drive home.

Reflecting back on the event, I think one of the key things that made it so good was its flexible nature.  There was something for everyone.  Tt was perfectly fine for attendees to pick and choose the parts of the event that suited them.   Some like me wanted to do the whole thing.  Others just the show and shine, or something in the middle of those extremes.

Canberra is a very good central location for such events. It was also great to see how well all the interstate clubs embraced it.

I also think having no registration cost was great.  Its much better for each activity to be user pays, or in the case of the dinner room booking, sponsored.  I was very happy to be part of this event.  I am looking forward to mounting my grille badge on the 240D.  It seems unlikely that 80+ W123s will ever be assembled again in Australia.

The post W123 50th Anniversary – Day 4: Farewell and return appeared first on .

50 years later, the Australian Mercedes-Benz clubs and the W123 facebook group, led by MBCACT are celebrating the anniversary of this model that appealed to taxi drivers and luxury car buyers alike.

The event is being held in Canberra, as its the most centrally located city for such an event, being very accessible from both Sydney and Melbourne, and reasonable accessible to Adelaide and Brisbane.

The core of the event is over the Australia day long weekend.  Today is mostly about getting to Canberra and attending the welcome BBQ.   The event has been designed to be as accessible to W123 owners as possible.

Instead of a fixed agenda and a cost to register for the event, it has been set up as individual events that people can choose to attend or not-attend as they like.   That means some people may choose just to attend the show and shine only, while others like me will attend the entire thing.   I think this is the best way of doing things.   That includes there being no event hotel.  People can choose to stay where they want in Canberra that fits in with their budget.   On car events, I prefer to choose basic accommodation as I’m only using it to sleep, and don’t spend any time in the room.  It just needs to be clean, have air conditioning, a private bathroom and decent parking.

While a lot of the heavy lifting to set this event up has been done by MBCACT, each of the state clubs had a volunteer to be part of the event committee.   I volunteered to be the MBCNSW representative.   This involved creating a drive down for those who wanted to do the entire event.

We met up with a group from MBCQ at Pheasants Nest to do the main part of the drive down to Canberra together.   In the end we had 12 cars, although we picked up one of them along the way.   Seven from NSW and Five from Queensland.   That included two coupes (both 280CE’s) and a wagon (at 300TD), with the rest sedans.   The sedans were made up of 240D, 300D, 230E and 280E models.     I would have liked a few more cars from NSW, but I know quite a few people are driving down tomorrow.   Mileages in our group ranged from the 300TD with almost half a million kilometers to one of the 300Ds that only had 28,000km.

We drove together from Pheasants Nest to Weereewa Lookout at Lake George.  I found my 240D was able to maintain normal freeway speeds on all the hills except for one.  I think that is pretty good.   This was with my AC on max the whole time.

At Weereewa Lookout we stopped to get some photos of our whole convoy.  From there, we went our separate ways to our various accommodation.

At 6PM, most of us met up at Black Mountain Peninsula for a welcome BBQ.   I was impressed by the number of cars we had at the BBQ, given how many are coming in tomorrow.   The event was kindly catered by one of the MBCACT members, which was incredibly generous.   There were a good number of local cars as well as quite a big contingent from MBCV and at least one car from South Australia.     There was a good variety of cars in various different colours.  Its a great reminder that it used to be possible to buy cars in colour, instead of monochrome like today.  There were a few cars that are now rare like the 230 and 250.

The weather was the total opposite of the original Launch in Stuttgart. It was hot and sunny, and I am very glad I had my A/C regassed for this event.

The post W123 50th Anniversary – Day 1: Drive to Canberra appeared first on .

We stayed in the pub in Bombala.  I generally only book places that have private bathrooms, so I must have missed that it didn’t.   Having said that he rooms were very nice and the food was great.  The bed was the most comfortable of the trip.

As we drove out of Bombala, the sun was rising over the Monaro region.   The sunrise illustrated the high country landscape and the farms along the route.   The road was great and the cars were running well.

