I would estimate that at least 50% of the collection has turned over since that visit.    It is still a very impressive museum, although the collection is now 10-15% smaller.   In addition, there are probably fewer jaw dropping cars than before.   For example last time in the Mercedes Benz section there was a Gullwing, a 300Sc, 300SE Coupe etc.   This time there were a couple of Pagoda SL and a LHD W111 Coupe.

Some of the highlights for me:

• An Aircraft engine car with a 10L De Havilland engine.
• A Chrysler 300F
• A Rolls Royce 20HP with a sleek tourer body
• The Bentley 4.25 liter

The Gosford Car Museum is a great half day trip.  I got lucky today as the museum was having a free entry day.   I went in my brothers E63 650i, which really came into its own on the old Pacific Highway.   If only there were fewer packs of cyclists that ride 2-3 abreast.

I will probably go again in a couple of years to see if the collection has changed further.

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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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What stands out is the range of the collection – there really is something for everyone and not everything is a multi-million dollar Ferrari there is some really interesting stuff in there.   They had a really interesting section for communist cars (including a rare Gaz Chaika – a car for high ranking party officials), a car called the Black Prince, and all the usual favourites.

The best represented marques were probably Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Jaguar.     But there were loads of great oddballs as well – for example a brace of Bedford trucks.  I think the highlight of the museum is supposed to be the huge Ferrari collection, and it certainly is impressive, but for me it was quite low on the list compared to some of the other cars.     Some of my favourites:

• Mercedes 300S
• The red 300SL
• The Invicta Black Prince
• A little boat tailed Fiat
• XK140 FHC
• Bentley S2 Continental
• The Tatraplan
• Mazda Cosmo

It was also really nice to see models near each other for comparison, e.g. a 220S Mercedes Ponton and a 220S Mercedes Fintail.   Or A Rolls Royce Phantom VI next to a Silver Cloud III.

Apparently the cars are for sale, although they do not have prices listed.   I would have liked a bit more description of the various cars, and the cafe was seriously overwhelmed, taking 55 minutes to bring out a hamburger.  These are all small teething problems for an excellent museum which will hopefully thrive.

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