One of the nice things about the museum is that the collection changes over time.   As of the time of our visit, the theme was 20th century sports cars.   They had a pretty good collection of them, and the most impressive was the wide range of different 50s MGs on display.

In addition, the museum has a large motorcycle collection, thousands of model cars, signs and even a restored train carriage.  They are also fixing up a model railway.  Plus there are engines on display.

One of the highlights of our visit was one of the staff starting up the American LaFrance Fire truck for us.   It has a six cyilnder engine with three spark plugs driven by both a magneto and a distributor.   Given the age of the vehicle you could see a lot of things happening outside the engine such as the pushrods and distributor shaft.   It made quite the noise.

It is no longer carrying a fire truck body and was most recently used to tour Tasmania, or at least drive from petrol station to petrol station.   The engine is a derivative of the Mercedes Simplex engine developed by Willhelm Maybach for Mercedes-Benz.

I would certainly recommend a visit to the Museum if passing through Gippsland.

The post Gippsland Vehicle Collection – October 2024 appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

We started early in eastern Melbourne with some car repairs on the 500SL.   Even after tightening the hoses yesterday, it was still leaking power steering fluid.  We finally found out why.   The second generation cars had an additional spoiler at the front.   This had been attached with screws.  One of the screws was touching the cooler line for the power steering.  Every time the spoiler flexed over a bump, the screw would rub against the line.  After years of doing that, it had finally worn a hole.   The temporary solution was to cut a section of hose and cable tie it to the line to cover the ‘wound’.   This stanched the bleeding at least until the end of the trip.

The 380SEC continued to require a bypass for the fuel pump relay, but the owner of that car is getting his process down to get it restarted when needed.  It still does not like to idle for long periods of time, but runs very well when on the open road.   The bypass must have a lot of current going through it, as the connections are starting to melt a little.   It hadn’t blown the 25 amp fuse, but that has started to melt too.   This seems more current than I would expect a Bosch fuel pump to draw and may be part of the issue.

My car started out ok, but the wheel bearing noise became quite bad as we drove out of Melbourne.   So bad, that I phoned a friend in the MBCV to find contacts for mechanics in the Mornington Peninsula area.   At this point I was convinced I would have to leave the car in Melbourne.

However, being a Sydney car, the threat of staying in Melbourne for a few more weeks was enough to get the wheel bearing to quieten down, and so since It was behaving itself, we continued.  It seems to very much dislike city driving with turns and stop/start, but tolerate quite well cruising at 90km/h.

After we left Melbourne, we hugged the coast as we drove through Gippsland.  It was quite a windy and rainy day today, so there was quite a swell out on the ocean as we drove past.   The country was lush and green and there was a lot of cattle farming.

Our first stop was Inverloch where we sampled another local bakery called Slice of Heaven.   The pies were very good, and the Vanilla slice was the best I’ve sampled on the trip.   It was also Inverloch were I made the decision to keep going with the 450SLC.

Even in the rain the roads were quite good and we cruised along at a fairly leisurely pace.   Since I was trying to be gentle on my car, I returned the best fuel economy figures since I purchased it, all those years ago – 13.1 liters per 100kms.

Our next stop was Maffra, where we visited the Gippsland Vehicle Collection.   This is a nice museum with a rotating collection.   As of October 2024, they have 20th century sports cars on display.  I’ve covered the museum separately.

After the museum, we had lunch at the Maffra bakery.  We first looked at a fish and chip shop that was heavily advertised, but didn’t take our fancy.   The pies were excellent at the bakery, and the Vanilla slice was good too.

We kept going, as I was keen not to do the Monaro highway at night in the rain.

After Maffra, we continued to Orbost via Lakes Entrance.   Going through Orbost brought back memories of limping the green 280CE into town on the first of these trips a couple of years ago.   We continued to cruise along, the scenery quite good and the roads good to drive on in this weather.

After Orbost farmland started to give way to the National Park.   The road was quite wet so we had to slow down.    We were all getting quite tired by now, from our busy day yesterday.  A few of us got some snacks to re-energize, and there were a couple of power naps by the side of the road.   The countryside became more hilly, and densely forested with very large trees.  The road was windy, and It would be far more fun to drive on had the weather been good.   This is the second time I’ve driven this route in bad weather.   At least I had light this time.