Originally we planned to drive to Bredbo, but we decided to refuel in Cooma instead.   This worked out well, as while Bredbo has a pie shop, it does not seem to have a service station.  In Cooma, we filled up all the cars and had breakfast at McDonalds.

After all the troubles I had with my car the day before, it was going very well.  I was getting occasional noise from my rear left wheel when turning, but none of the previous issue.   The noise was also different.  The noise led me to believe that its probably not a wheel bearing issue.   I suspect part of the handbrake mechanism, perhaps that little spring, has come loose.  It is probably moving around as I corner and the ends of the lug nuts are scraping against it.

A few people were very keen to get home by dinner time, and one of our group had a flight to catch, so we had fewer and shorter breaks today to move along.   Everyone was keep to complete the full route then be home for dinner.

We continued north, through the outskirts of Canberra and then up through Gunning and Crookwell.   Crookwell was our lunch stop, at another Bakery.   The lamb pie was the best I’ve had all trip and the Vanilla slice was good, although a little too much icing for my liking.

The road from Crookwell up to Georges Plain was excellent, full of long sweeping curves, elevation changes and great scenery.   The only downside was that there were many caravans on the road, and a Nissan Patrol that couldn’t climb hills.   One of the guys is interested in buying a 280CE, so had a turn of the white car during this section and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was around here that the 380SEC started playing up more.   So far it had only given issues while idling.  However, on multiple occasions it cut out while at road speed.   Most of the time it would restart while coasting in neutral, but not always.  Luckily there was not much traffic on the road.

As we passed through Perthville, we saw a 450SLC for sale by the side of the road.   One of the guys went back to have a look it it, and it was in a sorry state.   Rust in the firewall, chassis rails, holes in the floor and more.   It was a D-Jet car and a sad way for an early 450SLC to go.    I suspect its destiny is a wrecking yard like the one we saw on Saturday.

After a good drive though to Lake Lyell, we all went our separate ways.   A couple of us refueled in Lithgow, and then took Bells Line of road back.   I hate the Great Western Highway with a passion, so Bells line was the obvious choice.  It was very foggy, but the traffic was light and it was a fairly relaxed cruise home the back way.

After I rolled into the garage, I checked my odometer and I had travelled 3,883km in 6 days.  My 450SLC is now almost at 318,000km.   I have a few things to attend to.   Obviously the noise from the wheel, whatever it is.   The A/C, and the starter motor has started playing up, not always engaging.

All the cars and drivers made it back home safely.

Overall, the trip was great and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was a great break from work and we saw a lot of Australia I have never seen before.

The post The Long Way Euround – Day 6: Bombala to Sydney appeared first on .

Unlike last year, there was a fairly decent size group from MBCNSW going down for the event.   They were driving down early this morning.   In the last couple of years I have been going, I prefer to drive down Saturday afternoon, attend the pre-show dinner and stay over in Canberra.    It makes for a far more relaxed weekend.    I stayed in the Ibis Budget hotel up the road from the event for only $90 per night.  I thought this was well worth it.    That meant I didn’t join the rest of the NSW group, who arrived later in the morning.

As well as attending the dinner, which I always enjoy, I was also able to take the car for a wash the evening before the show.    I entered my car in display only this year.   MBCACT has a great system where they have gold class, which is proper concours, silver class which is basically a road class for cars that are regularly used, and then display.   This is a system I wish we would adopt in NSW.    One of the things that works well about it, is that if you have won road class, you have to compete in gold class the next time.

Most of my cars are suitable for silver or road class. However, my 560SEC is more of a driver and fits better in display only.   I was parked next to a very nice 380SEC with only 104,000km which was naturally being judged.

As well as the system of judging, the other things I like about the ACT event is how they try to park the cars along with other similar models.   For example 123s and 114/115s together, 126s and 116s and so on.   I think this makes for a much better display.   The ACT club also normally do very well with older cars, like the 170D that was on display this year.   In other years they have had good displays of roundies, W110s, 114/115s etc.

