I think the club made a good choice to hold the rally outside Sydney.  Sydney is no place for a car event   Terrible traffic, expensive parking etc.   A regional centre is a much better choice.

I didn’t do the whole rally but when the club announced they would offer day passes, I decided to go up for the Saturday.   The events on that day were much more in line with my interests than some of the other days.   The programme was to a convoy lap around Mt Panorama, led by former racing driver Colin Bond.   Then a show and shine at pit lane, followed by a tour of the Bathurst racing museum.

I decided it would be a perfect day to take my 250SE Cabriolet and two of my kids wanted to join me.   We left early, departing home at twenty to six, as the start of the guided lap was 9:30.  It was absolutely perfect weather for a convertible after weeks of hot and muggy weather in Sydney.

Complicating things were the surge in petrol prices due to yet another pointless middle east war, plus the structural failure of the convict built Victoria Pass, the main road over the blue mountains from Sydney.   I would have normally taken bells line of road anyway, as I detest the great western highway.  However the media were predicting it to be a parking lot.   Turns out it was totally overblown and the traffic was even less than normal.   We used the extra 20 minutes for a pitstop at McDonalds Lithgow.

Coming out of Lithgow, all of sudden i heard something, like there was something on the road that had hit the underside of the car.   I figured perhaps a stone or something like that.  Nothing else seemed to be amiss.  However, going around the next corner i realized I no longer had power steering.  Water temperature and the charge light were both fine, so it looked like I had lost my power steering belt.

Since there wasn’t much I could do by the side of the road, I proceeded to Bathurst.  The car was perfectly drivable, but with increased steering effort.   Lower speed and tighter turns were obviously a lot more effort.

We arrived at the Rally at 9:35AM, perfect timing as the convoy was just assembling for the lap of the track.  We joined up the rear behind a 420SE.   It was quite a cool sight driving behind over 100 Mercedes-Benz around the track.  We ended up doing four laps as it took quite a while for the cars earlier in the convoy to get into pit lane and parked.   The extra laps certainly gave my arms a good workout.

I was surprised how many of the cars were moderns, I had assumed more classics would attend.   I’m not sure if it was due to the fuel prices, or that is what people planned all along.  Certainly I am sure that some people dropped out altogether and I’m sure more would have come up from Sydney from the day too.  Having said that, while the prices are very high, they are not substantially higher than they have been over the last couple of years.  I filled the 250SE up at 2.539 per liter, and looking at my fuel log, it was only 10c less than this at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As well as all the moderns, there were some nice classics on display from interstate.  My favorite was a Horizon Blue 280SE W116 from Queensland.  Apparently it had been in long term family ownership and it’s a real credit to the family for keeping it in such nice original condition.     Not too many older cars, although a couple of roundies had come in from interstate which was awesome.

There were some new MBs on display.  Chief among them was a massive Maybach SUV.   I don’t see the appeal at all.  To my eyes, it was tacky and overdone and more of a conveyance for footballers and rappers to be seen in than anything else.  I would have the blue 280SE any day of the week.

It was also good to catch up with a few interstate members that I know at this event.

Lunch was at a food truck near the event which was overpriced and had a massive wait. The quality wasn’t worth the wait either. I would have thought the day pass should have included lunch, as it wasn’t cheap.

After lunch we went to the museum which is quite good.  I covered this more extensively for Youngtimer Sacco day 2024.  The tour back then was more comprehensive, at the Rally it was more of an introduction to the museum.   There are some very interesting cars there and its well worth a visit.

We left at roughly 3:30PM.   As with our arrival, the traffic from Lithgow to Darling Causeway was less than normal, so we made good time, finding more traffic through Dural and Pennant Hills than the area with road closures.  Taking the W111 through these roads sans power steering certainly gave my arms a good workout.   We arrived home at around 7PM after covering 472km for the day.

The post MB Clubs National Rally Bathurst 2026 – Day Trip appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The thing that makes this event great is that its always a combination of great driving roads, an interesting destination, and the theme of the Sacco cars.  The past three events have had HARS as the destination, but this year the event was all new.   As much as I like HARS, I am glad the organizers decided to shake it up this year.  Even good events can go stale if they don’t change and evolve.

