I arrived at about 7:50AM and the lines to get in were already quite long.  Quite a few people got sick of them and parked in the spectator parking which I think is a shame to save $5.  Probably next time I’ll try to get there a bit earlier.

I took my 1977 Mercedes 450SLC.  I have been driving it this week and my son and I gave it a quick wash the day before.  A friend of mine had his almost identical car there on the day which was unplanned.

The best part of going to St Ives is seeing what interesting and unusual cars will be on display.  Today it was all about Saabs.   I don’t know if it was a event by the Saab Club or just a group of Saab enthusiasts but there were a few really nice cars.   For my mind, the best car of the whole show was the 1979 Saab 99 Turbo.

The car had been restored and it showed, even down to all the decals in the engine bay.   The car must have been such a revelation in the last 70s.  I think the original 99 design is more interesting than the later 900, down to some of the subtle curves in the bodywork and the design of the interior.  The wheels and turbo badges are also a nice touch.   The 900 is still a cool car, but it’s a bit more homogenized.

There were some other nice Saabs there including a black 900 turbo and a pale blue 900.   I prefer the Saabs from then the company was independent, but the later cars still have some interesting touches.

As well as the Saabs, there were some other cars that caught my eye including a Milan Brown 450SEL 6.9 with a cream velour interior.  Milan brown is one of those colours that has incredible depth when the paint is nice, but looks terrible when its a bit faded.  This car has great paint and it goes so well with the velour.  As well as the 6.9 there was a nice Derby Bentley, a very nice blue BMW E24 with a manual transmission.   The Volvo Bertone coupe was striking too.   These are not pretty cars, but so interesting and unusual that I was happy to see it.

In addition to the cars, its always good to run into a few friends along the way and its a great Sunday morning.

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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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I was originally going to take my Citroen DS, but I had left the ignition on, so the battery was flat.  I took my 250SE Cabriolet instead.   While a little overcast, it was a pleasant day and good to go for a drive in the W111.  Due to the weather the last time I wrote in the log book was February.

The two marques that stood out to me at the event were Alfa Romeo and Saab.  Both had some really nice examples on display.   There was also a very nice Bentley S series as well as a few other Italian exotics.

There were a few people I know from the MB club in attendance, so it was good to catch up.   It can be a little hard to get a park at this event.  However, I arrived somewhat late so was able to grab a park when somebody else was leaving.

I realized how dirty the 250SE was having it on display, so I gave it a good wash, along with the 560SEL when I returned.

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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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While both events are open to anybody, Machines & Macchiatos seems to attract more of the Aussie/JDM crowd.   I’ve not been for two years  – the last one I attended was in March of 2023.

It had rained a fair bit overnight, and there were dark clouds in the sky.   Turn out this month was much smaller than when I have been there previously – probably to do with the weather.   Even with a smaller turn out it was worth a quick look.

I took my 1977 450SLC and was the only Mercedes on display.   Probably my favorite car was an early three door Range Rover.   I’m not really a SUV fan but it was such a time warp car.

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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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I think these events are a good idea, as it brings a combination of cars together that are not often seen.   They are quite easy to organize, and its easy for me to go to an early morning car event on a Sunday and be home by 10:30AM.

There was a decent turn out overall, probably around 40-50 cars.   The Mercedes-Benz club was the biggest with about 20-25 cars. The Rolls Royce and Maserati clubs had about 20-25 together.

Having attended a Maserati exhibit at Autoworld Brussels recently, it was good to see some of the same Maserati’s on the road.   This included models such as the Ghibli and Khamsin.  On the Rolls Royce side there were mostly Silver Shadow and Silver Spirit (and their derivatives) models on display.

I took my 250SE Cabriolet.  It’s rather dirty from being caught in the rain in January.  I’ve still not had a chance to clean it, but the silver paint does a pretty good job of hiding the dirt.  There were a decent number of older models.  This included a W109 6.3, a W108 250SE, an Adenauer, a C114 and others.   The 6.3 had a beautifully patinaed interior and was quite original.

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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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When I got there, I found the location had moved again.   It was still in the park, but it is now near the Spruce Goose Diner, not the Shakespeare statue.  A quick call to a friend who is a regular clued me into the new location.   I think the old location was better, but I suspect the organizers didn’t have a choice in this matter.    The new location is quite small and fills up very fast, with cars then overflowing onto the ring road and parking with the regular SUVs.

The mix of this event is quite different to the other ones I attend,  There are more exotics, especially 911s, and more modern performance cars.    However, despite a new McLaren, the car getting the most attention was the Ferrari Testarossa.   It looked great in dark blue, showing that Ferrari’s don’t have to be bright red.   There was also a nice Lamborghini Uracco and a Maserati Khamsin.

I took my 1981 240D, not for any particular reason than it was in the garage at home.   Its a good car for driving into the crowded eastern suburbs.    The only other Mercedes was a 380SL.   I ended up [parking next to a Volvo 240, probably fitting given it has similar attribute to the W123.

The new location is a far more busy thoroughfare than the old one.   Generally most people were pretty easy going, but it was interesting to contrast the behaviour of the runners, pedestrians and the drivers with that of the cyclists.   I was only there for twenty minutes and I witnessed two cyclists getting quite hot under the collar for for being slightly delayed by people walking around looking at the cars.

While this isn’t my favourite of the Sydney cars and coffee events, it was a lovely morning to get out for a drive and look at a new nice cars.

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