This year the event was in a new location.   I understand the council in Queanbeyan no longer allow cars on Queanbeyan park, which is a shame as that was a superb location.   This event was held at the racecourse.  It wasn’t a bad location, but it was a bit cramped compared to the last few years.

As this was the 2024 ACT German car show, the other German car marques were on display.   The BMW and Porsche displays are far more focused on modern performance cars that don’t hold a great deal of interest for me.  However, the BMW display had a few really nice models on display such as a nice E24, nice survivor E3, and plenty of E30s.   Didn’t see to many E28s which is a model I like.    The VW display was tilted towards Beetles, Kombi Vans and Karmann Ghia’s, with some modern VWs for good measure.   The Audi display was quite small, and there was a Borgward and Trabant.

Overall the Mercedes-Benz display was a bit smaller than in other years.   Not sure if this was the location, or perhaps there were competing events in Canberra this year. In addition, it was such a shame to see the 170D have its guard bent by a W126 LWB that misjudged the turn.  The damage is eminently fixable, but that won’t make the owner feel any better.   Despite that, there were still some real highlights in terms of the cars on display.

The biggest one for me was the pristine 1981 300TD Wagon.    It really was immaculate.   It had a little over 200,000km on the clock, but it looked like it had less than half of that.   Most of these cars were used up as family cars, yet this one remained totally original, even down to the radio delete plate.   I would own it in a heartbeat.   There is a big W123 event planned for the Australia day long weekend in 2025, to celebrate 50 years of the W123.  I suspect this wagon is one of the best in the country and it will be interesting to see it against the other wagons at that event.   I’m already starting to get my 240D ready.

Next I really liked the Black 220SE Coupe.  I have a soft spot for the W111 coupe and cabriolet models, and this car was very nice.   Black with a red interior is also a colour combination that suits the model far better than the more ubiquitous white.   Given our climate, not many were delivered in that combo, and I am not sure if that car was originally sold in Australia or not.

I also liked a W115 240D.  I’m not sure of the name of the colour, but it was a sort of burnt orange.  It was a lovely original car from Wagga.   It also had all the things you would expect to see in a country delivered Australian W115, such as the stone guards, AWA speakers, towbar etc.

There was also a nice selection of cars from MBCNSW.   MBCNSW members did quite well with some of the awards on the day too.  My standout pick was the 1985 280SE in Manila Beige.  Like the 300TD wagon, it is a real time warp and such a lovely car to see.

I really enjoyed the day and was glad I made the trip down.

The post 2024 ACT German Car Show appeared first on .

If I was just going to view the display, it would be possible to do the whole thing in a day trip.   However, to display a car makes it a very long day and I would likely be very drowsy on the drive home.

When I last attended the show in 2019, I found a very well priced Canberra hotel that had secure, undercover parking.   This was perfect for displaying my 250SE, that I prefer not to park outside overnight.    That hotel has since closed down.

I decided not to take my 250SE this year for a few reasons.   Firstly, we’ve had four ‘once in a century’ weather events in the last year or so on the east coast of Australia.   We are still in a La Nina weather pattern, so I figured a car with a closed roof was preferable.   In addition, my 250SE has been playing up a bit, and my mechanic thinks we may need to send the injection pump off to be rebuilt.

Based on that, I went with my 560SEL.   I’ve never displayed it at a show before, and it’s a great car for long distance cruising.   I took the 450SLC to the Wheels event earlier this year, and the national rally,  plus the front screen seal leaks in torrential rain.   The other option would have been my 560SEC, but the SEL has nicer paint, and the SEC has a few oil leaks that will be repaired in the next couple of weeks.

I think I made a good choice as it was torrential rain pretty much the whole way down.   There was even some light hail at one point.   I also discovered after 2.5 years of owning the 560SEL, the AM function does not work on the Becker 868.   I was going to tune into the AFL grand final.  In the end I found an FM station broadcasting it.

This time, I left the Canberra hotel selection a bit late.  By the time I actually booked, reasonable options were few and far between.    In the end I found a Ramada Encore in Belconnen for a decent price.   It was about 25 mins away from the show, but the price was right.   Surprisingly options in Queanbeyan were more expensive than Canberra.