For 2024, the destination was Mt Panorama Race track in Bathurst.   The idea was to take some good roads up to Bathurst, have lunch at the track, do a lap and then see the museum.   The lunch was to include special guests of Aussie racing legends to talk about their time driving the track.

This was the first event since the recent passing of Bruno Sacco, at age 90.   Sacco was hired by Mercedes-Benz as a stylist in 1958, and became head of design in 1975 after the retirement of Frederich Geiger.   He would hold that position until 1999.   While Sacco contributed to many deigns under Geiger, he is best known for the models that were designed while he was head of the Styling Department. Timeless classics such as the W126, W124, W129, W201 etc.

I am lucky enough to own three Sacco cars – my 1987 560SEL and SEC, as well as my 1990 300TE.  I took my 560SEL.   Primarily because its a very comfortable road trip car and I have driven it less than the other two this year.  I also took two of my kids with me – they have enjoyed the previous Sacco days at HARS.

The meeting point was a hotel in Penrith.   Numbers were a fair bit down from prior events.   I’m not sure why as I thought the new event sounded really good.   Perhaps there was the perception that Bathurst is further than HARS, even though in reality that is not the case.   We arrived early at 7:20AM, so I could get the kids breakfast at McDonalds before the event.

Of the cars that attended, the A124 seemed quite popular this year with a number of very nice examples.

The drive to Bathurst was split into three stages.   The first was to the Botanic Gardens in Mt Tomah (on Bells Line of Road).  The second was Lake Lyell.   And the third was the racetrack itself.

The first leg was a bit of a shemozzle.  Instead of giving attendees directions with waypoints defined, there was a desire to keep the group in a very tight convoy the whole way up to Mt Tomah.   This was destined for failure. On these roads it would have been impossible to keep a tight convoy with three to four cars, let alone around 30.  We stopped to let the convoy regroup every five minutes or so, often blocking traffic and causing irate motorists.

In an attempt to keep the convoy together, it went slower and slower up the single lane sections of Bells line of Road, struggling to hit 50 in 80 zones.   The slower the convoy went, the more aggressive other motorists were in trying to get around us, causing us to stop even more.  It became a bit of a vicious cycle by the time we finally got up to Mt Tomah.  I’m surprised we didn’t have a road rage incident or an accident from other motorists trying to pass us dangerously.

By the time we got to the waypoint, there was a lot of frustration in the the group.  Some members were trying to think of ways of ditching the group and just going themselves.   One group with modern cars did in the end.   As it happened, the next leg as far better, not stopping nearly so much, and sticking mostly to the posted speed limits.   Since we were not going to slowly, the convoy stayed together more naturally anyway.

Without all the stops we could enjoy the drive and the roads were pretty good.   In some places the were quite bumpy, but the nice thing about most Sacco cars is they have wheels and tyres that are suitable for Australian roads.   Forged 15″ Gullideckels are not going to have any issues with a few potholes.  Especially with the amount of rubber between the tyre and the road.   In the W126 we hardly felt the bumps and cruised along quite happily.

At Lake Lyell, the planned stopping point was behind a boom gate, so we skipped it, heading straight for Mt Panorama.   On this third leg we didn’t stick to the route sent out the day before, I’m not sure if that was intentional due to being behind from the first leg, or an omission, but as far as I know everyone made it to the race track.   This even included the A124 with a jammed petrol cap – freed with a set of service station pliers.

We had a nice lunch at the Rydges hotel on the track.   As well as the food, we were entertained my anecdotes from a couple of Aussie racing legends – Phil Ward and Spencer Martin.  Their stories were quite entertaining and it was a nice addition to the day to have them there.

After lunch we did a lap of the track.   The track is a public road with a 60km/h speed limit.   It was good to see so many Saccomobiles driving around the circuit before we headed into the Museum.

The museum was a real revelation.  I’ve been past it a few times but never gone inside.  It looks quite small from the outside.   But actually it has over 100 cars inside.   We had a guided tour of the museum.  The curator is also the owner of a lovely W111 220SEb which was parked outside.

After the museum, my kids wanted to do another lap of the track before we headed home.  It turned into two, as we got stuck behind a box truck on the fist one.   Not sure who finds enjoyment in taking a box truck around Mt Panorama, but I guess others may say the same for a 5.1 meter German limo.