We turned off at the Monaro highway, which climbs fairly steeply through dense forest.   Even in the wet it was a good road to drive on, and in the dry it would be a great driving road.   As we got closer to our destination in Bombala, the forest suddenly gave way open country and sheep farms.    We finally cruised into Bombala at around 6:15PM, right on time.   Originally, we had planned to fuel up ready for the morning, but the main service station was closed, and the other one only carried diesel.

We checked into the local pub where we are staying and went for dinner, which was quite good.   Tomorrow is the final day of our trip.

The post The Long Way Euround – Day 5: Gippsland and Monaro Drive appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

In 2022, I went with a group of friends to Adelaide via Victoria and The Great Ocean Road, before returning via Broken Hill.   Last year, we attended the MBCV concours event taking the mountain roads there, and the inland route back.

This year, the same group that went to Victoria are going back, but this time the Long way Euround.

Like last year, we have built the trip around a car show.   In this case, the Australian National Show and Shine in Euroa.   This is a big car show set in Seven Creeks park.   We had a bit of a scare earlier in the year when the show was slated to be cancelled, but the organizers were able to get more volunteers in time.

As with last year, these will all be classic Mercedes, including two 108s – a 280S and a 280SE 3.5, three 107s – two 450SLCs and a 500SL, a 126 380SEC, 123 280CE and three 124s – a 300CE, 300TE and E280T.

Day 0

To avoid getting stuck in Sydney traffic on the first day, our trip starts in Bathurst.   The plan is for everyone to make their way to Bathurst in their own time, refuel their car and allow us to make an early start the next day.   I’ll be working a full day, so this will be like another night drive for me.    The distance will be different for everyone in the group, but for me it will be 216km.

Day 1

On our first official day of the trip, we’re taking the inland route to the Murray river, before following the river west.   We’ll initially go through mid sized towns such as Cowra, Young and Gundagai, while avoiding the M31.   There is a very short section of about 10km which is shared with the route from last year, but otherwise it’s all different.

Once we hit the river, we’ll alternate between the NSW and Victorian side, going through some of the smaller towns before finishing up in Cobram.   We’ll cover 657km on the first day and it should be a fairly relaxed day as we don’t have any specific deadlines.

Day 2

The second day will be a busier day.   We’ll continue our Murray River tour, getting as far along as Robinvale.   This will take us through famous Murray towns like Euchca and Swan Hill.

In the afternoon, we’ll do a portion of the western Victorian silo art trail.   This is a series of grain silos with murals from artists painted on them.   The official silo art tour is quite extensive, however, due to time constraints we’ve planned to visit 7 of them.   Depending on how long it takes, we can cut out the last couple.    On Day 2, we’ll cover 746km, finishing up in Horsham.

Day 3

Day three will be an easier day.   We’ll start by doing a scenic drive through the Grampians National Park.   In the afternoon, we’ll visit a Benz wrecker, and optionally a metal working shop.   We’ll finish our day in Bendigo, where we will be able to wash our cars for the show on day 4.   On day 3, we cover 414km.

Day 4

Day four is the Australian National Show and Shine in Euroa.  We’ve got a section for our ten cars near where MBCV have their allocation.    We’ll stay at the show for the morning, before taking some scenic roads to the eastern side of Melbourne.   These roads are quite windy and should be far more interesting to drive on than the motorway.   We cover 510km on day 4.

In the evening, MBCV have kindly offered to host us for a BBQ at their club rooms.   Having visited their club rooms last year, our group from NSW has serious club room envy!

Day 5

Day five we leave Melbourne and tour through Gippsland hugging the coast.   Last year due to time constraints we took the more direct route through Traralgon.

In the afternoon, we’ll stop at the Gippsland Vehicle Collection in Maffra.   After that we continue along the coast through Orbost, before turning north to Bombala where we stop for the night.   Day 5 is a fairly relaxed day where we cover 604km.

Day 6

Our final day we head north from Bombala towards Cooma.   We couldn’t take the more alpine roads, as chains are required until after the long weekend, and we are driving on the actual long weekend.

From Cooma, we continue north towards Canberra.   This is the only repeat leg from last year, but in the opposite direction.   However, from Canberra, instead of taking the road through Oberon, we take the parallel road through Tuena.   This takes us up near Bathurst and Lake Lyall.

As with last year, we go our separate ways at Lithgow.   The shared drive is 515km, and overall I will do 658km on day 6.

The post Planning a 2024 Classic Mercedes Road trip – The Long way Euround appeared first on Classic Jalopy.