The parking was pretty terrible.   Two small parking lots with narrow spaces and SUVs/Utes wall to wall.   I arrived at 5:30PM and it was already mostly full.   The room was clean and functional, and had the best water pressure of a hotel shower I’ve used in ages.

As well as the show, I was attending a pre-concours dinner.   This was quite a good event and I was able to catch up with a few friends I had not seen in a while due to all the COVID lockdowns.

Of course, all this driving in the rain meant the car was filthy and in no state to be put on display.   Luckily a friend from Sydney had also driven down and found a 24 hour car wash in Fyshwick (an industrial area of Canberra).    We met there at 10:30PM to give the cars a quick wash.

We went with the touchless laser wash, which wasn’t cheap but did a decent job of the cars.   Then a quick wipe down with rags to remove any excess water.     It’s good to know of this place for future shows.

Arriving back at my Canberra hotel saw the parking completely full.   In the end I parked in a Chemist warehouse across the road.   I didn’t think they would tow me away parking there from 11:30PM Saturday to 7:30AM Sunday.    There was even an undercover section, but I figured I wouldn’t chance them closing the gates and locking me in.

Assuming I go again next year, I think I will try and find a hotel with better parking and book earlier.   Most hotels in Canberra don’t seem to offer undercover parking.   There is one that other club members park at right downtown, but that is very expensive.   I may even look at other parking options and then look at hotels nearby.

The show itself was excellent, with a really good mix of cars and all the major models represented.   It was a beautiful day for the show – started a bit cold but then turned into a lovely sunny day.

The drive back was fairly uneventful, just lots of traffic.   NSW had a last minute public holiday on Thursday to celebrate the life of Queen Elizabeth II.   A lot of people took the Friday off and turned it into a long weekend.

I wonder if the business council lobbied the government for a Thursday holiday for this very reason.   Otherwise Thursday as a choice made little sense.  It also allowed business to encourage workers to use up annual leave balances which are still high after travel restrictions.

Of course the NSW Government wanted to get into the act too, and declared that the ‘long weekend’ was also a double demerit point period.   I generally avoid driving during these periods, as not only are they are blatant cash grab that does nothing to improve road safety.  You can loose more than half your points for 11km/h over the speed limit, while nothing is done about seriously dangerous driving like tailgating.

It was a good weekend, and I am keen to do the show again.   Before I take the 560SEL for a road trip again, I need to sort out the vibration at 110km/h.  It feels like I have lost a wheel weight or something like that.

For next time, I would also get more organized about my Canberra hotel.

The post Road trip to Canberra for the ACT German car show appeared first on .

I decided to make a weekend of it – stay down Saturday evening and then attend the show Sunday morning.   It worked out quite well – I attended the show from 9Am to 11:30 and then headed back to Sydney.    I stayed in the same hotel as the ACT German Car show.   The Woden hotel that offers reasonable prices and loads of secure undercover parking.   The show itself is held in a park in Belconnen near a lake.  A great spot and easy to get to.

The show was quite good – everything from a rare Bentley Continental (the real one, not the VW) to pre-war Packards to a beat up old Camry.    Some of the highlights for me were:

• The 50’s Ford Convertible with the folding metal roof – 40 years before the SLK.   I saw a similar car the Concours D’Elegance of America.  Given how rare these cars are, it is great to see one in Australia.
• A Chrysler 300H.  I prefer the rear end of the G, the H is still a very impressive automobile and the dashboard is almost out of the Jetsons.
• The Pre-war Packards.   The 1927 model even had a spot to carry your motorcycle!
• A lovely red Austin 3 Litre.  These cars are rarely seen in Australia.
• A black Corvair Coupe.  The Coupe has such elegant lines.  One of the most innovative cars to come out of the United States in the post war era.
• Seeing a 220SE Cabriolet parked next to its contemporary – a 230SL.
• Getting a tour of all the clever touches of a 1967 VW Microbus camper.