We ended up getting home at about 9:15PM – it had been a very full day and we covered 491km.   Events like these are what car club membership is all about.  We really enjoyed the event.  The only two things I would do to improve it is to send the google maps directions with waypoints and use the points between the three legs for everyone to regroup.  Plus it would have been nice to have a place to line up all the Sacco cars for a photo shoot near the track.

We are looking forward to next year.

The post Youngtimer Sacco Day 2024 appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

During a stop to let the convoy regroup, I noticed a grinding noise from my engine bay.   Using a hammer as a sound transmitter, it was clear the noise was coming from my alternator.     I had noticed a squeaking noise from my car when cold, which I had put down to belt noise when cold.   I guess 3,000km of driving has been hard on the bearings in the alternator.

The noise didn’t seem too bad, so we kept going and had breakfast in West Wyalong.   The home made potato pies were great!

When I restarted the car, I heard a horrible belt squeal and smoke from under the bonnet.   I quickly shut down the car to see that the alternator had totally locked up.     This presented a problem, as we were over 500km from Sydney.   We cut the belt off, and drove to a nearby auto electrician.

He didn’t have an alternator, nor was there one locally.   What he did have was a battery that should fit, so I bought that as an insurance policy.      We also stopped by a wrecker, who didn’t have anything.   While city wreckers are becoming a thing of the past due to property prices, country wreckers are still very much in business.   Not surprisingly they don’t carry many parts for 80s Mercedes.

We decided to keep going and see how car I could limp the car without an alternator.   I ultimately managed to get the 140km to Parkes before I was down to 11.6 volts.   They car was still running fine but had become rather sluggish.   I was really happy about two things.   Firstly, that I installed the bluetooth battery monitor a couple of days before the Concours Run, and that when I had wired up the amplifier, I triggered it off a relay from the radio.   Turning off the radio turned off the amplifier.

Instead of using my new battery so early, the owner of the 380SEC kindly agreed to do a battery swap.   That way I would use his battery and his car would charge mine.    We were not going to let a seized alternator get in the way of the days agenda, so we headed off towards the Parkes Radio Telescope for some photos.     It is far further from Parkes than I remember, abut 20km towards Dubbo.

After taking some photos in Parkes, we headed off towards Orange.   The drive was uneventful, as agriculture gave way to rolling hills.     Orange was the location of a fuel stop, and another battery change.    The 380SEC had become a mobile battery tender. The W126 has such a big battery that the other cars could not help.  We also stopped in at other wrecker. While they had a D-jet 350SE with an alternator, it was very crusty and much smaller.

From Orange, our next destination was Mt Panorama.   We wanted to do a lap of the track and take some photos with the cars .    The track is a normal road with houses on it most of the time.  But it is heavily policed and drivers need to stick to the speed limit.

We soon arrived at Mt Panorama, although a short-lived wrong turn into the shooting club was quickly reversed, as there was a live fire event going on.     Our first lap was more about finding the photo locations, and the second lap was about enjoying the track.   It’s my third time driving around it, and the second time in the 560SEC.

After yet another battery swap, it was time to head to the final waypoint of the entire journey, Lithgow.    We headed there, and did one final battery swap.   I now had my original battery, fully charged.   I also had the brand new battery in the boot.   It was 5pm, and I had about two and  half hours of daylight left.   If I wanted to avoid a tow truck, I was going to need to get home before headlights would be required.

I had found that my car didn’t use much electricity if I just cruised along.   But stop and go traffic using the brake lights and indicators was draining my battery.  Based on this, I took Bells Line of Road.  I drove with one of our group who lives in that area, and when he peeled off at the bottom of Bells Line of Road, I had just dipped below 12 volts on the first battery.

I continued taking the back way, through Annangrove road, until finally installing the brand new battery near the intersection of the Old Northern Road and New Line Road. I was down to 11.6 volts and 1% on the battery monitor.  At this point, I had about 40 kilometres to go, and was confident by then I would make it.    Up until this point it had been quite nerve wracking to see if I would make it so far with no alternator, or If I would be on the back of a tow truck.  I guess this is what owners of electric cars go through on a daily basis.

After 7:30PM, it was becoming twilight, I turned on my parking lights.   I only had 20 minutes to go.     I arrived home a little before 8PM, still with some reserve power.     Today, I had driven 720km, 588 of it with no alternator.    Total for the trip was 2932.    For most of the day the instrument cluster had been lit up like a Christmas tree with warning lights.

