I had originally gone back to these old photos to see if I could spot a Derby Bentley.   I have recently read a book on them and was curious if I had spotted one at any of these shows.

Back in 2011, I was hoping to bring my E-Type to the show, but it had not yet arrived in Sydney from its voyage from the USA.   It would not be until the 2016 show that I would display it.

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The Mercedes Club organized a tour of 4 ‘sheds’ today, allowing club members to see some of the collections that normally remain behind closed doors.

1. The first shed had four interesting cars, a lovely W111 220SE coupe in red, a Chrysler Valiant, a Jaguar Mk2 and a Mustang.   They were all in good condition.  The Jag and Chrysler had modified interiors.   The 220SE was the pick for me as it was in excellent condition.
2. The Second was a series of about four sheds and was a really eclectic collection.   Probably centered around Daimlers, but there were Singers, Lanchesters, Panhards, Saabs, Jensens and a big collection of motorbikes.   Condition ranged from good to parts cars and everything in between.   The Pick for me would have been a Lanchester Limo and the Jensen.
3. Shed #3 had a British sports car theme, with Jaguars (including a pair of immaculate 4.2 E-Types), Lotus’, Triumph, MG, Ford GT40 and more.
4. Shed #4 had an equine theme, with one shed filled with rare Mustangs and a second with Ferrari’s.

Obviously to respect the generosity of the people who opened their collection to the club today, I can’t name the location or any names, but there were some lovely cars to look at.   You could have spent hours exploring Shed #2 and still found more stuff hiding away.  The shed tour was one of the best club events I have attended in a while.

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The show was worth the trip and despite early rain had a good showing of cars.   As well as RROC, the Rover Club and the Daimler club had displays on, and was able to learn a bit more about Rover P5s.   I’m told the Mk2 P5 Coupe is the one to have.

For the Rolls Royces, there was a nice selection of cars including a very impressive range of pre-war cars.  Far larger than any of the clubs I am a member of.   As you would expect the Silver Shadow and Silver Spirit were the most popular cars on display, but there was a good mixture of cars.   My two favorites were the early Bentley Corniche coupe and the Bentley S3 Flying Spur.   The 2015 Rolls Royce Owners Club Concours was worth a visit and I will go again if the times work.

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Some of the cars I liked were a very original looking Bentley S1 Continental, a couple of nice Jaguar XK140 FHCs, and a former vice regal Rolls Royce Phantom V that took Sir William Kerr to make his announcement that he had dismissed the Whitlam Government.

An interesting piece of information I overheard was during a discussion by some Jaguar Owners, one of them mentioned that there is a man in Melbourne who is making 5 speed gearboxes that are a better fit than the ones out of the UK and America.  Many sporty Jaguars were originally sold with Automatic transmissions that really don’t suit the character of the cars.   Many have been converted to manual over the years, either from a wrecked car or through a 5 speed transmission.   This is particularly the case for MK II models.

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