If you’re in Canberra,  the Marques in the park show is well worth stopping by.   I’m glad I went and checked it out.   If I go again, I will drive my car into the display field.   This show is rather informal, you don’t need to be a club member to participate.    I like these informal shows.

The post 2019 ACT Marques in the park appeared first on .

MB Spares and Service closed down the spares side of their business a couple of years back to focus on the service and restoration.    The spares business catered for both new and used parts.    So they can consolidate down into one building, excess used stock was on sale today.   Having a stock of good used parts is quite useful for a restoration and service business.  The point of the sale was not to liquidate the entire stock of used parts, but bring it down to a level that made sense.

I didn’t have urgent needs, but keeping these classic cars on the road can be quite expensive.  I’ve found its generally a good idea to buy commonly used parts cheaply when they are available.     It is difficult to predict what you might need in the future, so easy to get quite silly during these sales.   I focused on things that would not make sense from insurance.   For example, even though they had some good rust free C107 doors, if my car is hit and needs a new door, I will get this from insurance.    If on the other hand I crack a front headlight, having a spare one is better than $800 excess.

Considering the effort to dismantle the cars and store the parts, the prices were very reasonable.   I am surprised more people from Sydney didn’t make the trio down given the wide range of inventory.     There was so much there it was even tempting to look at parts for models I would be interested to own in the future!  In the end pragmatism ruled and I ended up with some things that I should be able to use easily, and are not too difficult to store.

Some of what can be seen in the boot of my 300SE includes a W126 front grille, a W126 alloy wheel, a 300SE radiator, a W126 front headlight, set of W111/W108 headlights, a window regulator for the 300SE and a mirror motor for the 560SEC.

The most pressing repair is the front left window regulator on my 300SE.   The good used unit I picked up should be great here.

This was also the first time I have taken a road trip in the 300SE.    Generally I am either displaying the 250SE in a show, or find the 450SLC or 560SEC beter road trip cars.   The 300SE was a better choice for this trip, as the MB tex interior is less likely to be damaged if I was carrying something inside the car (wrapped up of course).   Also, the 450SLC does not have rear brake calipers at the moment, and the 560SEC is still running lean.

The 300SE performed well on the trip.   I discovered that it has a minor vibration from the front suspension at freeway speeds.   The cruise control does not work either.   I’m not too concerned about cruise control as I don’t really use it much.  I will need to inspect the suspension.

While I was at MB Spares and service, I saw two barn find cars they are working on.   The first is a beautiful W108 250SE.   I understand it was taken off the road in the 1980s and it really is a time warp.   Normally I am not a fan of white cars, but it looked very smart in white with red MB-Tex interior.   They also had a unicorn in the shop, an Australian delivered 300TD W123 with a factory manual transmission.    My preference is the 250SE, but the 300TD is a really interesting car as well.

All in all it was good day – a road trip, some bargains and a poke around an Aladdin’s cave of Mercedes parts!

The post MB Spares and Service Clearance Sale appeared first on .

However, despite the weather there were a few highlights:

• The 280CE 5.0 ‘AMG’ – recently created by MB Spares to show what such a car could have been like if ordered in the 80s
• A few nice 50s models such as 170s, 220s and 300s.
• A couple of nice Pagoda and W111/W108 models.

Outside the Mercedes there were also BMW, Porsche, VW, Audi, NSU, Borgward and others on display.

It was a busy weekend in Canberra with Floriade and the Thai food festival all on.

I took the SLC down to Canberra this weekend, but didn’t display it.

The post 2013 ACT German car show appeared first on .

250SE in front of old Parliament house.

After I had finished work, I headed over to the national library as I had wanted to do some more research on the original owner of the car, the prominent Australian Diplomat Brian C Hill.   I was able to find various newspaper cuttings on him, and also find out how I can request more information from the national archive.

As well as his overseas postings, where apparently he took the car with him on many, he also had various roles in Canberra, making it very likely that this car has not only spent a lot of time in Canberra, but probably done the drive between Sydney and Canberra on numerous occasions.

The post Road trip to Canberra appeared first on .