Granted an alternator is more likely to fail if it is old.   However, I would not have been able to do what I did in a newer car.   For starters newer cars draw so much more power, it would not be possible to drive so for long just on the battery.  Those cars would also be far more sensitive to low voltage.

Secondly, newer cars use a single serpentine belt instead of separate V-Belts.    Even my 1990 300TE is like this.   I like the separate V-Belts because you can recover from a bad accessory.   I can remember cutting off the belt from the A/C compressor on my old W123 230E.

Everyone else got home without incident.   The trip was a big success and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The post The Concours Run 2023 – Day 5: Leeton to Sydney appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The Jaguar Drivers club ran an event today to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Jaguar E-Type.  The goal was to get at least 60 E-Types for a photo shoot at Mt Panorama.   In the end we got really close with 58 cars on display.   At least one car didn’t make it up to Bathurst, sadly heading back to Sydney on a tow truck with a bad clutch.

It was a beautiful day for a drive up to Bathurst.   A lovely Autumn Sydney day.   We met up at the M4 services and then drove up in a loose convoy to Bathurst.   There was a photographer along the route somewhere, so there will possibly be some good photos of the convoy coming.      The meeting point was a vineyard on the Mt Panorama circuit.    It really was a lovely venue and the cars were all lined up in one of the fields.   There was a separate place to park for the other cars.

As part of the event they had a drone doing photography, a club member interviewing people about their cars and some proper photos taken of the field.

Most of the club were staying up in Bathurst, but I did it as a day trip.    I managed to drive up and back on a single tank of fuel.   My car ran well, although the brake fluid light came on a few times on the way home.  I am not sure why as I checked and there was plenty of fluid in the reservoir.

All in all, it was a great way to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Jaguar E-Type.

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This is now the 3rd 560SEC I have owned.   The first two (1989 & 1988) were both owned in the USA when I lived in Michigan from 2007-2011.   This car is a 1987 UK market model.   It is the ECE version which means it does not have a catalytic converter and is tuned for high octane petrol.   This is achieved via a higher compression ratio and different cams.   The result is 220KW instead of 178.

The car is better than I thought it would be.   It is in good driver condition both inside and out.   I’ve had it up on my hoist and for a UK market car I am surprised not to find rust underneath.   The main downside is that I got almost no history with the car.   The car is currently equipped with aftermarket wheels that are too big for the car.   The tyres are 245 wide and these rub going over bumps and on sweeping turns.   The original wheels were included although the tyres are bald.

When I picked it up, it was not shifting well and the transmission fluid was low.   I am getting puffs of white smoke after takeoff and after certain gear changes.   My current theory is that the transmission modulator is failing allowing ATF to burn in the engine.  Once the fluid was topped up the transmission performed well.

Most things on the car seem to work, but not surprisingly for an 80s Mercedes, the air conditioning is not one of them.   The tempomat works, as do the power seats, all four power windows and sunroof, seatbelt presenters and instruments.   The car is equipped with orthopaedic front seats, but I am not sure how how they are supposed to work to test them.

My brother and I drove up to Bathurst in his E63 650i.   The 6er is an interesting contrast to the SEC.    As you would epect as a modern car it is more refined than the SEC.    In some ways they fit into the same market niche, but the BMW is sportier.   The seats and ride are harder and the steering is more precise.    The Mercedes is more about comfort and feels airier with the pillarless design and bigger windows.    Its 4.8l v8 has another 50KW, which is a smaller difference than you would have thought.   The six speed automatic allows it to accelerate to 100km/h a full second faster.

Before we drove back to Sydney, we drove two laps around Mount Panorama.   This is normally a public road with a speed limit of 60km/h.   The track has a near constant Police presence to top people trying to recreate Peter Brock’s glory days.   The altitude changes and tight corners are even more pronounced than can be seen on TV.    The track is actually a two way road, so we drove it in both directions.

On the way back were were able to drive on some great twisty roads and avoid traffic by taking a route through Comleroy road, over the Sackville ferry and Wisemans ferry road.   The two V8 coupes were a good pair for this road trip.

So far I am optimistic about this purchase.   I’ve started to give the car a service to better understand what I have and if this is a car I will keep for a while, or fix some of the more obvious things and sell it.

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